Turntable Reviews

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Rockport Technologies System III Sirius turntable and tonearm

Michael Fremer Aug 20, 2000 First Published: Aug 20, 2000 0 comments

Andy Payor hurls a briefcase full of engineering and scientific mumbo-jumbo at in an attempt to justify the $73,750 price of the latest and greatest edition of his Rockport Technologies turntable, but really—isn't this all-air-driven design a case of analog overkill? After all, defining a turntable's job seems rather easy: rotate the record at an exact and constant speed, and, for a linear tracker, put the stylus in play across the record surface so that it maintains precise tangency to a radius described across the groove surface. By definition, a pivoted arm can't do that, so the goal there is to minimize the deviation. That's basically it. Right?

Turntable Reviews

SME 10 turntable

Michael Fremer Apr 15, 2000 First Published: Apr 15, 2000 0 comments

What do you want from a 21st-century record-playing device? I hear you: you want one that's compact, well-made, easy to set up, holds its setup, sounds great, and doesn't cost a lot.

Turntable Reviews

Basis Debut Mk.V turntable

Michael Fremer Jul 30, 2006 First Published: Jan 30, 2000 0 comments

As it did for so many other designers and manufacturers of specialty audio gear, the current occupation of Basis owner/designer A.J. Conti began as a hobby and personal quest. A longtime audiophile and home-based dealer of brands like Krell and Quicksilver, Conti decided to build his own "killer" turntable using a fluid-damped suspension.

Turntable Reviews

Well Tempered Reference turntable

Brian Damkroger Apr 08, 2007 First Published: Aug 08, 1999 0 comments

"I've got the world on a string, sitting on the rainbow
Got the string around my finger, what a life, Mama, I'm in love.
Life's a beautiful thing, as long as I hold the string
I'd be a silly so-and-so if I should ever let you go."—Ted Koehler

Turntable Reviews

Rega Planar 25 turntable

Michael Fremer Mar 28, 1999 First Published: Mar 28, 1999 0 comments

I literally dropped everything when Rega's new Planar 25 turntable arrived a few weeks ago. I'd heard the 'table compared with the Planar 3 at designer Roy Gandy's house when I visited Rega last fall—see "Analog Corner" in the January '99 Stereophile—and was anxious to audition it in my own system and tell you what I heard.

Tonearm Reviews Turntable Reviews

Wilson Benesch Full Circle turntable, ACT 0.5 tonearm, & Ply MC cartridge

Michael Fremer Aug 06, 2006 First Published: Nov 06, 1998 0 comments

"Hello, I'd like to apply for a Federal Grant? For what? Oh, to design and build a new, high-tech, very expensive turntable. What's that? It plays records. Yes, that kind of turntable. Of course they still make records. Why? How much time do you have? Oh, I forgot—you're a federal employee, you have all day! Well, I didn't mean to insult you. It was a joke....No, I'm serious about the turntable. You do? What kind of music? When are they from? RCA Record Club? Classical Music? 1950s and '60s? Yes. I'll give you $5 each. I know it's generous, but... How much money do I want for the grant? Coupla hundred thousand dollars. No, our turntables will never be used to play Marilyn Manson records—Marilyn doesn't do vinyl. It's in the mail? Thank you. I'll come get the LPs tonight."

Turntable Reviews Tonearm Reviews

Spotheim La Luce turntable and SpJ tonearm

Jonathan Scull Aug 06, 2006 First Published: Oct 06, 1998 0 comments

The La Luce turntable's elegant form usually stops audiophiles dead in their tracks. Then comes a long, low "Wow." I'm hardly immune myself. And that's not even considering the sound, which has always been wonderful, as it was in the Joseph Audio/Cardas room at CES '98.

Turntable Reviews

Simon Yorke Designs Series 7 Precision LP Playback System

Michael Fremer Sep 04, 2005 First Published: May 04, 1998 0 comments

"My original goal was simply to design a better turntable than the Linn because at that time in the UK, Ivor">http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/1101ivor">Ivor Tiefenbrun was the man—he was the patron saint and all that. And all the hi-fi mags were full of Linns. He did for turntables, in a way, what Mark Levinson (the man) did for amplifiers."

Turntable Reviews

Immedia RPM2 turntable

Wes Phillips Jun 26, 2005 First Published: Sep 01, 1997 0 comments

Okay, what does a turntable look like? Take your time—I'll wait. Dum de dum de dum dum dum... Oh, you're tired of this game already?

Tonearm Reviews Turntable Reviews

Kuzma Stabi turntable & Stogi tonearm

Guy Lemcoe Dec 14, 2017 First Published: May 01, 1995 0 comments

I first learned of the Kuzma Stogi at the 1993 Winter CES in Las Vegas. In VPI's room at the Sahara, a portly, black tonearm was sitting proudly atop the new VPI TNT Series 3 turntable. Pointing straight at me from the center of its massive, exceptionally stout frame was a tapered armtube the diameter of a swollen thumb. The fact that this unknown (to me) tonearm was chosen to sit atop a turntable as respected as the TNT told me I was looking at a serious new product. VPI's Harry Weisfeld was standing nearby, beaming as usual, to answer the barrage of questions that sprang from my lips as I leaned over for a closer inspection. Who? What? Where? When? Why? How much?