It’s pretty much the same as anything else: you’re paying for more and better precision, more vibration damping, more aesthetics, more exotic materials, that kind of thing.

In this case, putting an AT-LP60 against a, say, a Pro-Ject Debut, the Debut has the more solid body, the more solid platter, a carbon tonearm, comes with a better cartridge, and moves the power supply off-board to the wall. All of those improvements move it into a different echelon of performance, which will cause you fewer headaches over time.

It’s relatively easy to get something to play a record, but it takes some finesse to play a record well, and that costs some money.