Allen Perkins, one of analog audio's most talented designers, walked me through a second generation prototype of the new Spiral Groove Revolution turntable that he says represents, with but a few minor changes, the production version that will soon be in production and for sale.
Rega's current "top of the line" RP10 features the RP8's "skeletal" frame but ups just about everything else. It features a ceramic platter similar to the P9's as well as an aluminum alloy sub-platter and pulley, a new iteration of Rega's venerable cast tonearm and an upgraded power supply that allows for speed adjustment.
The lineage of this cartridge was explained to me over dinner by Lyra cartridge designer Jonathan Carr, but due to Sake the details escape me. As i remember the conversation, the Miyabi's fate was sealed when the designer retired some years ago.
American importer Audioarts introduced the new Sperling L-3, "baby brother" to the larger L-1. The new L-3 is a high mass design featuring an outboard motor driving the platter with recording tape leader.
Southern California based turntable and cartridge manufacturer Triangle ART introduced at CES the new Apollo moving coil phono cartridge. It's a follow-up to last year's $3995 Zeus currently under review here.
Air-Tight announced the Magnum Opus, a new top of the line PC-1 phono cartridge. Still in the final stages of being voiced, the new cartridge will join Clearaudio's Goldfinger Statement at the $15,000 price point. The design details and specifications have yet to be divulged.
Ortofon launched at CES the long awaited A95 moving coil cartridge, which replaces the discontinued A90—among the most special phono cartridges (both sonically and technically) produced over the last decade.
The increased market-share of ultrasonic type record cleaning machines motivated Clearaudio to produce a new model of its Matrix series of record cleaners that combines a vibrational component along with its well-regarded vacuum cleaning capabilities.