Pro-Ject founder and CEO Heinz Lichtennegger has decided to go after the cheap plastic turntable market with a high quality alternative that will sell for $199 complete with an Ortofon cartridge.
Sandwiches of thick aluminum and inlays of thick wood or other materials highlight both the Sperling's looks as well as its damping mechanism. Different species of wood are available that will affect, to some degree, the final sound.
The compact, Swiss-made Thales TTT turntable exudes a subtle, soothing beauty and refinement. The Simplicity tangential pivoted tonearm complements the 'table's "refined to the essentials" design and together they create a vinyl playback system that seems destined to produce great sound, though I really didn't get a chance to listen
This compact idler wheel drive turntable designed by Audio Silente's Simone Lucchitti kept me coming back to look and finally hear, though in the crowded main floor listening was next to impossible.
Reinhard Thöress's point-to-point wired hybrid JFET/vacuum tube powered phono preamp features five phono inputs, plus variable RIAA that allows you to adjust variances from the RIAA curve at the time constant "knees" of the curve.
Just concluded day two of High End 2013 in Munich. The MOC Convention Center was packed. It's a large venue sort of like a somewhat smaller Javits Center in New York City. Not all of it was used for the show but much of it was, including an enormous ground level space and much of the second and third floor atrium area.