Sandwiches of thick aluminum and inlays of thick wood or other materials highlight both the Sperling's looks as well as its damping mechanism. Different species of wood are available that will affect, to some degree, the final sound.
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I found Mr. Daniel Schuch exhibiting his girder-like tone arm on the floor of one of the big main halls. As a group of fascinated Japanese audiophiles looked on, Schuch demonstrated the workings of his pivoted tangential-tracking tonearm, which he modestly characterizes as "The perfect pick-up arm."
The Hartvig TT Signature turntable features a 30 pound platter of aluminum and acrylic and a hardened steel bearing shaft with an aluminum base, plus a precision honed bronze bushing with a ceramic ball and Teflon thrust pad.
The Da Vinci Audio AAS Gabriel MK2 Reference Turntable is a thing of beauty to be sure. It is obviously a mass-loaded design and the build quality appears extremely high with a commensurate price tag of around $50,000.
Named for a mythical Nordic eight legged horse whose name means "smooth" or "gliding", the Sleipner Reference looks and feels as smooth as its true air bearing, belt driven 20 pound aluminum platter floats and its air "bearing" arm slides.
New tone arms on display at Munich's High End 2013 point towards a renewed interest in their design and execution, especially among German enthusiasts.