Clearaudio Concept record player Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Belt-driven turntable with decoupled DC motor and integral Clearaudio Verify tonearm. Speeds: 33.33, 45, 78rpm, ±0.04%. Bearing: polished, tempered-steel shaft in polished-bronze sintered bushing, mirror-polished Teflon thrust pad. Platter: polyoxymethylene, 1.1" (30mm) thick. Signal/noise: not specified. Tonearm: effective length: 239.31 mm. Overhang: 17.31mm. Offset angle: 23°. Null points: inner, 66.0mm; Outer, 120.9 mm.
Dimensions: 16.54" (420mm) W by 5.51" (140mm) H by 13.78" (350mm) D. Weight: 16.5 lbs (7.5kg).
Serial Number Of Unit Reviewed: Not noted.
Price: $1400; with Concept MC moving-coil cartridge, $2000 (as tested); with Concept moving-magnet cartridge, $1500. Approximate number of dealers: 50. Warranty: 2 years.
Manufacturer: Clearaudio Electronic GmbH, Spardorferstrasse 150, Unit 3, D-91054 Erlangen, Germany. Tel: (49) (0)1805-059595. Fax: (49) (0)9131-51683. Web: www.clearaudio.de. US distributor: Musical Surroundings, 5662 Shattuck Avenue, Oakland, CA 94609. Tel: (510) 547-5006. Fax: (510) 547-5009. Web: www.musicalsurroundings.com.

COMPANY INFO
Clearaudio Electronic GmbH
US distributor: Musical Surroundings
5662 Shattuck Avenue
Oakland, CA 94609
(510) 547-5006
ARTICLE CONTENTS

COMMENTS
volvic's picture

Going to stick my neck out but I have to think that the Concept would probably sound as good as a Linn LP12 Majik (the basic version) for less money than the Linn costs, which shows what great value and quality entry level turntables have become.  I know some will disagree but as someone who has owned an LP12 this has been my observation over the years.  Here come the arrows!

soulful.terrain's picture

 

...that clean Bergmann look! Love it!

WillWeber's picture

If done well, simplicity has a lot to offer, and little to go wrong. Or compromise.

This Concept design appears elegant; as yet its reliability is unknown.

The price/performance gets good marks from reviewers who mostly rave about this ‘table. I wonder though about the tone arm suspension. It is indeed a simple design with few parts and little to wear (sounds kinda naked). What is the tradeoff? Is it firm to its tangential holding assignment (now stop those thoughts)? Or does it react to the changing drag of needle-in-groove as the music density ebbs and flows (sorry)? If so, this would be the relative equivalent of micro speed changes of the record, which might account for the slight lack of dynamics and transient attack Mr. Fremer reports.

BTW: My wild guess is that anti-skating is provided by torsion of the filament, which would indeed be a touchy adjustment on the anchor end.

Simple and elegant; I am tempted at this price point. Just wondering how it compares to other giant killers near this class like the VPI Scout, Rega P5, Pro-Ject Xperience, etc. Been holding off on vinyl hardware to see how the hi-def downloads market goes, ever since my trusty old Dual 1229Q had its final flight. That old bird was the inverse of simplicity, an alternate fashion of elegance, sorely missed by my vinyls.

Stephen Scharf's picture

I have a Concept and it is a fantastic TT for the money. Most importantly, it sounds like music. The arm is fantastic, and IMO, worth $1500 alone. Hands down the best TT for $1500 or under and it punches way above it's weight class; sounds better than a P5 and a Scout if you ask me; almost as good as my Michell Gyro SE MKII/SME V deck. Fremer's review is accurate, and if he says the Concept doesn't plumb the depths of detail and weight of LPs the way the best TTs do, it's beause those TTs cost 20X to 100X as much as a Concept. Remember, his reference is a Continuum Caliburn, for goodness sake. 

Compared to your Dual, it will rip the arms and legs off your Dual, and blow the rest into the weeds. 

