This month witnessed the biggest Open Day ever at Audio Affair – The High End Turntable Extravaganza. The Daddy of all audio equipment blew listeners away with some amazing new products and proved there is still very much life in the old dog yet !
Featured products were :
Roksan Xerxes
Thorens TD 309
Clearaudio Anniversary
Pro-ject Xperience
Roksan Radius 5.2
Attendees were truly dumb founded by the build quality of all these amazing turntables, all true heavy weights with looks to match. First to take the stage was the Clearaudio Anniversary fitted with the trusty SME Model 10 arm. The towering 78mm tall platter revved into life thanks to the torquey motor and the sweet sounds from the Ortofon Cadenza Red were soon soaring into the eaves of the Birmingham demo room ! Amplification was handled by the Icon Audio Stereo 60 accompanied by the PS1 phono stage. A real room filler of an amplifier can only be partnered by some serious cones and this came in the form of Germany’s finest – the monolithic Quadral Vulkan floorstanders.
Next up was the Roksan Xerxes featuring the work of art that is the Artemiz tonearm. A true test to set up the 60 page manual gave even the most experienced audiophile a challenge to tweak to perfection ! Once coupled with the Ortofon Cadenza Black this turntable was capable of revealing such detail that classic 180gm recordings sounded as fresh as the day they were pressed.
Following on from the Xerxes came the Thorens TD 309. Just released, this high gloss finish range now has the finish to match the design. A fresh design from Thorens that looked amazing and well above its price point. Even with an out the box cartridge it gave the other decks a run for their money, and proved there are new designs some to be relished over 60 years after the first Thorens model was unveiled.
Last came the Pro-ject Xperience with its beautiful olive finish and stunning lines. Not dissimilar to the TD 309 this turntable was very revealing and capable of reproducing real depth and clarity for reasonable priced deck. Listeners were equally impressed with its amazing sense of timing and ability to envelop all who heard it. An impressive turntable and so easy to set up – just what the doctor ordered !