Description: Belt-drive turntable with ultra-MDF plinth, Delrin platter, 6061 aluminum alloy and stainless steel subplatter, AC synchronous motor, Conductor speed controller, 6061 aluminum isolation platform, IsoAcoustics GAIA IV feet, SS10 Record Isolator, tonearm.
Dimensions: 17" W × 6" H × 14" D. Weight: 45lb.
Finishes: High-gloss Quilted Maple and Piano Black; semigloss Santos Rosewood or Quarter Cut Walnut.
Serial number of unit reviewed: 21-143.
Tonearm: Origin Live Encounter dual-pivot aluminum-alloy. Length: 239mm; overhang: 17°; Pivot-to-spindle distance: 222mm; internal wiring: High-grade, copper Litz; tonearm cable: 6mm, hardwired Origin Live high-grade copper; recommended cartridge mass: 4.5–18gm.
Phono Cartridge: Stratos moving coil with duralumin (aluminum, copper, manganese alloy) body, copper coils, samarium cobalt magnet, aluminum cantilever, and micro-elliptical diamond stylus; stylus rake angle: 92°; internal impedance: 45 ohms; recommended tracking force: 1.9–2.1gm; output: 0.45mV; frequency range: 20Hz–40kHz; channel separation: 25dB; recommended loading: 100–500 ohms. Dynamic compliance: 12 × 10–6 cm/dyne.
Price: $9995 with Origin Live Encounter tonearm and IsoAcoustics GAIA feet. Stratos cartridge: $1995. Approximate number of US dealers: 14. Warranty: 2 years.
Manufacturer: Pure Fidelity, 102–6200 Darnley St., Burnaby, British Columbia V5B 3B1, Canada. Tel: (604) 528-1384. Email: sales@purefidelity.ca. Web: purefidelity.ca.
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COMMENTS
I bought an new AR Turntable in 1970 for $100 . No cartridge . It was excellent . That's about $750 now .
I have no desire to go back to vinyl , but the fact that everyone has lost their friggin' minds about what is "affordable" is fairly obvious .
Perhaps if you had sprung for the cartridge, you may have enjoyed your vinyl experience a bit more (I've heard turntables sound a smidge better with 'em) and your enjoyment would have been such that you would not have stopped in the first place.
As for the "affordability" aspect, I agree that $10K is not (affordable, that is - at least for me) but nowhere did I see the author state as such. There was a blurb about "a world-class table at real-world pricing" but that was the manufacturer.
The original AR-XA was an absolute bare bones turntable, with an arm of very limited performance. Today, for the equivalent outlay, you can get a vastly better turntable such as a Rega Planar 2 or Music Hall MMF-5.3.
I don't see any specs for wow and flutter. Nor was speed measured. Mikey used to measure speed for every review, so it's not like you can't do it.
Also, it's rubber band drive. I can spend $9k less and get a direct drive table that keeps speed rock solid.
Which anticipated you.
In this bottom-line world, where what matters most to many is cash, graphs, and statistics, joy, humanity, and the color and beauty of sound get short shrift.
“The RPM iPhone app measured the Harmony's speed as 33.45 rpm.”
is that a fancy word for HDF ???
nice looking TT all the same
Terje Rypdal's "To Be Continued" has Miroslav Vitus on bass, not Dave Holland. Miroslav has contributed several songs on this nice record, perhaps the best being "Morning Lake"; some of us know this ageless track from Weather Report's debut album from 1971, IIRC.
How did you manage to mount the cartridge with your eyes closed?
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