Mark Levinson No.5105 turntable Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Analog sources: Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn turntable with Castellon stand; OMA K3 direct-drive turntable, SAT CF1-09, CF1Ti-09, Schroeder/OMA, and Kuzma 4Point tonearms; HiFiction X-quisite ST, Lyra Atlas Λ Lambda SL, Ortofon MC Century, Anna Diamond, A95, and A90, Grado Epoch3 and Epoch Mono, and Miyajima Labs Infinity (mono) cartridges.
Digital sources: dCS Vivaldi One SACD player/DAC; Lynx Hilo A/D-D/A converter, Roon Nucleus+; Pure Vinyl and Vinyl Studio software.
Preamplifiers: darTZeel NHB-18NS preamplifier; Ypsilon MC-10L, MC-16L, phono step-up transformers; Ypsilon VPS-100, CH Precision P1 with X1 PSU, Hagerman Trumpet, iFi iPhono 3 phono preamplifiers.
Power amplifiers: darTZeel NHB 468 monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio Specialties Alexx and Chronosonic XVX.
Cables: Interconnect: TARA Labs Zero Evolution, Zero and Air Evolution, Analysis Plus Silver Apex, Stealth Sakra & Indra, Luminous Audio Technology Silver Reference. Speaker: AudioQuest Dragon, TARA Labs Omega EvolutionSP. AC: AudioQuest Dragon and Thunder, Dynamic Design Neutron GS Digital power cord.
Accessories: AudioQuest Niagara 7000 power conditioners; PS Audio Powerplant 20 and 15 AC regenerators; CAD GC1 and GC3 Ground Controls; Oyaide AC wall box & receptacles; ASC Tube Traps; RPG BAD, Skyline, and Abffusor panels; Stillpoints Aperture II panels; Synergistic Research UEF products (various); Symposium Ultra platform; HRS Signature SXR and Stillpoints ESS stands; Stillpoints and Finite Elemente Pagode amplifier stands; Audiodharma Cable Cooker; Furutech record demagnetizer; Furutech deStat; Loricraft PRC4 Deluxe, Audiodesksysteme Pro, and Kirmuss Audio KA-RC-1 record-cleaning machines.—Michael Fremer

COMPANY INFO
Mark Levinson
Harman International Industries
8500 Balboa Blvd.
Northridge, CA 91329
(888) 691-4171
ARTICLE CONTENTS

COMMENTS
davip's picture

Plastic motor pulley
Undecoupled motor
Plastic-wrapped plywood plinth (sorry, 'medium-density fibreboard')

$10K.
Absurd.

Mark Levinson, the OEM reseller of this sees buyers coming at that price. Is gluing two bits of Aluminium to fibreboard what passes for turntable engineering in this new century? Nope, it's just cheaper and easier to bolt a motor to a piece of plywood and bask in the profit-margin.

Thank heavens for Linn and SOTA...

mtrot's picture

$10k is the price for the 515. The retail price for this 5105 is $6000. Yes, the way reviews here are written does sometimes make it take a while to figure out what the actual price is of the item under review.

Jim Austin's picture

... in the Specifications sidebar.

Jim Austin, Editor
Stereophile

John Atkinson's picture
mtrot wrote:
...the way reviews here are written does sometimes make it take a while to figure out what the actual price is of the item under review.

As well as the price being listed on the Specifications page, as Jim Austin points out, Mikey discusses the price of the No.5105 in the paragraph beneath the photo in the section titled "The No.5105 turntable."

John Atkinson
Technical Editor, Stereophile

helomech's picture

It has an Acoustic Signature tonearm. The other giveaways are the square belt, pulley diameter, 13lb platter, and record weight.

shawnwes's picture

Speed control seems to be the one thing that many manufacturers need to work on. I get similar results to the "after the belt was cleaned" measurement Michael got from my 40 yr old Ariston RD11 Superieur on it's original motor.

I wish I could remember the table but I read one review recently of a budget table (well under $2k IIRC) that had rock solid speed control. In the ML snack bracket and higher I would expect the same.

Johnnyjajohnny's picture

Could it have been the Audio Technica AT-LP120-USB that Fremer reviewed on [Analog Planet]?
Otherwise, maybe another direct drive turntable, since their speed accuracy is generally far better than belt drives (with exceptions of course). I have a belt drive, but I'm considered going direct, just to get rid of that issue.

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