Turntables are the eye candy in an audio system. Becky says that with their sparkle and flash they are the jewelry in a system. Regardless of what you call them, we can all agree that turntables definitely can catch your attention and call for a second look.
When I first started sharing show pictures of turntables, there were very few of them at audio shows. Now, with the resurgence of LPs, almost every room has at least one turntable. Here are ten turntables that caught my eye at this year’s Capital Audiofest.
VPI’s Vanquish Magnetic Drive Turntable
VPI’s Vanquish Magnetic Drive Turntable is all-new and absolutely stunning. Using the tri-pod design from VPI’s reference line, the Vanquish turntable will accept up to three tonearms of varying lengths and types. It comes with VPI’s latest hi-res 3-D printed Fatboy tonearm.
J. Sikora Standard MAX Turntable
The magnificent J. Sikora Standard MAX is one of the most beautiful turntables that I have seen. It was mated with a J. Sikora KV-12 VTA Tonearm and the Kuzma 4-Point Tonearm.
Kronos Pro Turntable
The Kronos Pro turntable with a Black Beauty tonearm and an Ultracap Power Supply. Year after year, show after show, I love systems that use Kronos turntables. These tables aren’t bad to look at either.
Fern & Roby Tredegar Turntable
The Fern & Roby Tredegar turntable with its cast-iron plinth is one of the most strikingly different-looking turntables around. This one was fitted with a Schroeder CB tonearm.
Art Audio Composer Turntable
The beautiful Art Audio Composer turntables began as a design by Clarity Turntables made by Claro Engineering, a company with world-respected aerospace engineers. However, for various reasons, Clarity Turntables never really took off. Then, Art Audio saw the potential of the basic design and took over the project.
Garrard 301 Turntable
In the EMIA Audio room, a restored, vintage grease-bearing Garrard 301 turntable with two tonearms; one from Schroeder and the other from Thomas Schick. The mono and stereo field coil cartridges, that’s right I said field coils, were built from scratch by Dave Slagle. The rest of the electronics were from EMIA.
Feickert Firebird Turntable
Not as much turntable eye candy here. It’s just a very simple turntable design that I noticed. It’s the Feickert Firebird turntable with a Thomas Schick tonearm mounted with a My Sonic Lab Signature Gold cartridge.
Vertere Super Groove SG-1 Turntable
Vertere Acoustics Super Groove SG-1 turntable with an Acoustical Systems Archon cartridge in an Aquilar 10″ tonearm. The manufacturer says, “The Super Groove can take you close to perfection in turntable performance.” It sounded good when we were listening!
Technics SL-1000R Direct Drive Turntable
Not too much I can say here, but this looks like a turntable. This is the classic-looking Technics SL-1000R Direct Drive Turntable. Raise your hand if you’ve ever owned a Technics table. I think most of us have at one time or another.
VPI 40th Anniversary Direct Drive Turntable
This post started with the all-new VPI Vanquish Magnetic Drive Turntable in all its modern, skeletal design. Let’s end with my favorite-looking VPI, the 40th Anniversary Direct Drive. Maybe it’s because I’m old, but I think it looks like a turntable.
