AXPONA 2024: Turntables, Turntables, Turntables

Our in-depth AXPONA coverage continues! In today’s installment, our chief product reviewer Ken Micallef shares video footage of as many turntables that he could get on camera, including cool new offerings from the likes of Audio Note, TriangleArt, EMT, MoFi, Garrard, and many, many more.

[@OFBCyclingWorld]

Great to all these turntables. So many records with finger marks though and plenty of dust too. The low angle lighting always extenuates this. I love turntables with dust covers. Saves a lot of cleaning in my book and I play records every day on a turntable with a dust cover. These things work.

[@CV6300b]

To me Turntable, tonearm and cartridge are the most fascinated part of the entire audio system. They are the combination of Science, engineering and art.

[@RL1able]

that Triangle Art is spectacular! Love Technics too

[@markphilpot8734]

Seeing turntables getting this attention warms me as I was and still am involved in turntable development. Analog is far from being dead in this world. This segment shows how important this is. I still love the vinyl format and what it brings to the table. You may not get it, but it matters a lot even more now than it ever has. I commend these turntable manufacturers for their efforts are not going unnoticed. I for one will continue to carry this analog torch with me. To each their own. As for me, it is the best media for music reproduction. Enjoy the music people and know true love for that music with vinyl!

[@MikeGervasi]

That tall artsy weight is something else.

[@Andrew_from_Oz_Vinyl_Landscape]

Great way of showing them !

[@miguelbarrio]

Lovely! Thank you!

[@kevinw3621]

Very much enjoyed this turntable rumination !!!

[@analoguecity3454]

I didn't know you still uploaded on this channel!😮 Both channels are great!😊

[@davidkent2804]

These were all impressive. To my ear, the Well Tempered was the most appealing - close, intimate, and expressive. I have no idea why compressed listening tests can actually reveal anything but I've bought pickups for guitars on that basis and the results verified my first impression. The "golf ball" tech of the WT or the extra length of the tone arm (less aizthmuth error) might contribute positively but of course I can't tell. Intriguing nonetheless when a design comes together to produce superior sound.

[@Level10Productions]

But I could hear the record wow. The tone sounded muffled.

[@davidkent2804]

@@Level10Productions Oh, that's not good. Let me give it another listen.

[@jerrysnead2842]

The Ultra Deck looks nice

[@jerrysnead2842]

If I was a displayer I would advertise "we only play vinyl" I would go to that room first

[@Level10Productions]

Then you could work your way up from there, is that right? Get through all the scratchy stuff first then move on to more accurate reproduction after. I get that.

[@newdevilman1167]

I loved Thiele tonearm, Transrotor turntable and Triangle art turntables. But my soul goes to Garrard 401 by Artisan Fidelity with Tidal speakers.

[@no_way4165]

Luxman PD 151 mk2 is missing from this video, though it was present @ Axpona '24.

[@someoneoutthere7512]

I'm surprised by the 78s and all the dirty vinyl but a lot of interesting stuff.

[@mayhem492]

Wow! They sound great. Just like cd players.

[@rickg8015]

How did you like the new Komuro 300B amp with modern stereo records? The 78’s sound pretty sweet and immediate though.. The Well Tempered with Dynavector arm combo was impressive, has the solidity and weight it seems of an idler drive..

[@kenmicallefjazzvinylaudiop6455]

I only heard the 78s as well.

[@Level10Productions]

Whats cool is to go out and buy the biggest, most expensive amp to really magnify the sound of those grooves, along with the dirt and dust thats in them. Then it sounds reminiscent of a battle field. Try it sometime!

[@rixvspinner]

That Gerard 301 at the end of this video was one of my fav turntable tables shown although I only really know the Gerard 301 having owned one.

[@Level10Productions]

Yup. Had me an old Dual back in the day. That thing played the crap outa my discs, scratches and all. Skips! Skips? Did I mention about that?

[@budsmoker4201120]

Great art pieces

[@Level10Productions]

Yes, and I hear they can actually play music as well. I wonder. Does platter size matter? Or is weight more important? I never hear anyone talk about faithfully reproducing even the dust in the grooves. Shouldn't it be possible though? Its no good if not. Not accurate anyway. I was able to hear the WoW on one at least.

[@budsmoker4201120]

@@Level10Productions you hear, ahh.....

[@user-ix2cv5bp4j]

Good evening. Which of the records you heard impressed you...??? greetings from GREECE.

[@Kowinaida]

Who manufactures the 'Aztec' record weight?!

[@euro-hawk-221]

An S-shaped EMT Tonearm looks weird but that long Banana is epic

[@jerrysnead2842]

sounds pretty good

[@Level10Productions]

Really? You like second-hand sound huh? With or without all the clickety-pops?

[@mcgjohn22]

yes, tons and tons of tables at the show. Also quite a few showings of open reel tape. Vinyl is sure back.

