Review on Audio Technica AT LP7 Manual Belt Drive Turntable by Josh Flanagan

I *like* this player! I have had premium Sony and Technics direct drive CTs made in Japan for 40 years. I wanted to try something different. I've of course read about all sorts of problems with Hanpin's decks. This one doesn't have them. Speed is dead. In fact, I've measured up to 0.05% for wow and flutter. The Sony DD I just replaced showed 0.02%. LP7 is no fool. ;-) Tone arm bearings have no play, check. The disc is perfectly round, balanced and rotates without any hesitation or vertical movement in the disc profile, check. Tag arm has proper cushioning, check. My only complaint is that I would happily buy it without the phono stage and I would like to buy it without the pickup. The first thing I did was get rid of the junk 520EB it came with and fit a new Denon DL-110. Easy setup, give it a try. There are no problems with anti-skating, check it out. No IGD, check. Oh yes, they were supposed to include an overhang gauge, but I used the one I had for the Technics and I checked it with an arc protractor and the dolly was dead. I *like* this player! :-D Oh yeah, the LP-7 is a bit more sensitive to kicks than Sony or Technics. But hey, $400 in 1980 is worth nearly $1,300 now, and obviously this one's a lot cheaper than that one.