I have a friend named Yale, a record producer, who lives in a capacious, art-filled SoHo loft with enormous windows, craggy wood floors, and a high, tin-tiled ceiling. I enjoy Yale's company because he has extraordinarily diverse, highly evolved taste in music, art, architecture, books, home furnishings, and hi-fi equipment.
In one part of Yale's loft, a…
Unless you buy the Solid9's optional electrical controller (above), changing speeds is a purely mechanical, "gearbox" operation: Move the stainless steel rod on the right side of the platter's edge outward, away from the platter and its bolted-down 33rpm stop and toward its 45rpm stop. How many turntables do you know that lock in the correct rotational speed with a steel bar, a cap screw, and a wrench?
Fortunately for Peter Reinders and his customers, Lenco sold millions of turntables, and the design of their motor changed little over time. So there are plenty of 'tables out…
And talk about turntables! From the entry-level $1499 Cliffwood to the top-of-the-line $104,000 Vanquish (found under the website's "VPI Luxury" page, accompanied by the…
Description: Two-speed, direct-drive turntable with 3D-printed 12" FatBoy Gimbal tonearm. Platter: Aluminum and acrylic, 25lb. Motor type: ThinGap direct-drive. Motor torque: 2.68Nm/s. Startup time: 1s. Speed monitoring: 2500 pulses/revolution.
Dimensions: 18.5" (470mm) W × 10" (254mm) H × 17" (432mm) D. Weight: 75lb (34.1kg).
Serial number of unit reviewed: Not assigned. Designed and manufactured in the US.
Price: $36,000. Approximate number of US dealers: 70. Warranty: 10 years.
Manufacturer: VPI Industries, 77 Cliffwood Ave., #5D, Cliffwood, NJ…
Analog sources: Kuzma Stabi R turntable; 4Point tonearm; Clearaudio Panzerholz, Ortofon Verismo, VPI Shyla cartridges.
Preamplifiers: Shindo Allegro, Miyajima WO-1, Manley Steelhead RC phono preamplifier, Sculpture A Mini Nano SUT, Auditorium 23 SUT.
Power amplifier: Shindo Haut-Brion.
Loudspeakers: DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/96, Volti Audio Razz.
Cables: Interconnects: Triode Wire Labs Spirit II (RCA), Analysis Plus Silver Apex (RCA), Shindo (RCA). Speaker: Analysis Plus Silver Apex Speaker (bananas). AC: Triode Wire Labs Obsession NCF.…
While Technics certainly fired the starting pistol on the 21st century's fledgling direct-drive revolution, VPI was still quick out of the blocks with its belt-free HW-40 40th Anniversary. The Avenger Direct uses the same nonferrous motor design with its claimed 2.68Nm/s torque, bringing the 24lb (11kg) platter, complete with peripheral ring clamp, up…
DSD? The DirectStream's D/A conversion engine, designed by former…
The DirectStream MK2's maximum output level is 2.3dB higher than that of the original DirectStream, so after switching to the new DAC, I matched its level to within 0.3dB with the 1kHz warble tone at –20dBFS on Stereophile's Editor's Choice CD (STPH016-2). Playing Attention Screen's Live at…
Description: Solid state D/A processor with volume control. Digital inputs: 2 AES3, 1 TosLink, 1 coaxial S/PDIF, 2 I2S on HDMI, USB Type B. Ports: Ethernet (RJ45), USB Type A. Analog outputs: 1 pair balanced (XLR), 1 pair unbalanced (RCA). Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz, ±0.25dB. Channel separation: not specified. THD+noise:<0.1% (1kHz full-scale). Maximum output level: 4V RMS (balanced), 2V RMS (unbalanced). Output impedance: <200 ohms (balanced), <100 ohms (unbalanced). Power consumption: 25W. Supplied accessories: AC cord, remote control.
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