News

The more vinyl the merrier, as the saying goes — or at least, that’s how it goes with us analog lovers. Relative to that, we’ve just gotten word that Metal 2000, an Italian company, is launching their new Futura vinyl record press, something that’s sure to help increase manufacturing options for a number of potential LP-pressing clients.

First, some background. Metal 2000 S.R.L. is an Italian-based company with a staff that has been manufacturing injection and extrusion presses for the plastics sector for over 30 years. In 2021, the company expanded into the Futura designing and building phase due to, in their words, “the great demand for presses in the vinyl record manufacturing sector.” (Can’t argue with that logic.)

According to the company, Metal 2000 — which is located in Bareggio, west of Milan — developed, designed, and manufactured the Futura (full name: Futura – RAV Italy 22 Hydraulic) by utilizing their own technical staff, which consists of more than 20 engineers, mechanics, electronic engineers, designers, and programmers.

Futura is said to be simple to install, and it’s capable of producing two-to-three discs per minute. It is also said to be able to change color options “extremely fast.” Other technical features of the Futura include simplicity of molding, regularity in molding without the machine incurring downtime due to the vinyl record extraction pliers, and “great compactness” of the monoblock engine structure.

The Futura press also has a built-in alarm system for the maximum opening of the fairing, and it is designed for users to be able to insert a double extrusion system. The Futura comes with a three-year warranty, and production times are given as “around five months.”

Elisabeth Nosel, manager at Metal 2000, said in a press statement, “We are extremely happy to be able to finally launch Futura. This has been in the works for a long time, with years of research and experimentation to create a best-of-breed vinyl record press. The music vinyl market has been experiencing a great resurgence for years now, but due to many factors, the demand is outstripping the supply in pressing plants. With Futura, we are aiming to alleviate some of that pressure by delivering to the market a machine that is not only fast, but [one that] also produces high-quality records so that the end users can enjoy their music as it should sound on vinyl.”

According to the company, 30 sales of the Futura vinyl press were made to Metal 2000 customers ahead of the official public launch. Finally, we are told that any/all Futura-interested parties can contact Metal 2000 directly via email at the following address: futuraplant@gmail.com.