[@Level10Productions]

Ahhh, yes. Sometimes I wax nostalgic over being able to hear all my tape hiss. Hiw I used to try every way imaginable to get rid of the hiss without degrading the signal. Does anyone still do that anymore?

[@mcgjohn22]

@@Level10Productions do those digital recordings still have as much depth as a piece of steel plate?

[@MichaelAmster]

That EMT table's record was one of the least centered I have seen until the Captital one on the Devore table in the next scene.

[@markboyle9941]

Great to see all of these interesting designs. I'm also glad that EMT are still looking after us 78 RPM collectors, it was a shame we didn't get to see the fantastic multi EQ preamp that was probably hooked up to it. Is it just the speaker in my phone, or was there quite a bit of mistracking distortion in a couple of these?

[@jazzkatt7083]

Why don’t we see more Origin Live tables? Their tonearms are super famous. Also, wonder same of SOTA turntables. They’re an American product. That one was naked😮

[@kenmicallefjazzvinylaudiop6455]

There's only one of me.

[@umitbey4852]

🥰

[@Mnpctech_Giveaway_PC_Mods]

My ISO feet on the Sota.

[@analoguecity3454]

Those records could sure use some cleaning!

[@TheNorliss]

Some lovely tables here. Surprised at how dirty some of the records are, though. You'd think they'd get them spotlessly clean?

[@jessiemartinez7681]

😄

[@buddybadee]

I bet Dr. Kurmiss is close by

[@JohnLee-db9zt]

Surprisingly most manufacturers don’t give a 💩

[@user-fn7gr2zx9m]

Doctor of what? He’s sure no doctor of anything having to do with record cleaning. In fact I thought he had to discontinue that “doctor” sham moniker after it was clear he had no doctorate in any remotely related field.

[@Level10Productions]

​@user-fn7gr2zx9m well. Could it be their way of having an excuse for all the clicks and pops? There is a filter for that but purists like to keep all that in. That way you keep the artists original intent. Or not.

[@scientificaudiophile]

SWEET!

[@NoEgg4u]

Some of those turntables, tone-arms, and cartridges looked amazing. Can't really know how they sound, via the transition to my own equipment at home where I hear it via this video. Even if I were at the show, trying to figure out the effect that the turntables have, vs the tone-arms, vs the phono-amps, and the rest of the stereo's gear (and especially the speakers, placement, and room acoustics) makes it nearly impossible to know which items would work well for someone. There could be a great turntable, but poor choice of interconnects, or a great cartridge, but bad speaker placement, etc. And then there is the specific vinyl pressing, that has every system by the balls. Did each vendor cherry pick outstanding sounding pressings? A couple of them did not even look like they cleaned the record. If one of the system's sound quality raised the hair on the back of your neck, that is a great sign. But any that fall short could be due to a single no-so-great choice box, or even whether or not the turntable, tone-arm, and cartridge were professionally dialed in. You would expect that those vendors would have an expert on their staff, with a great ear, that dialed in all of the vectors. But who knows? It is great to see all of that gear, and even greater to have been there (great job, Mr. Fremer on the video). But with so many factors involved, it is very hard to know which equipment would work best for any person. Do any of those vendors ever play hit songs? Granted, they might not sound as amazing as some classical or jazz piece that few people have ever heard of... but Abbey Road, for example, with a cherry picked White Hot stamper, can stand toe-to-toe with the best sounding pressings. I experienced that at Audio Connection, when Garth Leerer visited with his Clearaudio Goldfinger Statement cartridge, feeding an Aesthetix IO Eclipse phono amp, on Vandersteen's System Nine grouping of gear. Garth exclaimed "Outstanding!" after the side 2 medley completed. The same for Led Zep II's, RL / SS white hot stamper for Whole Lotta Love and What Is and What Should Never Be. Even Madonna has a QSound mixed / mastered "Vogue" on her The Immaculate Collection pressings, where the right one will knock your socks off. I am not normally in favor of sonic gimmickry. But that The Immaculate Collection (due to QSound) has songs with some of the widest soundstaging I have every heard. But the digital falls short, and the vinyl is hit-or-miss (the right one will make your jaw drop). And I can go on with many other hit songs, that with the right stamper code, and with the right white host stamper pressing of that code, sound so good you have to hear it to believe it. Such songs, on such pressings, would steal the show, due to the combination of the great tunes, the to-die-for sound quality of the right pressings, and the stereo equipment at the show. Do any vendors play such amazing (albeit, hard to find) sounding pressings of hit songs? Or do they play only jazz and classical songs that few people know?

[@kenmicallefjazzvinylaudiop6455]

iphone mic.

[@kenmicallefjazzvinylaudiop6455]

i was so happy the rooms played Music, not pop dreck. Great show for tables and vinyl.

