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Grand Prix Audio Monaco direct-drive turntable

Conceptually audacious, elegantly designed, executed with space-age precision, and remarkably compact, Grand Prix Audio's direct-drive Monaco turntable ($19,500) aims to turn the tables on the belt-drive designs that have dominated analog playback for three decades.

Beginning with the proverbial clean sheet of paper, designer and project manager Alvin Lloyd leveraged his background in race-car fabrication to create his vision of the ideal 21st-century turntable. He's used modern materials and computer-based motion-control systems to meet the goals of any turntable: to provide a…

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The platter-spindle-and-bearing assembly is immersed in an oil bath. The stainless-steel spindle shaft rides in a solid, single-piece bearing/mount structure of phosphor bronze. The vertical load is supported by a high-precision silicon-nitride ceramic ball riding on a bearing pad of a proprietary alloy chosen after careful listening to many different materials.

The Monaco's DSP-based motor controller is housed in a separate enclosure and connects via umbilical to a multi-pin Lemo jack fitted neatly inside a carbon-fiber cylinder that juts from the rear of the Monaco's plinth, below and…

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When the oil level is within a hair of full, the turntable can be operated and records played. In fact, the platter should be left spinning continuously for the next three days, during which time the oil level must be carefully monitored, and more oil added as needed. After that, the holes should be covered with stick-on pads (supplied). Nothing else need be done. However, should you then move the Monaco, you'll need to first remove some of the oil or else risk a messy spill. And if you overfill the well during initial setup, the oil will run down the side of the bearing structure and out…

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But after I'd spent some time with the Monaco, its somewhat cool, aloof personality and less-than-generous harmonic and textural presentation became evident. Its dry, tight sound will immediately appeal to some listeners, especially those used to a 'table with uncertain speed control or one that retains and reflects energy back through the system to produce a sloppy, boring warmth. For them, the Monaco's clarity, rhythmic organization, and jet-black backdrops will be breathtaking.

Forget about better or worse: the Monaco's direct-drive system sounded different from belt drive. Was that…

Grand Prix Audio Monaco direct-drive turntable Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Direct-drive, suspensionless turntable with DSP-controlled, brushless, 12-pole, DC motor. Speeds: 331/3rpm, 45rpm, each variable by up to ±1%, in 0.2% increments. Speed accuracy: better than 0.002% peak deviation from average speed, or a calculated 0.0014% RMS based on three-sigma statistical protocol. Wow & flutter: <0.002%. Rumble: not specified.
Dimensions: Turntable side-by-side with power supply, 24" (615mm) W by 8" (205mm) H (including feet) by 15.5" (400mm) D. Turntable alone is approximately 13" in diameter, plus the tonearm mount…

Grand Prix Audio Monaco direct-drive turntable Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Analog Sources: Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn turntable & Cobra tonearm; Merrill MS-21 turntable; Graham Phantom B-44, Triplanar tonearms; Lyra Titan, Air Tight PC-1, Koetsu Vermillion cartridges.
Digital Sources: Musical Fidelity kW DM25 DAC & CD transport, Musical Fidelity kW SACD player; Esoteric SA-60 universal player; BPT-modified Alesis Masterlink hard-disk recorder.
Preamplification: Manley Steelhead, Einstein Turntable's Choice phono preamplifiers; darTZeel NHB-18NS preamplifier.
Power Amplifiers: Musical Fidelity kW monoblocks.…

Placette Active Linestage preamplifier

A friend once described my audio ethos as "records, tubes, big amplifiers, and really big speakers"—I always picked warmth and musicality over antiseptic neutrality, even if the former came with a few extra colors in the tonal palette. Had I listed my criteria for an audio component, transparency wouldn't have been near the top, and might not have been listed at all.

But a little over three years ago, my pursuit of audio nirvana veered sharply off its previous trajectory. Placette Audio's unassuming little Remote Volume Control changed all. The experience was eye-opening and jaw…

Placette Active Linestage preamplifier Page 2

The effects of the Placette's focus and clarity were easy to trace to individual performers—if I tried to do so—or to minute details in the recording environment. Small and low-level details were sometimes more obvious with other preamps, however, which could give simply recorded live performances more energy and life. I noted that, with Townes Van Zandt's performance of his "Pancho and Lefty" on the benefit concert recording Steve Earle/Townes Van Zandt/Guy Clark Together at the Bluebird Café (CD, American Originals SDPCD161), the Sutherland DLS infused the sound with an immediacy that…

Placette Active Linestage preamplifier Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Remote-controlled, unity-gain, line-stage preamplifier. Inputs: 5 unbalanced (RCA), 1 tape loop. Outputs: 2 unbalanced (RCA), headphone (½" phone jack). Input impedance: 18k ohms. Output impedance: 10 ohms. Volume attenuation: 2 ranges separated by 15dB, each 126 discrete steps.
Dimensions: 19" (483mm) W by 5" (127mm) H by 16.25" (413mm) D. Shipping weight: 33 lbs (15kg).
Serial Number Of Unit Reviewed: SN 0540.
Price: $6995. Approximate number of dealers: factory-direct only. Warranty: lifetime, parts & labor; 30-day refund policy;…

Placette Active Linestage preamplifier Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Analog Sources: VPI HR-X turntable & tonearm; Lyra Titan, Grado Statement Reference cartridges.
Digital Sources: Simaudio Andromeda, Primare CD31 CD players.
Preamplification: Sutherland PhD phono stage; Halcro dm10, Sonic Euphoria PLC, Sutherland Direct Line Stage, VTL TL-7.5 preamplifiers.
Power Amplifiers: VTL Ichiban, Halcro dm58 & dm88, Mark Levinson No.20.6 monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio Specialties Sophia 1 & 2.
Cables: Interconnect: Stereovox SEI 600II. Speaker: Stereovox LSP-600C. Nordost Valhalla and Audience…