Turntable Reviews

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Turntable Reviews
Acoustic Signature Montana NEO turntable
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 15, 2021  |  10 comments
You may be moving to Montana. Acoustic Signature is not an overnight sensation, nor are its turntables driven by dental floss. If you're not a Frank Zappa fan, you probably have no idea what any of that means, so please Google it. I'll wait till you get back.
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Tonearm ReviewsTurntable Reviews
Acoustic Signature Triple X turntable & TA-1000 tonearm
Art Dudley  |  Sep 04, 2015  |  1 comments
In a bizarre but happy turn of events, recent consumer trends have given even the most socially awkward audiophile something to talk about at cocktail parties and family gatherings at which normal people predominate: the PonoPlayer and vinyl. These are hot topics; each is among the best-sounding music sources available, and both offer hope for our hobby, if not for music lovers in general. But vinyl has the advantage of appealing to a much wider range of budgets. LPs can be had from anywhere to "We'll pay you to haul these away" to "Your loan officer is on line one." Likewise, vinyl playback hardware is available in virtually every price range, from a second-hand Dual 1229 ($50 and up) to the highly praised Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn ($200,000 and down).
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Turntable Reviews
AMG Giro MK II turntable
Michael Trei  |  Nov 29, 2022  |  42 comments
Three decades ago, I had a boss who insisted I drive a Mercedes-Benz as a company car. Tough gig, you might be thinking, but there was solid reasoning behind this extravagance: He wanted the people representing his company to look successful, so it was three-pointed star cars for all, at a time when a Mercedes was more exclusive than it is today.
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Tonearm ReviewsTurntable Reviews
AMG Viella Forte turntable and 12JT tonearm
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 14, 2020  |  10 comments
German engineering acumen and machining excellence—acknowledged and admired worldwide—are nowhere to be seen on AMG's flagship Viella Forte turntable and new 12JT tonearm. That's because, while what's on the surface is cosmetically and mechanically well-turned, the design features and precision engineering that set AMG's turntables and tonearms apart are inside and hidden from view.
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Analog CornerCable ReviewsPhono Preamp ReviewsTurntable Reviews
Analog Corner # 247: Dr. Feickert Firebird turntable, Viva Fono MC phono preamplifier, AcroLink and Fono Acustica interconnects
Michael Fremer  |  Apr 11, 2024  |  First Published: Mar 01, 2016  |  1 comments
Dr. Feickert Analogue's top-of-the line turntable, the Firebird ($12,500), is a generously sized record player designed to easily accommodate two 12" tonearms. Its three brushless, three-phase DC motors, arranged around the platter in an equilateral triangle, are connected to a proprietary controller in a phase-locked loop (PLL); according to the Firebird's designer, Dr. Christian Feickert, a reference signal from just one of the motors drives all three—thus one motor is the master while the other two are slaves. (Man, today that is politically incorrect, however descriptively accurate.)
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Analog CornerTonearm ReviewsTurntable Reviews
Analog Corner #245: SME Model 15 turntable, SME 309 SPD tonearm
Michael Fremer  |  May 06, 2024  |  First Published: Jan 01, 2016  |  0 comments
In the April 2000 issue of Stereophile, I reviewed SME's Model 10, which was an attempt by that storied company to produce an "affordable" turntable. I described the Model 10's $5500 turntable-only price—about $7600 in today's dollars—as "stiff." (At the time, the Model 10 cost $5995 with SME's M10 arm, or $8250 with their IV.Vi arm.) But 16 years later, the same Model 10 costs only $5000 ($7000 with the more recent Model 10 arm, which is superior to the M10).
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Analog CornerTonearm ReviewsTurntable Reviews
Analog Corner #248: Mørch DP-8, Reed 3P tonearms, TechDAS Air Force One turntable
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 05, 2024  |  First Published: Apr 01, 2016  |  0 comments
"HOW MEASUREMENT FAILS DOCTORS AND TEACHERS" was the headline of a story in a recent issue of the New York Times's "Sunday Review" section (formerly called "News of the Week in Review," now rendered obsolete by the 24/7 news cycle created by and for the terminally self-absorbed). The writer, Robert M. Wachter, a professor and interim chairman of UC San Francisco's department of medicine and author of the book The Digital Doctor: Hope, Hype, and Harm at the Dawn of Medicine's Computer Age, said that healthcare and education "have become increasingly subjected to metrics and measurements," and that the focus on them has "gone too far."

To me, that headline screamed "Audio!" And the book that needs to be written is The Digital Recording Revolution: Hope, Hype, and Harm at the Dawn of Audio's Computer Age.

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Analog CornerPhono Cartridge ReviewsTurntable Reviews
Analog Corner #250: Ikeda 9mono, van den Hul Crimson XGW cartridges, PBN GrooveMaster Vintage Direct turntable
Michael Fremer  |  Jan 09, 2024  |  First Published: Jun 01, 2016  |  0 comments
The review gear piles up, and it's time for a late spring cleaning—not that any dust has gathered on the uniformly excellent products covered in this column. I'll start with two very different phono cartridges.
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Analog CornerTurntable Reviews
Analog Corner #252: Sony PS-HX500 USB turntable & GEM Dandy PolyTable
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 08, 2023  |  First Published: Aug 01, 2016  |  0 comments
Recently, when a reader questioned my hearing acuity on account of my age—I'm 69—I didn't argue: I don't hear as well as I did when I was 40, or 50, or even 60, and it would be foolish to claim otherwise. However, while my hearing isn't what it once was, neither is my listening—which has never been better. Audio perception is a combination of what the ear delivers and what the brain does with it.

