SOUND QUALITY
Yes, you could just look at your sexy new purchase, but it can do much more
The Alva TT is just as good with classical, Seventies rock, pop... you name it
All three of these turntables are among the best in their price brackets. In general you could pay the same for a turntable without wireless connectivity and expect it to sound a little bit better, but that’s not what you’re here for.
The Audio-Technica AT-LP60XBT sounds way better than its look and feel might lead you to expect. AudioTechnica has obviously concentrated its efforts on sonics over aesthetics. Everything sounds a bit raucous compared to the very refined Pro-Ject and Cambridge Audio devices, but it’s in an enjoyable and lively way. If you’re looking for nuanced sound, and listen to a lot of classical music or fey and winsome strumming, it might not be for you, but it’s great with rock, electronic and pop.
The Pro-Ject may make you tear a little of your hair out while you’re setting it up – top tip: use the manual as loo roll, and look online for video tutorials on this – but it will send shivers up your spine once it’s up and running. It’s a beautiful looking thing, too.
Something like Kate Bush’s Aerial (re-released late last year on extra-heavy, lavishly hand-tooled vinyl) is a great test for any record player due to its wide dynamic range. The Pro-Ject beautifully presents Kate’s more unadorned, piano-accompanied warbling but wields plenty of oomph when things get exciting towards the end of its four sides,
and she starts rocking out over thumping basslines, in that slightly stiff and self-conscious way of hers.
It says a lot for Pro-Ject’s turntable that, while Cambridge Audio’s Alva TT pretty much wipes the floor with Audio-Technica’s effort – good for its price though that is – the Essential III BT is not disgraced by the comparison, by any means.
That said, of course Cambridge Audio’s deck is the best-sounding, via both wired and wireless connections. With compatible equipment – we used a Naim Uniti Atom with a pair of Monitor Audio Silver speakers – it does appear that aptX HD gives an appreciable step up.
The great thing about the Alva TT is it can do beautiful but it can also do ugly. A record we use a lot when trialling audio equipment is MF Doom’s Take Me To Your Leader. It’s a very messily produced hip-hop album, where the distorted drums, layered, lo-fi samples and slurred vocals can emerge as a mess or as something sublime – Alva TT nails it. It’s just as good with classical, Seventies rock, pop, electronica… you name it. You almost can’t fault it.