Toybox: Luxe turntables
High fliers after a heavyweight slice of retro perfection will love this high-precision deck. The One Degree of Freedom (Onedof) turntable weighs 22.6kg and is the first of its kind. Its point of difference is its use of a self-centring platter bearing in a non-resonant liquid suspension, which suppresses acoustic distortion, although just as innovative is its clever noise cancelling. Working just like the headphones used by airline pilots, the Onedof (HK$1.1 million) detects troublesome soundwaves and generates sound signals to nullify them.
Has the humble gramophone ever been this photogenic? If there's one country guaranteed to cater to expensive tastes in audio equipment, it's Germany, and the Montegiro reinforces that trend with the Legno (HK$102,660) turntable. Although traditional steel is used in the construction, the plinth that supports the turntable is bamboo, chosen for its ability to dampen unwanted resonant sound (we've also seen it used in speaker cones). The Legno comes with adjustable steel feet and a choice of tone arms from several third-party hi-fi brands.
The era of vinyl as a mass-market media is long gone, but there's no hint of retro on this, a streamlined black and silver turntable that just about falls into the "special treat" price bracket. Crafted using compressed wood and aluminium by German hi-fi company Clearaudio, the mechanical Performance (HK$26,518) deck has a solid and stunning build. But the highlight of this special edition is a ceramic magnetic main bearing - geek speak for a design that stops the spinning turntable's mechanical noise from interfering with the music.
