Over a longer time scale, cars seem divisible into two groups following…
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For roughly the same amount of money, you can buy a new Toyota Camry or a used mid-sized Mercedes-Benz sedan. The new car has several things going in its favor: no one else has ever driven it, smoked in it, or ferried dogs and kids and fast-food leavings in it, and it comes with a fresh warranty and the latest safety equipment. But the used Mercedes has other things in its favor: having started with a much larger "build budget," it is, simply, more car for the money all around—you just have to pick a good one.
Much has happened in the analog world since I reviewed SME's flagship Model 30/2 turntable for the March 2003 Stereophile (footnote 1). Back then, spending $25,000 on a turntable (without tonearm) was an odd extravagance intended only for those seriously committed to the format, and who already owned large LP collections. Although new LPs were being pressed in growing numbers, the resurgence of vinyl was still spotty, and the long-term prognosis for the old medium remained in question.
Not any more. In 2009, we're in the midst of an explosion of new vinyl capable of vaporizing…
What I wrote in 2003 of the Model 30/2's build quality and fit'n'finish is also true of the 20/12: "The machining quality of the proprietary setup tools and the smoothness and unfailing certainty with which the various locking screws rotate in their threaded sockets—not to mention the feel of the unlocking mechanisms—enhanced my confidence that the buyer's money will be well spent. The 30/2 is an heirloom product meant to be enjoyed and passed down from generation to generation."
No-nonsense engineering
Because playing records is all about turning mechanical into electrical energy…
Another issue worth considering is the dynamic behavior of a longer, higher-mass tonearm. A longer arm's moment of inertia is greater. It takes the longer arm more time to react to a warp or eccentricity, and more to "settle" again afterward. Applied in moderation, damping, like a car's shock absorbers, can limit excursions and help control arm behavior.
Longer arms require less of an offset angle, which means there's less skating, but there still is some; some means of applying an antiskating force is still required. SME implements it with a tension spring and filament.
To sum…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Belt-driven turntable with fluid-damped O-ring suspension and three-phase, eight-pole motor with electronic controller. Speeds: 33.33, 45, 78rpm, all adjustable. Wow & flutter, rumble: not specified. Includes soft dustcover, tools, gauges, strobe disc, other accessories.
Dimensions: Turntable: 20.5" (520mm) W by 6.9" (175mm) H by 14.8" (375mm) D. Weight: 78 lbs (35.5kg). Tonearm: 12" (308.19mm) effective length. Weight: 0.42 oz (12gm).
Serial Number Of Unit Reviewed: 001.
Price: $28,000 with 312S tonearm. Approximate number of dealers:…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn, Cobra, & Castellon turntable, tonearm, & stand; VPI Super Scoutmaster Reference turntable, Graham Phantom tonearm; Lyra Titan i, Clearaudio Goldfinger, MySonic Hyper Eminent cartridges.
Digital Sources: Musical Fidelity kW DM 25 transport & DAC, Cary CD 306 Professional Version SACD player, BPT-modified Alesis Masterlink hard-disk recorder, Sooloos music server.
Preamplification: Manley Steelhead, Einstein Turntable's Choice, Audia Flight Phono phono preamplifiers; darTZeel NHB-18NS…
The speed with which audiophiles have adopted a computer of some sort as their primary source of recorded music might be thought breathtaking. But with the ubiquitous Apple iPod painlessly persuading people to get used to the idea of storing their music libraries on computer hard drives, the next logical step was to access those libraries in listening rooms as well as on the move. A few months back, I wrote a basic guide to the various strategies for getting the best sound from a computer: "Music Served: Extracting Music from your PC." Since then, Minnesota manufacturer Bel Canto Design has…
USB-sourced audio data do not necessarily have low jitter, though Bel Canto does claim that the USB Link 24/96 offers low-jitter clock recovery from the USB data (footnote 3). This may be a moot point with the Benchmark and Bel Canto D/A processors, of course, which are modern designs featuring superb rejection of timing errors in the datastreams they're fed. But what about older products? I retrieved from storage a sample of the Assemblage DAC-1 that I'd built from a Parts Connection kit in early 1995, when we published a review by Wes Phillips (Vol.18 No.4). Costing $449 back then, the…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Bus-powered USB-S/PDIF converter for use with PCs and Macs (no third-party driver software required). Input: USB 1.1–compliant, Type B. Output: S/PDIF electrical on BNC jack. Sample rates supported: 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96kHz. Input bit depth: 16–24. Output bit depth: 24. Supplied accessory: 9" Stereovox XV2 BNC/BCN S/PDIF datalink with one BNC/RCA adapter.
Dimensions: 2.2" (56mm) W by 1" (25.4mm) H by 4.2" (107mm) D (including BNC jack). Weight: coupla ounces, tops.
Finish: aluminum, black plastic.
Serial Number Of Unit Reviewed: L-018.
Price…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Ayre C-5xe universal player; Benchmark DAC1, Bel Canto e.One DAC3, Assemblage DAC-1 D/A converters; E-Mu 0404 USB, M-Audio Transit USB, dCS 972 digital format converters; G4 Mac mini running OS10.4.11, Dual-Core Pentium PC running Windows XP SP3.
Preamplifiers: Simaudio Moon Evolution P-7, Parasound Halo JC 2.
Power Amplifiers: Musical Fidelity 750K Supercharger monoblocks, Simaudio Moon Evolution W-7.
Loudspeakers: Revel Ultima Salon2.
Cables: Digital: Kimber Illuminations Orchid AES/EBU, Stereovox XV2 electrical S/PDIF.…