March 2016 – Concordia Mastering

The mere thought of changing phono cartridge brings shudder to my mind. It’s like changing guitar strings and possibly more delicate. You need to be in the mood to change cartridge, the stars and the moon must align as well as in an air-conditioned room. You might be sweating over the entire process.

One thing i do not like about Rega is the fragile soldering and clipwire of the leads. It is literally like preparing for a critical operations. You need the right tools (i.e noose pliers, toothpicks, bright light and steady hand)

As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. Yes, you need to do the difficult while it is easy. And the reward is great sound with utmost concentration during the entire period.

Quite an underrated turntable and quite hard to find now. First and foremost I was drawn by its wooden photo frame design before understanding the “technology” behind it. In fact, it’s has suspended carbon fibre sub-chassis but more maintenance friendly than LP12 (oops). Seven springs are involved in the suspension which is capable of being finely adjusted in order to control precisely each degree of movement. The one that I own is made in 2003 (i.e 13 years old) and it is now my second table, along side the heavily modded Rega RP6.

The Wilson Benesch Turntable was developed in 1990 at a time when other companies were abandoning the vinyl medium. In fact it’s the company first product. Carbon fibre was used ahead of its time and it is a remarkable material that is ideal for audio structures as it can attain a modulus of stiffness five times that of steel, yet is half the weight of aluminium.

Very little info of the table and below are some material from the archived site. The three main parameters that determine a structure’s acoustic behaviour; mass, stiffness and damping, can be specified as required even to the point of promoting energy flow in certain directions within the chassis and conversely inhibiting it in others. Although the sub chassis is a considerable component it weighs a mere 280g.

The drive train, also of critical importance is treated with the same attention to detail. The quartz referenced power supply for instance features an electronic clutch mechanism which operates on switch on and during the speed change cycle to minimise loading on the suspension system and belt. The motor used is a high quality hysteresis type chosen for it’s performance rather than price and is fitted to the plinth via it’s own complex suspension system designed to minimise the transmission of spurious energy either from the motor or from the environment to the platter.

The plinths are crafted from a variety of solid hard woods which form an attractive contrast to the black anodised aluminium top plate, back plate and power supply. Arm boards and platters are similarly anodised to provide a scratch resistant life long product. It is for this reason that glass was chosen as the most suitable material for the lid which is of 5mm laminated construction.

Month: March 2016

Forbidden Fruit – The Records

Changing Phono Cartridge

Wilson Benesch Turntable

CD vs Records