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Hanss Acoustics T-30 turntable

Revolver? More like evolver: 80 years after the first electrically driven record players became available, professional and amateur engineers continue to seek new ways to spin LPs with ever-greater steadiness and precision.

Greater isolation, too: During that time, designers have used a variety of things to keep unwanted vibrations from sullying the marriage of needle and groove, ranging from felt washers and rubber grommets to metal springs to elastic belts to nothing at all. A multinational company called Hanss Acoustics (footnote 1) is among the latest to try their hand at…

Hanss Acoustics T-30 turntable Page 2

So I was doubly surprised that the Hanss T-30, which I used during the latter half of summer 2009, was supremely immune to footfalls. Normal foot travel never—and I mean never—displaced the stylus, or created even an untoward noise. Jumping up and down on the floor next to the rack made itself known as only a small and temporary variation in speed: a bit of warble, for want of a better word. The only way I could get the needle away from the groove was to lift the tonearm. Read into that what you will. I was impressed.

Happily, the Hanss T-30 played music well, too, with a consistently…

Hanss Acoustics T-30 turntable Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Two-speed belt-drive turntable with 2 AC synchronous motors, 2 tonearm mounts, 1 outboard power supply. Speeds: 33.3rpm, 45rpm. Wow, flutter, rumble: unspecified.
Dimensions: 24.8" (635mm) W by 8.7" (222mm) H by 17" (435mm) D. Weight: 83.2 lbs (37.8kg).
Serial Number Of Unit Reviewed: A07093396.
Price: $4600. Approximate number of dealers: 5.
Manufacturer: Hanss Acoustics Co., Ltd., 1/F Kim Hing Mansion, 49-51 Kimberly Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Web: www.hanssacoustics.com. US distributor: The Lotus Group, 92B Hamilton…

Hanss Acoustics T-30 turntable Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Analog Sources: Thorens TD-124 Mk.II turntable; EMT 997 tonearm; Shindo SPU, Ortofon SPU 90th Anniversary, EMT OFD 25 & OFD 65, Miyabi 47, Grace F9E cartridges.
Digital Sources: Sony SCD-777ES SACD/CD player, HRT Music Streamer+, Ayre Acoustics QB-9 USB DACs (with Apple iMac).
Preamplification: Auditorium 23 Hommage T1 step-up transformer, Shindo Masseto preamplifier.
Power Amplifiers: Shindo Haut-Brion; Shindo Corton-Charlemagne, PrimaLuna DiaLogue Seven (both monoblocks).
Loudspeakers: Audio Note AN-E/SPe HE, Wilson Audio Specialties…

RealTraps room treatments

In the beginning, I had a room adjacent to my office—a room filled with bicycles, hi-fi gear, and assorted crap I'd never gotten around unpacking since our last move. Feeling ambitious, I thought I might turn it into a guest room, and emptied it.

It wasn't a large room (15' L by 9' W by 7' H), and, looking at it empty, I realized that by the time I'd installed a queen bed in there, there wouldn't be tons of space left for any other function—and besides, how often did guests sleep over? So I did what any audiophile would do: I decided to turn it into a dedicated if economy-size…

RealTraps room treatments Page 2

One problem remained: the room is small. Only 9' wide, it limited the amount of space I could leave between the speakers, which meant I had to listen in the quasi-nearfield, the speakers toed-in in an attempt to ameliorate the first wall reflections. Winer had a solution for that, too: two of RealTraps' RFZ Panels. (RFZ stands for Reflection Free Zone.)

Each RFZ Panel ($249.99) measures 42" H by 32" W by 2.25" D and has a beveled frame, so it almost disappears when mounted on a sidewall—preferably at around that wall's first-reflection point. The RFZ Panel also absorbs bass—a bit less…

RealTraps room treatments Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Panels intended acoustic room treatment.
MondoTrap: Dimensions: 57" (1460mm) H by 24" (615mm) W by 4.25" (110mm) D. Weight: 28 lbs (12.7kg). Price: $299.99 each. (RealTraps Stand costs $89 each.)
MiniTrap: Dimensions: 48" (1230mm) W by 24" (615mm) H by 3.25" (83mm) W. Weight: 18 lbs (8.2kg). Price: $199.99 each.
RFZ Panel: Dimensions: 42" (1075mm) H by 32" (820mm) W by 2" (50mm) D. Weight: 15 lbs (6.8kg). Price: $249.99 each.
Manufacturer: RealTraps, LLC, 34 Cedar Vale Drive, New Milford, CT 06776. Tel: (866) 732-5872, (860) 210-1870.…

RealTraps room treatments Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Digital Sources: Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP universal player; Bel Canto e.One DAC3 D/A converter; McIntosh MS750 music server; Muse Polyhymnia universal player.
Preamplifiers: Ayre Acoustics K-1xe, Conrad-Johnson ACT2.
Power Amplifiers: Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 300, Moscode 402AU.
Integrated Amplifier: Ayre Acoustics AX-7e.
Loudspeakers: Dynaudio Special 25, Thiel CS3.7, Usher Audio Technology Be-718.
Cables: Interconnect: Shunyata Research Aries & Antares. Speaker: Shunyata Research Lyra.
Accessories: Ayre Acoustics L-5xe line filter,…

Canned Music

Everyone knows music is a good thing. More than merely good, it appears to meet some kind of human need, because every race in every land has a musical tradition going back to before recorded or recounted history. Some of their music may not seem like music to our unsophisticated ears, but as soon as someone discovered that two sticks of different sizes produced different pitches when struck on a venerated ancestor's skull, he advanced beyond mere rhythm to what must be considered music. (Two sticks would, presumably, play binary music: the first precursor of digital sound.) In fact, were…

Recording Rules for Orchestras

During my recent interview with the Sheffield Lab people in connection with their Moscow recording sessions (Vol.10 No.3), both Lincoln Mayorga and Doug Sax had some unkind things to say about the cost of recording an orchestra in the US. Their complaints are justified. It costs more to record in the US than anywhere else in the world, and these astronomical costs are detrimental both to symphonic music in the US and to the audiophile's pursuit of sonic perfection.

Orchestral music is the justification for high-end audio—its raison d'être. The sound of a real, live orchestra letting…