My upper-octave response still sounds to be all there. Are there some lumps and bumps below? Probably. And some tinnitus noise encroaching on very-low-level material? No denying it. But as far as I'm concerned, at least for now, I'm still quite capable of doing this job.

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Analog CornerPhono Preamp ReviewsTurntable Reviews
Analog Corner #255: Kuzma Stabi M turntable, Audio Tekne TEA-8695 and Xactive Argo phono preamplifiers
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 10, 2023  |  First Published: Nov 01, 2016  |  0 comments
Do good things come in small packages, or is bigger better? Your call. But regarding the products they've sent my way for review this month, designers Franc Kuzma, Kiyoaki Imai, and Velissarios Georgiadis are all in the latter camp. Kuzma's Stabi M, designed to accommodate the 14" version of his 4Point tonearm, is a massive turntable with a big footprint. Imai's Audio Tekne TEA-8695 tubed phono preamplifier has 11 Permalloy core transformers and weighs nearly 100lb. And although it uses just four signal-path tubes and a pair of rectifier tubes, Georgiadis's Xactive Argo phono preamplifier fills the full width, height, and depth of a Harmonic Resolution System shelf—and not because it's a big but mostly empty housing.
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Analog CornerTonearm ReviewsTurntable Reviews
Analog Corner #256: Acoustic Signature Ascona Mk.2 turntable, TA-9000 tonearm
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 14, 2023  |  First Published: Dec 01, 2016  |  33 comments
I recently posted to AnalogPlanet.com's YouTube channel a video that compares VPI's Prime turntable and JMW 3D-printed tonearm ($3995) with Continuum Audio Labs' Caliburn turntable (ca $150,000 with arm and stand, discontinued) fitted with the Swedish Analog Technologies arm ($28,000). Both played "Braziljah," a snazzy track from the New Zion Trio's latest album, Sunshine Seas (LP, RareNoise RNR065LP), featuring guest Brazilian percussionist Cyro Baptista.

The Prime was fitted with a Lyra Helikon SL cartridge (ca $2500, discontinued), driving a reasonably priced phono preamplifier: the Audio Alchemy PPA-1 ($1795, currently under review for AnalogPlanet). Accompanying the Continuum Caliburn and SAT arm were Audio-Technica's AT-ART1000 cartridge ($5000), and Ypsilon's MC-16L step-up transformer ($6200) and VPS-100 Silver phono preamplifier ($65,000)—total cost, more than I paid for my first house, in 1992.

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Analog CornerTonearm ReviewsTurntable Reviews
Analog Corner #259: Audio Union Döhmann Helix 1 turntable and Schröder CB tonearm
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 10, 2023  |  First Published: Mar 10, 2017  |  7 comments
The ability to fine-tune a vinyl playback system is part of what makes it possible to combine an archaic technology with modern thinking and materials to create musical magic, and take listeners to new heights of ecstatic musical pleasure. It's why so many young people are tuning in to vinyl, and helps explain why just today, as I write this, it was announced in the UK that, for the first time, revenues from sales of vinyl exceeded those from downloads.
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Analog CornerPhono Preamp ReviewsTurntable Reviews
Analog Corner #263: Zesto Andros Téssera phono preamp & Acoustic Signature Ascona turntable and TA-9000 tonearm
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 02, 2022  |  First Published: Jul 01, 2017  |  0 comments
Maybe you've seen the widely circulated New Yorker cartoon: Two guys stand in front of a nicely drawn, tubed audio system, under which are shelves full of LPs. One guy says, "The two things that really drew me to vinyl were the expense and the inconvenience."
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Analog CornerTurntable Reviews
Analog Corner #267: Reed Muse 3C turntable & Reed 3P tonearm
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 12, 2022  |  First Published: Nov 01, 2017  |  0 comments
The Reed 3P tonearm, which I reviewed in my April 2016 column, was an impressive piece of imaginative engineering and manufacturing prowess. I asked Reed's importer, Axiss Audio, if I could hold on to the 3P—I was already planning to review Reed's Muse 3C turntable. I'm glad I did—the 3P ($5000) and 3C ($15,000) make an outstanding combination. (When the only complaint you have about a turntable is that the cable from its power jack to the power supply isn't long enough to reach the floor, you can be sure you're going to write a very positive review.)
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Analog CornerTonearm ReviewsTurntable Reviews
Analog Corner #269: TechDAS Air Force III turntable and Graham Engineering Phantom III tonearm
Michael Fremer  |  May 10, 2022  |  First Published: Jan 01, 2018  |  65 comments
It was great fun having our editorial coordinator, Jana Dagdagan, shoot a video profile of me in my listening room. As I write this, it's had more than 88,000 views. While the ratio of thumbs up to thumbs down has remained consistently around 10:1, some of the negative comments, particularly about our industry and about this magazine, do enrage me.
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