[@kenmicallefjazzvinylaudiop6455]

wait ,you didn't catch the ZZ top, Radiohead, Massive Attack, War, Mark Knopler?

[@NoEgg4u]

@@kenmicallefjazzvinylaudiop6455 "i was so happy the rooms played Music, not pop dreck. Great show for tables and vinyl." Since you replied to my comment, where I listed some examples, are you saying that Led Zeppelin and The Beatles are "pop dreck"?

[@pnichols6500]

@@NoEgg4u Appreciated your comments, think you were spot on. The "pop dreck" comment is from someone that doesn't have a clue, but trying to be advant garde and failed miserably.

[@jerrysnead2842]

The Scale Model Equipment Co is the truth

[@gotham61]

They simplified the name to just SME Limited in the 1950s.

[@deemo5245]

Amazing. But since iPads, music ain’t that big a deal 😅

[@chrislj2890]

Other than the Technics, MoFi and Garrard I wouldn't want any of those things even if I could afford them. And that ludicrous "tw-acustic" has to be one of the biggest wastes of material I've ever seen. Talk about pimped out bling, lol.

[@Level10Productions]

* chuckles in agreement *

[@hughkleinsc8949]

I agree with you ,a turntable only needs to spin the record at a constant speed with no noise ,the simpler the better , go linn

[@chrislj2890]

@@hughkleinsc8949 Back in the early '70s my first real turntable was an AR XA and you couldn't get much simpler than that thing. 😊

[@Darrylizer1]

Agreed. I like swapping out cartridges via headshell, not have three 5000 dollar tone arms. Technics all the way. The Mofi and Garrard are nice too and actually look like turntables. My favorite turntable of all time is the Thorens TD-124 because that was the one I grew up with. It was my dad's and a very solid beast. Wish I still had it.

[@chrislj2890]

@@Darrylizer1 I never had a Thorens, and my first was an AR XA with a Pickering cartridge. I'm currently using a Technics SL-1200GR2 and a TEAC TN-5BB. The audiophile world grows more bizarre every year.

[@paulomontero12]

Don’t need 100 pound turntables with all that extra cost in materials! Also noticed the records weren’t very clean at all?

[@meshplates]

Is the Garrard 301 a vintage machine? Or a new reissue?

[@rhythm-craig]

The 301 transcription motor is vintage and completely remanufactured by SME to tighter tolerances than the original assembly line was ever capable of. Garrard now only sells complete turntables and this is the 301 Advanced, featuring an SME Series V-12 tonearm and an advanced polymer resin plinth. This is the highest performance Garrard turntable ever built!

[@pnichols6500]

The MoFi deck seems to address most basic issues well and falls into my price range. Why do they have to make some of these so gawd awful tacky looking?

[@Level10Productions]

Wow, that is some heavy duty record scratcher you got there. I bet you can hear all sorts of good stuff with it. My digital player only plays back music. With this turntable, I bet you can hear every sonic detail of that vinyl record. Every pop, scratch and hum right down to the dust in the grooves. Mine just plays music. The other day, I slapped on my UE Premiere IEMs and listened to music and I heard it more realistically than I have ever heard from my old record days. It sounded holographic. I cant afford a monster player that can give me all that AND the scribbly scrobbly scratches too. Oh. I don't get to flip a record over halfway thru the album either. I am soooo missing out.

[@radovantrifunov1530]

Clean those records, for God's sake!

[@screamallyouwant]

Not a talkie?

[@fatphoca5009]

Not much new stuff it would seem.

[@kenmicallefjazzvinylaudiop6455]

MoFi, SOTA, WEll Tempered, Dynavector, all new

[@jeanmichel2642]

The turnable delusion

[@thelonewolf666]

all to play a inferior sounding sheet of plastic--- turntables are for the psychological unwell

[@yuca133]

Maybe sound is great but those music is s..t

[@michaelireland7239]

what no sota sapphiere turhtable , that is terrible

[@rsd70s]

Demoing audio via KZbin is a disservice

[@jamesschneider3828]

Im really glad that vinyl is no longer in my system. Anymore they keep pushing these Rube Goldberg designed turntables makes no sence to me.

[@MARVELOUDIO]

Most bizarre Hobby ... instead of playing the record ONCE and making a perfect digital copy , they ruin the record groove by playing it again and again until the diamond needle also is ruined! Its like smoking gold dust and saying its good for the health :)

[@intothevoid9831]

"perfect digital copy" keep dreaming.

[@gotham61]

You must have a pretty crappy turntable if it's destroying your records. I have records that have been played literally hundreds of times that still sound superb.

[@kenmicallefjazzvinylaudiop6455]

playing vinyl doesn't ruin it. A myth. Run a properly calibrated tonearm and cart and your vinyl will outlive you. Digital? That train is done.