Air bearing turntable

I picked this up over the weekend. Compressor feeds 60psi to the air bearings. Very picky about setup and the table being level.

 

Different!

....very cool, enjoy! ....cart?

 

As Monty Python would say, "And now for something completely different."

Cart is a Sumiko Blue Point Special EVO III.

 

Aren't compressors noisy?

 

This one is pretty quiet but not silent, so it goes in another room. There is a switch at the table that activates a relay that turns on the compressor. A very long piece of plastic tubing gets the air to the table. Not a plug and play type of system. There is a fair amount of setup and tweaking. Also, at 85 pounds, not a table you want to be moving around.

 

Got it all set up and playing.

 

The whole system.

 

What a beautiful system. Love the BR-20 as well.

Of course it may be an apples and oranges discussion if the cartridges are not the same, but simply going by the performance of the tonearm, how would you describe the tracking performances or the differences between the tonearms on both tables?

 

Is that a Maplenoll?

 

Well yes and no. It uses Maplenoll parts but the plinth is DIY layers of wood, lead and aluminum all covered in Corian. The TT weights in just a tad over 85 pounds. The air compressor is in the garage. You will notice a small switch under the left edge of the top shelf. This switches a relay that turns on the compressor.

 

Both arms track very well. The difference in the sound is hard to put into words. I don't know if it is the arm, the cart or the air bearings but the sound has a quieter background. Not that the Clearaudio is noisy. It is subtle but the table seems to get out of the way of the music. At least this is my initial impression. I will see how it does over time, as I spin more and more vinyl.

 

WOW! ...I mean WOW! That's a beautiful setup man.

 

I absolutely love the look of that clearaudio, and I believe it's 78rpm capable as well? I think a dream-system for me would be some neat hybrid of both turntables, maybe like a Clearaudio with the air bearing tonearm or one of their roller based ones like the TT2/Tt3

 

That is definitely a table I wouldn't say No to if it came my way. Lovely.

 

Beautiful!
I'm a big fan of Maplenoll. I have two Athenas! Easy to dial in and solid as a rock.
How does it sound?

 

Wow. Beautiful table.
So the compressor is for the bearing only? Not the tonearm or platter?
I've never heard of this.
I'm fascinated with linear tracking arms (and some of them are air bearing too).
How goes it with your setting up the tonearm? I hear they can be a bear to keep right.

 

The compressor's 60psi is for the tone arm and the platter; both of which ride on air bearings.

 

I love the sound. The table gets out of the way of the music with a black background that seems to give the music more depth and detail

 

Cool. Why the custom plinth? And lead, wood and Corian? That must have been worth the bucks to have made. I know the Kenwood Corian table is a favorite. Who came up with the idea for the plinth - and why?

Man, I'd love to hear that arm. Every dealer tells me to avoid the linear. But I want one.

Have you heard the Walker?

I've heard a rare Townshend that was made of huge cement or rock. This was a super rare thing not made available commercially. Gigantic thing. It was fantastic. The cart, tonearm and table was not kind to the least bit of surface noise. The dealer told me, "don't you want to clean that brand new MFSL of Bernard Herrmann Fantasy Film World?" I said "no" because I'd just bought it from him. Well, the little bit of dust had a tiny bit of tics, but man, did that sound so 3D and fantastic. Sparkled like in outer space. But didn't have the bounce like a suspended.

Why do you prefer the unsuspended sound to the suspended?
Have you heard both?

 

Yes! Same with the Athena. If the record is clean it is eerily silent.
I'm using an Audio Technica ART7. Never any sibilance or IGD (even mellotrons) and a rich, layered presentation.
Contact me if you ever decide to get rid of that gorgeous thing!

 

I bought the table from a very nice old gentleman audiophile that believed in mass loading. He was moving and was no longer able to move such a heavy table. He decided to down size his system.

 

So he had the custom plinth made?

 

Affirmative

 

With a system that looks like that, what could be next but an air bearing turntable?