Turntable Reviews

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Turntable Reviews
European Audio Team C-Dur Turntable
Ken Micallef  |  Jun 26, 2023  |  3 comments

When you take a closer look at the lineup of gear available from Austrian manufacturer European Audio Team — perhaps better known by their more precise acronym, E.A.T. — you’ll find beautiful electro-mechanical designs reflected in graceful lines, unusual exterior choices, and well-appointed materials. Read Ken Micallef’s review to find out if E.A.T.’s latest offering, the C-Dur turntable, is able to match natural, nuanced, and detailed sound with the company’s equally outstanding design acumen. . .

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Analog Gear NewsTonearm ReviewsTurntable Reviews
Exclusive: One Week With Technics' New SL-1000R Direct Drive Turntable (See update posted 2/21/18)
Michael Fremer  |  Jan 30, 2018  |  139 comments
Shortly after the conclusion of the 2018 International Consumer Electronics Show, Technics CTO/Chief Engineer Tetsuya (Tony) Itan, Yoshiyuki Sumida, Assistant Manager Technics Team, and Technics Business Development Manager Bill Voss brought over and installed the new Technics SL-1000R turntable and tone arm for a week's stay. While this was a pre-production sample and not suitable for a full review, I thought you would be interested in first impressions that is not a review.

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Turntable Reviews
Fluance’s RT85 Turntable Is a High Value Proposition
Michael Fremer  |  Jan 31, 2020  |  30 comments
Canada-based Fluance’s $250 RT81 reviewed here a little over three years ago was a pleasant surprise. It offered reasonably good mechanical and sonic performance as well as useful convenience features and attractive looks. Fluance’s new RT85 Reference turntable doubles the cost to $499.95. Is it twice as good?

It doesn’t take a turntable forensic genius to note that the RT81 is manufactured at the same Taiwanese factory that produced the $1099.99 Thorens TD 402 Direct Drive Semi-Automatic turntable that back in November took a review beating here.

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Turntable Reviews
Gearbox’s Vinyl “Compact Disc” Player
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 27, 2018  |  13 comments
U.K. based Gearbox, best known for its restored vintage all-tubed Westrex mastering system (Haeco Scully lathe with Westrex RA1700 series amps, Westrex 3DIIA cutting head and Telefunken U73B tube limiter) and eclectic all-analog vinyl record catalog recently entered the hardware business with this cool “compact disc” player it calls “The Gearbox Automatic” though it’s a manual player.

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Tonearm ReviewsTurntable Reviews
Gem Dandy's PolyTable Signature And Sorane TA-1L Tonearm
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 29, 2020  |  26 comments
With all due respect to Gem Dandy’s new PolyTable Signature “layer cake” of a “two tiered” turntable, the bigger news here is the Sorane TA-1L tonearm George Merrill chose to package with his new turntable. Why is the Sorane news? Because it’s the possible successor to now defunct Jelco. But first, the new $2995 (not including arm) turntable, which, for sure, is also news.

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Turntable Reviews
Grand Prix Audio Monaco direct-drive turntable
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 15, 2007  |  0 comments
Conceptually audacious, elegantly designed, executed with space-age precision, and remarkably compact, Grand Prix Audio's direct-drive Monaco turntable ($19,500) aims to turn the tables on the belt-drive designs that have dominated analog playback for three decades.
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Turntable Reviews
How Low Can You Go? Pro-Ject's $299 Essential Turntable
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 30, 2012  |  9 comments
Pro-Ject's $299 Essential costs 25% less than the recently reviewed Carbon. So what don'tyou get for your minus $100?

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Turntable ReviewsTonearm Reviews
Kuzma Stabi XL turntable & Air Line tonearm
Michael Fremer  |  Apr 22, 2007  |  0 comments
Almost immediately on entering the analog marketplace in 1982, Franc Kuzma, a mechanical engineer based in Slovenia, then part of the former Yugoslavia, established a reputation for manufacturing finely engineered, high-performance products that sold at reasonable prices. Kuzma's early industrial designs, however, while serviceable, looked less than distinguished.
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Turntable Reviews
Legendary Gale GT 2101 Appears At My Door
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 13, 2012  |  9 comments
An Analogplanet.com reader emailed to ask if I'd like to spend a week with his Gale turntable. I knew the Gale loudspeaker from the 1970s but was unfamiliar with the turntable so I figured, "why not"?

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Turntable Reviews
Linn LP Playing System
Michael Fremer  |  Nov 30, 2003  |  0 comments
Long before the Swedes at Ikea did it, the singular Scotsman Ivor Tiefenbrun began giving his products funny-sounding names. For some reason positively phobic about the letter c, he banned its use in any of those names. Someone once told me his real last name is Tiefencrun, but since it wouldn't sound any different with a k, he settled for a b. "I could have been Ivor Tiefendrun, or Tiefenfrun, or Tiefengrun, for that matter," he's quoted as having said once while krunching a krakker.
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Turntable Reviews
Michell TecnoDec Reference Turntable
Ken Micallef  |  Sep 11, 2023  |  12 comments

Michell’s TecnoDec Reference turntable fits right into the sweet spot of new, high-performance ‘tables available in the $2,000-to-$3,000 SRP range. Read on to see why our ace reviewer Ken Micallef thinks the TecnoDec is one of the best turntables he’s reviewed in the past decade. . .

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Turntable Reviews
Music Hall Introduces its "Stealth" Direct Drive Turntable
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 25, 2021  |  27 comments
The late and great comedian Jackie Mason once quipped “You know who invented sushi? Not the Japanese! Jews invented sushi! Who else would figure out a way to open a restaurant without having to invest in a kitchen?

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Turntable Reviews
Music Hall's MMF-11.1 Top of the Line Turntable
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 03, 2014  |  11 comments
It’s no secret that Pro-Ject builds Music Hall turntables to Music Hall’s specifications and design parameters using mostly “off the Pro-Ject shelf” mechanical components. Before getting to the 11.1, perhaps you are wondering why Pro-Ject would want to compete with itself.

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Turntable Reviews
New Limited Edition Technics SL-1210GAE Looks and Sounds Great
Michael Fremer  |  Jun 08, 2020  |  25 comments
In the blink of a vinyl resurgence Technics went from retiring in 2010 the venerable SL-1200 turntable to resurrecting it six years later with two all new “Grand Class” 1200s aimed not at the DJ market as was the original 1200, but at audiophiles.

The limited to 1200 units SL-1200GAE quickly sold out. In 2017 we reviewed the SL-1200G, which other than having a different magnesium tone arm finish and minus a plaque was identical to the limited edition SL-1200GAE.

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Turntable Reviews
Onkyo's CP-1050 Direct Drive Turntable Offers Extraordinary Speed Stability, Attractive "Retro" Looks
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 21, 2015  |  21 comments
Even had the purchase by Onkyo of Pioneer Home Electronics not been made public, some kind of connection would have been obvious to anyone opening the boxes of this Onkyo CP-1050 turntable and the recently reviewed Pioneer PL-30-K turntable.

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