WillWeber's picture

Thanks Stephen for your feedback,

You do point to my problem with Mr. Fremer's review. His bar is so high that nothing without rockets can scale over. I'm sure he is accurate, but he does not compare the table to earthly models. However, I am glad he was assigned this review, that alone is an indication of the respect that the Concept must have among the staff, and if he has only minor complaints that's quite significant. And yup, I didn't expect that my 35 year old Dual would compete (now defunct, already dismembered after encountering a careless piano tuner) . You see, I was not planning on spending big to replace my analog rig until the HD digital market shakes out. But this new table may change the equation, and has me rethinking. Your comments are helpful.

What cartridge did you put on your Concept?

Cheers,

Will

Stephen Scharf's picture

Hi Will, 

My Concept is actually a dedicated mono only deck, so I am using a Grado Reference Sonata1 mono cartridge on it. I have heard it with my stereo Grado Reference Sonata (not the 1 series) and it was very good with that, dynamic, full, punchy with excellent bass and very musical but not the last word in detail. The 1-series Grados are even better, so I expect a Grado Reference Sonata1 stereo cart would also be excellent (the newest series 1 Grados have much better detail, smoothness and upper octave air, a big improvement over the original series). The Concept is also reputed to work very well with the Clearaudio Maestro Wood, and the Benz wood-bodied moving coils, so I expect any of those would be a great match. I also expect it would work well with one of the Soundsmith wood-bodied moving iron designs that have a medium compliance cantilever. 

Get it; you will not be disappointed. It's a *killer* table for the money. 

 

Cheers,

Stephen.

WillWeber's picture

Thanks Stephen,

The Maestro and the Benz Woods are actually at the top of my list. Nice to have some confirmation about this. Here we apparently have one of the "best" MM compared to a very fine MC, my amp can take either. Wish I could audition them on my system. It's very detailed and revealing, yet smooth as silk, musical transcendance. It would not be satisfied with lesser groove moves.

Interesting news about the new series Grados, I am not so keen on the traditional Grado softness. So I will check out the latest.

Tunefully,

Will

Et Quelle's picture

Maybe with a cart that cost more than the table, you will experience that slam. Isn't a table just a set for a cart to perform? Goldring Legacy or Transfiguration Axia?

allhifi's picture

Fremsy: Good call on the extremely easy to identify dynamic range shifts (particularly macro) regarding analog/tables vs. CD.

This was particularly true throughout the first 20-years of CDP's.
In early 1990, I vividly recall pointing this out to a local (well-known) loudspeaker company CEO who shot back; CD's are 90 db.vs. 50-60 db analog he rehashed spec sheet numbers.
What an A-Hole; and deaf as can be, didn't even realize his new "Reference" line of loudspeakers (just being introduced) was out-of-phase at the hi-fi store I worked.

In any case, later it was found that CD only had its 90-db dynamic range when going from zero signal to 0 dbu; when/if music was rolling along, and a naturally occurring jump in level arrived, the dynamic range was disturbingly poor -as could readily be detected by ear.

That it remains the same (2011 -the review date) rather surprises me; CD/digital sources I've found benefit immensely when powered by ultra-clean AC power Re-Gen., or at the least a Balanced/Symmetrical AC power supply.

Yet even so, I'd imagine vinyl replay remains truly impressive in the natural dynamics/sound-stage departments.

peter jasz

allhifi's picture

Fremsy: Good call on the extremely easy to identify dynamic range shifts (particularly macro) regarding analog/tables vs. CD.

This was particularly true throughout the first 20-years of CDP's.
In early 1990, I vividly recall pointing this out to a local (well-known) loudspeaker company CEO who shot back; CD's are 90 db.vs. 50-60 db analog he rehashed spec sheet numbers.
What an A-Hole; and deaf as can be, didn't even realize his new "Reference" line of loudspeakers (just being introduced) was out-of-phase at the hi-fi store I worked.

In any case, later it was found that CD only had its 90-db dynamic range when going from zero signal to 0 dbu; when/if music was rolling along, and a naturally occurring jump in level arrived, the dynamic range was disturbingly poor -as could readily be detected by ear.

That it remains the same (2011 -the review date) rather surprises me; CD/digital sources I've found benefit immensely when powered by ultra-clean AC power Re-Gen., or at the least a Balanced/Symmetrical AC power supply.

Yet even so, I'd imagine vinyl replay remains truly impressive in the natural dynamics/sound-stage departments.

peter jasz

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