Just came today, Denon's newest direct-drive turntable. Designed from the ground-up by Denon themselves...not another Hanpin deck. They're marketing it primarily as a "Professional DJ" table, so it has many features geared for the club/broadcasting user: Low/High Torque settings, Selectable +/- Tempo Ranges (8, 16, 50), Tempo Slider with Instant Reset, selectable color RGB halo-lighting for the platter with 3 intensity settings (Off, Low, High), etc...

However, what really sold me on the VL12 was comparing it against Pioneer's PLX-1000 and my own memories of my long-gone Technics 1200 MK2. With the PLX-1000 recently getting a "Recommended" rating in Stereophile, I became intrigued with getting a new direct-drive deck. I've long preferred direct-drive tables since the 1200 days, mainly for their accuracy, durability, simplicity and "punchy" sound. I came across the VL12 when researching the PLX-1000 and became enamored with its sound...fuller without being muddy, punchier, quicker...everything just turned up a notch or three. Indeed, it seems that Denon put the PLX-1000 square in its sights and set out to better it in every measure. It easily sits above the Pioneer (and other HanPin-clones) not only in sound-quality, but build and feature set. I had no reservations on it being labeled as a "DJ" table; after all, the 1200-series started out as a "audiophile" direct-drive table, only later becoming the standard for DJ's.

I set-up my Vl12 on 1.5" of end-grain maple butcher block, which sits suspended on rubber and cork isolation blocks. The turntable itself sits atop Vibrapod 4 isolators. I'm starting off with Shure's excellent M97xE cartridge. The sound is really, really good...something I wasn't expecting! I thought it would take a while to get it sounding "good", but right off the bat, I'm a toe-tapping, finger-snapping, happy listening somebody right now! And isn't that what it's all about?

I realize that audiophile-grade direct-drive tables exist. However, the price of Technics' 1200G-Series was just a bit of a stretch. No, for me, I find that Denon has a real winner here in the VL12, no matter who the target user may be. Could the VL12 be viewed as Denon's successor to their legendary DP-6xL series turntables? Maybe. At the very least, the VL12 strikes me as a great option for that vinyl-listener looking for a new, modern direct-drive table that is above the usual suspects in the crowded $800-$1200 range. Bravo, Denon!!!

Thanks for reading...

Arvin C