Dietrich Brakemeier's Apolyt Turntable Aims to be the World's Finest (And Most Expensive To Date)

Dietrich Brakemeier's gargantuan Apolyt turntable wows visually but more importantly, based on the description he appears to have gotten all of the design fundamentals 100% correct and equally well-optimized.

Brakemeier is already highly regarded for his Acoustical Systems Axiom tone arm design as well as his SMARTractor overhang set-up accessory.

Despite its size, the Apolyt turntable is a handsome, dramatic looking design in which Mr. Brakemeier seems to hit all of the right design notes in terms of system isolation, bearing and platter design and ultimate flexibility. Watch the video as he walks us through his creation. Despite the $200,000+ cost, he says he's already sold six of them: three to fellow Germans and three to customers in Asia.

COMMENTS
Anton D's picture

That's the turntable that the Phantom of the Opera would play records on.

JR465's picture

I KNEW it looked familiar!

Anton D's picture

Pay no attention to the man behind the platter.

JR465's picture

Thats just plain funny right there!

Bob Levin's picture

Part of me is thinking, "It's like Mamie Van Doren's Rolodex. Boy toy, flip, boy toy."
Another part is thinking, "If I could get the legs on that thing to bubble and change colors like an old Wurlitzer, I'd be on it like gin on vermouth."
Still another part of me says "Who gives a flock. I want one!"

Ktracho's picture

After seeing this video, I feel if I never saw any other video from Munich, I would be satisfied, despite the fact I will never be able to afford this.

mobileholmes's picture

It looks like the excessively rotund, or vertically challenged, might be unable to reach the record.

Anton D's picture

Figure over a quarter million to get it in place....for that price, you just have the help play your records for you.

Just sit back with a Romanee Conti and pick from amongst your 6 records.

mobileholmes's picture

I guess you are including both records in the 45 RPM sets.

Hergest's picture

Ah, the old 6 records myth. I've known quite a few people over the years with outstanding and often very expensive hi-fis and in every case they have had walls of records, thousands and thousands of them. I've read hundreds of articles on audiophiles, often with photos and in every case they have had thousands of records. I've never known anybody with a good hifi or read a single article ever with an audiophile who has hardly any records. The whole idea is plain silly.

Anton D's picture

You are right! Thousands of unplayed records is another way it plays out.

Those guys make for great estate sales!

"Owned by an audiophile" often = "unplayed."

You are dead right!

The only people who play fewer records than an audiophile with thousands of records is an audiophile with no records!

wao62's picture

Bring one home to mama for mother's day! The wife will love it!

Ortofan's picture

...want to trade in the Continuum Caliburn?

mycophile's picture

The caption to the video says “Apolyt Turntable Wows.” And flutters, too? Can’t tell, because the video only “talks about it” and doesn’t show it in the act of spinning an LP. Can we see it in action?

That also would show (as would be a journalist’s wont) if this contraption is functional, or just a mock-up (shades of the Wizard of Oz, indeed)!

Bob Levin's picture

I'm reasonably sure that all of us know where the term 'record player' ends and 'turntable' begins.
Are we at the point where we'll have to invent a new nomenclature to describe the Continuum, Apolyt, Air Force 1, et. al.?

OldschoolE's picture

That is one crazy table! I normally don't bother looking at stuff priced into outerspace, but I could not help but look at that thing. With that suspension all you need is wheels and you could drive it. Heck, you already have to use a key to start it!

VirginVinyl's picture

I think this table is ultra modern. It has that post German industrial look.

Anton D's picture

I hear they are paying the estate of Frizt Lang a royalty.

vqworks's picture

It's great that Dietrich chose to explain everything in detailed, objective, and scientific terms. At a price of $260K to $280K, you'd expect something great and Dietrich shows that he designed the turntable with an engineer's mind, as opposed to someone who was just tinkering with pretty materials.

The .5 Hz tuned isolation using a combination of mass and air suspension, floating platter with the sandwiched construction makes the pricey unit mouth-watering even to poor folks like me. The air gauges and key switch are very nice touches.

I do wonder, though, why Dietrich didn't choose to mount a tonearm that had its pivot point at the same plane as the record. It's not a big deal but it does make me wonder because he is obviously fanatical about detail and he implements so many fresh details in the design that other manufacturers haven't even acknowledged.

I'm also waiting for a manufacturer to resurrect the self-centering platter feature that Nakamichi used 30+ years ago.

Rudy's picture

>> I'm also waiting for a manufacturer to resurrect the self-centering platter feature that Nakamichi used 30+ years ago. <<

That would be cool. That would mean I wouldn't have to return one in three of the QRP-pressed records I buy. Or used to buy. Chad can't center a stamper to save his life.

vqworks's picture

It's actually surprising that more people don't mention this common issue.

So many pressings (the majority) are off-centered and this creates audible wow. I've experienced the same issue with most record labels' pressings.

Columbia's re-issue of Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue" and Horace Silver's "Song For My Father" are also shining examples. In other respects the sound quality is quite good but the off-centered holes just kill the experience.

For this issue alone, I've been frequently driven to use an old Dual 1268 turntable that has a removable spindle. I go through the pain of re-centering a lot of records by hand. Of course, you can say goodbye to any chance of using a record clamp to minimize any bass overhang.

readargos's picture

Perhaps I missed this in the video discussion, but is there vacuum hold-down or record clamping? As rigorously thought-through as the design is, I imagine clamping has been addressed, even if it did not come up in the video.

It's a beautiful concept. I wonder how long it takes the platter to get up to speed, considering double 45s are kind of the de rigueur hi-res vinyl format du jour.

readargos's picture

Also imagining the work it would take (and the system and the room and its structural support!) to do a fantasy face-off between, say, the Apolyt, the Rockport, the Clearaudio Statement v2, the Caliburn, the Acoustic Signature Invictus, the Air Force One, and the Kronos Pro. Maybe the Walker Black Diamond and VPI Direct Drive, too...

Must be a lot more interest in cars, since we do see fantasy face-offs between Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, and McLaren in the auto magazines. Of course, that gaggle of supercars probably costs less than a top flight audio system with 5+ state-of-the-art turntables driving it.

jahnghalt's picture

Does this turntable have the Nakamichi Dragon feature? Does it adjust for non-concentric pressings?

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