Analog Gear News

As I await all the reports from this past weekend’s Florida International Audio Expo (a.k.a. FLAX) to come into AP HQ for proper editing and posting, I wanted to take a closer look at a cool new turntable in the meantime — and I was struck by Serbian manufacturer Soulines and their relatively recently released TT9 turntable.

According to Soulines, the TT9 expands upon the rigid-assembly designs of their previous top models, the TT42 (hello, Hitchhiker’s Guide!) and the well-regarded and well-reviewed Kubrick DCX turntable (£6,490). The company points out that the dimensions and shape of the TT9’s plinth and sub-plinth elements — including the hole arrangements in those key elements — were optimized by employing the Golden Ratio and Fibonacci sequence, which is said to enable “gaining uniform vibration damping and the reduction of the moment of inertia in all three planes (along all three axes) to the center of the mass.”

The TT9’s main bearing is an inverted type with stainless-steel top outer cup, brass spindle sleeve, and stainless-steel spindle, and it employs a Derlin (POM-engineering plastic) thrust plate. The sub-platter is also precisely machined from Derlin, and it is “rigidly secured” to the main bearing.

The table’s 30mm thick platter weighs 2.5kg, and it is precisely machined from cast acrylic. It has a 1.0mm deep recess carved on top to accommodate an LP’s paper label — thus ensuring, according to Soulines, that “when [an] LP record is placed on it, it will lay flat.” (A record clamp is also provided for any necessary assistance in that regard.)

The main bearing and solid aluminum armboard are mounted directly onto the aluminum sub-plinth, which is in turn 3-point-coupled by way of rubber-cork washers of different thickness and diameters to the main plinth. The Derlin-machined motor assembly is rigidly mounted onto that main plinth.

The TT9’s electronically controlled drive system is built around the “same high-quality” DC motor used in the company’s other, aforementioned tables. Playback speed and start/stop functions for the TT9 are accessed via its respective 33/45 and on/off toggle switches.

A Soulines KiVi M3 tonearm is also included and pre-mounted on the TT9 (as seen above). The TT9 table also comes with the SA Plexiglas dust cover, the above-noted TT record clamp, and a cartridge alignment tool “precisely printed” on 300g paper including Baerwald, Loefgren, and Stevenson protractors.

The dimensions of the TT9 table are 425 x 145 x 355mm (w/h/d), and its weight is 10g (net). The packaging weight is 12kg, and the package box dimensions are 501 x 310 x 410mm (w/h/d).

Finally, the SRP for the Soulines TT9 turntable is £3,990, which includes the KiVi M3 tonearm, dust cover, and record clamp. (Incidentally, the SRP for a standalone KiVi M3 arm is £2,090.)

For more about Soulines, go here.
To find an authorized Soulines distributor, go here.