Turntables are a particularly highly contested niche in hi-fi’s arena of items that aspire to be ‘the greatest.’ Others claim it’s a Garrard, Roksan, Oxford Acoustics, Voyd, Pink Triangle, SME, Oracle, or Continuum, while others swear it’s a Garrard, Roksan, Oxford Acoustics, Voyd, Pink Triangle, SME, Oracle, or Continuum. The Goldmund Reference, on the other […]
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The Amplification and Recording Company of Cambridge (A&R Cambridge, later ARCAM) began work on a line of high-quality inexpensive moving magnet cartridges not long after introducing its award-winning A60 integrated amplifier. The P77, which cost £45 in 1977 and featured a (then) trendy parabolic (extended line contact) stylus, was the first to reach retailers. The
Few people have ever seen or heard of this piece of Plexiglas perfection, which first debuted in the mid-1970s. It was allegedly designed and constructed by IMF Electronics, and a deeper examination reveals why… The deck featured an electronic speed controller to drive the split-level podule platter through a fine rubber belt, which was unusual
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Sure, it’s a beautiful nation, but it’s not the first location that comes to mind when you think of hi-fi pickup arms. New Zealand, on the other hand, is full of surprises, including the Design Build Listen Wand tonearm. Designer Simon Brown has created an intriguing product that reminds us that there are few new
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The Honda Civic of cartridges has arrived. There are better ones, there are worse ones, but you always know what you’re getting – a quality product that does the job you bought it for. It’s neither flashy or very entertaining, but it’s competent, surprisingly sophisticated, and excellent value for money. As a result, it has
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For audiophiles of a particular generation, the term “direct-drive” conjures up images of a whole generation of cheap, poor Japanese turntables that swamped mass market retailers like Laskys and Comet in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The British hi-fi press did not have much good to say about them at the time. There was
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The DV505 was released by Dynavector, a modest Japanese technical firm, and it shook the hi-fi world. Instead of the normal sales pitch, the company revealed the results of its considerable engineering research into tonearm shape and resonance characteristics. The world took notice quickly, and the DV505 went on to win the Design and Engineering
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The year is 1987, and Compact Disc is on the rise. Turntables and LPs are rapidly disappearing from high streets and shopping malls, with the new digital silver taking their place. The term “death of vinyl” is being bandied about, and hi-fi journals are warming to the concept. You could assume that now isn’t the
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There aren’t many cartridges that are as divisive as this one. Some people say it has a magical, natural melody that is simply not available in any other pick-up. Others believe it is an out-of-date old bruiser that is absolutely out of its element in today’s world. After owning many variations, all of which were
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People are only now realizing the importance of a turntable plinth. A hefty plinth that stores mechanical energy like a mechanical capacitor should be avoided on any deck with an independently sprung subchassis; instead, it should be light. The issue is that light items aren’t always strong, which is why firms like Linn have typically
