Transcript
Analog Electronically reprinted from February 2003
Corner
Michael
Fremer
Big Surprise: the Nottingham Analogue Horizon: $1000 The least expensive Nottingham Analogue turntable, the Horizon ($800, $1000 with Rega RB250 tonearm), resembles a strippeddown version of the company’s most expensive ’table, the AnnaLog (review in the works). Eschewing the traditional plinth approach to turntable design, the Horizon features a narrow slab of what I think is highdensity fiberboard, supported by three attached half-cylinders made of some sort of synthetic material, each containing a threaded leveling foot. The main bearing and the motor sit on this slab, while the armboard — made of the same material as the half-cylinders — is attached to the rear right half-cylinder, and is thus somewhat isolated from the motor. This design is similar to the big AnnaLog, which uses an enormous “log” of wood, supposedly made of slices from a 400-year-old mahogany beam taken from an old church. (I’m checking into this story.) The Rega RB250 arm is supplied with a mounting collar with a locking VTA adjustment insert. The Horizon’s platter, by far the heaviest among these budget ’tables, appears to be of cast iron, like the AnnaLog’s. It weighs a hefty 10.8 lbs and spins on a bearing system used on far more expensive Nottingham Analogue ’tables. The instructions were thoroughly inadequate — but, in highend audio, what else is new? Like other Nottingham ’tables, the Horizon has an oversized, two-step motor pulley and an undersized motor (let’s hear the applause) that drives the platter via a soft, pliable, elastic rubber O-ring. There’s also a thick elastomer damper ringing the platter perimeter, and a foam platter pad. You plug the ’table in and the motor begins to fibrillate, the platter remaining stationary — there’s no On/Off switch. The designer says no harm is done to the motor in
Nottingham Analogue Horizon turntable
When I measured the Horizon’s speed, I was surprised and gratified to find it dead on. this mode. When you want to play a record, you put it on the platter and give it a spin to get it started — the motor lacks sufficient power to do the job itself. I think designer Tom Fletcher has it right: No motor is best, but if you must have one, use the smallest one you can. Less vibration and noise is better than more — especially in a budget design such as this, which places the motor and main bearing on the same slab of HDF. My biggest concerns about the Horizon were the amounts of vibration and noise that would be transmitted from motor to platter. When I put a stethoscope on the plinth adjacent to the bearing housing, I heard plenty of noise as well as an undulating whirring sound, as if the motor bearing hadn’t been sufficiently run in. I let it spin for a day and it was much smoother. With the motor spinning but no belt attached to the platter, surprisingly little noise — not much above the residual noise floor heard through a
stethoscope — made its way to the platter. When I measured the Horizon’s speed, I was surprised and gratified to find it dead on — the only turntable in this survey to accomplish that most basic of turntable functions. Perhaps that accounted for the Horizon’s rich, nuanced sound. Where most of the other ’tables produced a slightly glazed sound compared to far more expensive models, the Horizon mimicked the sound of multi-thousand-dollar rigs, at least in that regard. I’m not saying it equaled the big rigs, but jockeying between 24-bit/96kHz MasterLink dubs made from the three turntables made it clear that the Horizon delivered “touch” and “feel” and delicacy that most of the others, good as they were, only hinted at. My only concern is that the sound of the Sumiko Blue Point MC cartridge, which is slightly hard (but not like the original, which was sizzly and had a seriously rising top end), was being masked by the Horizon’s warmth. I installed the Lyra Helikon SL in the Horizon, and, yes, there was a slight warming in the midbass and softness on top — a character I’m finding in the big AnnaLog as well. But considering the cartridges and phono sections that will be used with the Horizon, this is probably welcome. The bottom line is, whether because of the Rega RB250 tonearm, or because its platter spun at precisely 331⁄3rpm instead of 1% fast, the Horizon delivered the richest, most delicate sound of the bunch. There was no denying the superior “touch” of Barry Bales’ bass on the Alison Krauss track, or the sound, brassy without too much bite, of Count Basie’s horn section. Grand Conclusion My survey comprised six turntables priced from $499 to $1500, each with a variety of strengths and weaknesses.
