Few audio products have proved as enduringly fascinating to audiophiles as William Firebaugh's Well-Tempered Turntable design. At once elegantly simple and technically sophisticated, it was an immediate hit with music lovers and critics alike—and was long a staple of Stereophile's "Recommended Components" list. For the greater part of the product's 20-year lifespan, the Well-Tempered 'table has been distributed and manufactured under the direction of Transparent Audio, Inc. However, Carl Smith, the Transparent partner who supervised the manufacture of the Well-Tempered line, decided to retire this year, and Transparent determined that it should concentrate on its cable business.

Instead of folding the Well-Tempered operation, the company began looking for someone to take over the stewardship of Bill Firebaugh's design. It found that individual in George Stanwick of Stanalog, Inc., importer of van den Hul cartridges and Sugden electronics. Stanwick had long admired the Well-Tempered Turntable's simplicity and stability—and, indeed, had been one of its most ardent proponents when he was an audio salesman.

"This is literally a dream come true," said Stanwick. "I have the deepest respect for the WTT and am delighted to keep it alive and make it available to a new generation of audiophiles, who may not even know that turntables don't have to be complicated."

Stanwick will continue to offer three models of the turntable, the Well-Tempered Arm, and a line of accessories—in fact, he has already set about improving the Well-Tempered Reference with an additional two layers of damping. He also hinted that he will institute a system to set up the turntables in customers' homes in areas where a local dealer is not available.

Contact: Stanalog, Inc., P. O. Box 671, Hagaman, NY 12086. Tel.: (518) 843-3070. Fax: (518) 843-8882. Email: stanalog@nycap.rr.com, Web: www.stanalog.com.