Show Reports

Welcome to Part 2 of my Capital Audiofest 2024 show report! Let’s get right to it.

PERPETUUM EBNER
Here at CAF 2024, longtime North American distributor and dealer Angie Lisi (of American Sound of Canada) introduced Perpetuum Ebner, a newly resurrected turntable manufacturer from Germany’s Black Forest region.

According to the company’s site, Perpetuum’s origins date back more than a century to its founding in 1911, and its combined-with-Ebner name has been around since 1936. By the late 1950s, Perpetuum Ebner had grown to become the biggest turntable manufacturer in Europe, producing up to 5,000 turntables a day. The company saw further success with the original PE 2020 model in 1967, and then it merged with Dual in 1971. The Perpetuum Ebner name faded into the background until 2015, when Wolfgang Epting revived the brand and launched some turntable models including the PE 1010 and PE 4040, both of which remain available today in their later iterations. (Some former Dual engineers have also joined the revived company.)

All Perpetuum Ebner tables but one are belt-driven designs that feature two-piece plinths outfitted with a suspended (sub)chassis. Perpetuum Ebner also offers one direct-drive table, the PE 7070 MKII, their flagship. It was shown on passive display at CAF 2024, alongside the entry-level PE 1010 MKII (as seen above).

Customers can select colors and finishes, including some standard options. PE series turntables include some added conveniences, as they ship with a stylus pressure gauge, while other models — the more entry-level tables — come with various recommended Ortofon cartridges. For upper-level models, users choose their own carts. (Ultimately, all cartridge selection is, of course, up to the end user.) All PE turntables come with outboard power supplies and detachable phono cables, making upgrades possible.

The company also manufactures some cartridges of their own, such as the PE MC 1 (new this year) — and a selection of tonearms too. According to Lisi, Perpetuum Ebner has also joined forces with Thorens for additional tonearm offerings.

Assembly for PE tables is intended to be simple, especially for the models that come with cartridges attached. “There’s a subchassis, but it’s held down by just three screws,” Lisi told me. “You put the belt on, you balance your tonearm using the included stylus pressure gauge, and you’re done.”

The latest version of the mid/upper-line PE 4040 MKII turntable (seen above), fitted with an Ortofon MC Quintet Black S cartridge ($6,300), served as the analog source in the company’s demo system with Rethm Trishna hybrid speakers ($12,000/pair) that are part passive (with the wideband driver powered by Phasemation MA 1500 300B tube monoblock amps), part active (with the bass powered by an Hypex UcD series digital amp module). Other amplification included two Phasemation EA-550 phono (pre)amps ($9,900), and a Synthesis Action Series A50Taurus integrated stereo tube amp (seen below). I should also note that American Sound of Canada is also now distributing the Italian company Synthesis’ tube amp line in North America. Black and silver faceplates are standard, but various faceplate finish colors are available.

Finally, the Perpetuum Ebner PE 4040 MKII turntable uses a synchronous motor for its belt-driven system, and it comes with a 9.2in carbon fiber tonearm ended with an Ortofon MC Quintet Black S cartridge, and the table is equipped with XLR and RCA outputs.

Part 3 coming soon (as in, tomorrow)!

Author bio: Julie Mullins, a lifelong music lover and audiophile by osmosis who grew up listening to her father’s hi-fi gear, is also a contributing editor and reviewer on our sister site, Stereophile, for whom she also writes the monthly Re-Tales column. A former fulltime staffer at Cincinnati’s long-running alt-weekly CityBeat, she hosts a weekly radio show on WAIF called On the Pulse.

For more of our CAF 2024 coverage, go to Part 1 of Julie’s show report here, and also see Ken Micallef’s turntable video extravaganza here.