Analog
Corner
Of the six, only the Nottingham Analog Horizon turned at 331⁄3rpm. The three Pro-Jects kept admirably close to 0.05% accuracy, which is more than acceptable, while the SOTA and Rega were off by about 1%, which changed musical timbres, if not noticeably the pitch. While the speed errors of ’tables with AC synchronous motors can be altered with an outboard controller, the cost of such a device makes its use not feasible. The least and most expensive of the six ’tables are made by Pro-Ject. If your budget is limited to $500, the Pro-Ject RM-4 ($495) is a logical place to begin your analog journey. It errs on the side of softness, and doesn’t deliver the low-level detail and dynamic slam of the others in the survey, but if your budget is limited, don’t worry about that for now: the tonearm is excellent, and your records will be protected for the future. With its outboard motor, inverted ball bearing, and carbon-fiber armtube, Pro-Ject’s RM-9 ($1495) is the most sophisticated of the designs surveyed. But I’m not sure the RM-9’s added cost is worth it when Pro-Ject’s Perspective ($995) offers such an outstanding balance of qualities, and includes a very useful and effective suspension. There is some magic associated with turntable design, and of these three Pro-Jects, the Perspective has that “magic’’ — but don’t let me keep you from auditioning the RM-9 if it’s within your budget and you still have enough cash for a good cartridge. The Rega Planar 3 has always been one of my favorites, and the new P3 ($750) features elegant design, a superb tonearm, and lively, open sound. It rocks. I’m not happy about the 1% speed error; if it’s deliberate, it’s a cynical move — like lifting the top end of a
loudspeaker to make it jump out from the crowd. If Rega can deliberately machine their pulleys to run fast, don’tcha think they can offer one as an “option” that allows the P3 to run at the right speed? If this is simply sample-tosample variation, I apologize, but be sure your sample runs true. Ditto the Comet II ($934), which also offers a great deal of performance and careful engineering for the money, as well as outstanding vibration isolation. As for the Nottingham Analog Horizon, it ran at the right speed (hopefully, every unit in the production run will do likewise!), comes with a superior platter, and you can adjust the RB250 tonearm’s VTA — all for $1000. Its warm, rich sound may have been due to a slight coloration, but it still delivered lots of detail, and might be just what’s needed, given the associated gear most likely to be used with it. The Horizon, too, had an overall magic I found particularly appealing. I’m also putting in a good word for the workhorse (aside from me) in all of this: the latest Sumiko Blue Point HO, a fine moving-coil cartridge for $250. It tracks well, isn’t bright or hard like the original P-mount Blue Point, and offers plenty of detail, harmonic nuance, and spatiality. I’ve got Graham Engineering’s new Robin tonearm on hand, but didn’t have time to review it for this month’s column. It slips into the mounting hole of the Rega P3, so I’m going to see if I can get properly machined pulleys for the Rega and Comet II, then try the Robin on all three Rega-equipped turntables in this survey. Any of these ’tables will provide a particular kind of musical enjoyment that no CD player can. But if you’ve gotten this far, you already knew that. s
In Heavy Rotation 1) Peter Gabriel, Up, Classic 200gm Quiex SV-P LPs (2), Geffen CD 2) The Zombies, Greatest Hits, Audio Fidelity hybrid SACD 3) Eva Cassidy, Songbird, Blix Street 180gm import LP, Didgeridoo CD 4) Beck, Sea Change, DGC CD 5) Miles Davis, Cookin’, Analogue Productions 180gm 45rpm LPs (2) 6) Miles Davis, Relaxin’, Analogue Productions 180gm 45rpm LPs (2) 7) J.R. Montrose, With Ira Sullivan, Horace Silver, et al., Classic 200gm Quiex SV-P LP 8) Sîgur Ros, Agatis Byrjun, Fat Cat 180gm import LPs (2) 9) Johnny Cash, Get Rhythm, Get Back 180gm import LP 10) Alison Krauss, Forget About It, Diverse Vinyl import 180gm LP For full reviews, visit www.music angle.com.
Contact Information Nottingham Analogue Horizon: Audiophile Systems, Ltd., 8709 Castle Park Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46526. Tel: (317) 8414100. Fax: (317) 841-4107. Web: www.aslgroup.com.
Posted with permission from the February 2003 issue of Stereophile ® Copyright 2003, PRIMEDIA Inc. All rights reserved. For more information about reprints from Stereophile, contact Wright’s Reprints at 877-652-5295
