The turntable started out as a device used to play music by rotating a phonograph record on a a circular horizontal platform, but it has evolved into a music instrument itself and some models now are just as much as the costliest instrument. The record player was the most popular device for playing sound from the 1870s through the 1980s, but in the modern work-a-day world of iTunes and Sattelite radio, the record player is often overlooked. DJs and Turntablism brought new life and new expensive turntables to the consumer and keeps the record player adapting.
Vinyl is alive and kicking because the most passionate and wealthy audiophiles know that CD’s or mp3’s sound can‘t touch anything on these—the most expensive turntables.
Continuum Caliburn – up to $112,000
Vinyl isn’t dead, and The Continuum Caliburn turntable proves this by aiming for audio perfection. The price for this expensive turntable starts at $90,000 and goes up to $112,000, depending on finishes and includes some amazing technology. The tonearm alone sells for $12,000. The turntable uses a magnetically levitated magnesium platter suspended in a vacuum to assure there are no vibrations.
Clearaudio Statement – $125,000
This 770-pound hunk of wood and aluminum features a magnetically-driven sub-platter that completely eliminates contact with the main platter and real time speed control. A 176 lb pendulum ensures that the platters are always level and a high speed microprocessor-controlled motor drive unit, similar to that used in the Mars rover, keeps the records turning.
Basis Work of Art – $150,000
This Work of Art uses a “mass-spring-dampener” suspension system to completely isolate the turntable from the listening environment while an AC synchronous instrument motor provides the speed-stability necessary to put the most ardent audiophiles at ease. The Work of Art’s support structure is so rigid that audible resonance is eliminated.
Goldmund Reference II – $300,000
The successor to the 25-year-old Goldmund Reference is a high-precision turntable with level calibration to less than 1/100th of a millimeter and its stylus, pivot and counterweight “perfectly aligned for optimal dynamic balance.” Three Teflon tubes prevent vibration of the wires as they carry signal from the turntable. The turntable also features a digital processor that provides RIAA correction which, I’m guessing, has nothing to do with those people who sue people for downloading MP3 files.
The world’s most expensive turntable is limited to a mere twenty-five units with only five being made per year.
[Thanks to D]
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
I will soon be a world renowned dj. and i will buy this peace of beautiful machinery
Well dream on..hopefully you won’t scratch so much otherwise you’ll find a years hard-owned salary spend on just the needle-replacement.
i think i just soiled meself. i had no idea such beauty existed
Save your money, the worlds best is the JC Verdier turntable,hands down. Buy one, add a SME 3012 and take a good vacation with the rest of the money.I’m sure you will have lots of money left over when you get back..
Enjoy the music.
The most expensive turntable requires the ears of a dog. Most 45 years old people can hardly hear more than 10 – 12 thousand HZ. Hence such an investment is more like investing on Gold and Diamonds rather than pretending you can hear the most silent whispers of such a brilliant piece of art. On the other hand a wealthy person is more than welcome to pay for his vanity the smart inventor of this equipment and tell his friends the story of how much he spent to buy the most expensive turntable in the world
John
Hardly the point.
There’s another one even more expensive, the Clearaudio Statement Turntable.
http://www.needledoctor.com/Clearaudio-Statement-Turntable?sc=2&category=347
Clearaudio Statement: $125,000
Basis Audio ‘Work of Art’: $150,000
The granddaddy of them all:
Goldmund Reference II: $300,000
Anyone who understands the Ray Kilmanas paper in the AES Journal would recognize the gross defect in this design. The incorrect geometry of the arm can generate up to 4% modulation distortion. A turntable of this price should not have such a defect. Would you buy a tape recorder with 4% flutter?
hmmmm….where did i stash my old Dansette?
at least i can take it for a walk
HAHAHA!!
People can be such self deluded fools!
Back in the day, I used to work at Cinram – one of the largest record pressing plants in in the world – and you wouldn’t believe what a hack job making records was. Superior product, my a55! From nodule infested nickel stampers, cheap regrind in the vinyl, to QC’ing done by third world labor that barely spoke english, anyone who thinks vinyl sounds better than digital is a total sucker…the kind that buys these turntables…and also convinces themselves that Monster cables really do sound better and are worth the price.
Some egregiously ignorant morons out there…
More nonsense. Turntables definitely sound better than CD Players, that argument has long since been put to bed. Does a £1200 turntable sounds twice as good as a £600 turntable ?. No, the law of diminishing returns comes in effect, course it doesnt, Does a 'Monster' cable that costs a hundred times more than a piece of mains wire sound a 100 times better ? No, that'd be silly to think that, but, the reality is, if you've got the money, and you can appreciate 'quality' and 'beauty', then you'd be a ' sucker' not to indulge.
Enrico,
No one argues the musical potential of the Verdier. But for people well jaded into Esoteric/EMM/dCS that kind of digetal stuff it’s peanuts.
Some of you obviously are audio-virgins. Why do we ‘need’ these expensive toy? If you haven’t tasted Godiva Chocolate, it is hard to explain why a small lump of chocolate should cost $10 when you could get a much larger piece for $.55 in the supermarket. The cheaper one, mind you, doesn’t taste that bad, either. It’s just that once you are spoiled, you dig the taste of the expensive manna.
I understand Qube’s comments. I remember listening to records that were clearly made from worn out ‘mothers’ and recycled vinyl. That’s one of the reasons CD was able to take over the market. But, has Qube listened to anything from Mobile Fidelity? My “Plastic Ono Band” by John Lennon on MFSL vinyl, sounds far superior to the compact disc I have of the same album. I’ve transferred this to CD-R and have made AB comparisons for different friends. All agree the MFSL vinyl is a better recording.
I always get a good laugh out of folks who pay a fortune for audio gear who have the musical taste of a moron. They think Pink Floyd, John Lennon and their R&R ilk are musicians! Amazing. Sheep.
Nonsense comment. Music is subjective. There's no one individual in the world can comment on the musical tastes of another. It many not to be your liking, but that doesn't make it any worse. Anybody who judges another persons musical preferences is actually showing just how little they know about music.
In any industry there will people who need perfection, while these turntables may be incredibly expensive and not worth it, it’s like buying a Ferrari, what do you need the speed and power for? are you gonna be hitting 120 mph on the way to work? It’s because if you love cars, you want the best made, if you love records, you want the best turntable so that you can be assured that you are getting the best, looking at it gives you pride.. idk just my opinion.. i would never pay that much personally but i could imagine why somebody else would..
Nonsense comment. Theres no such thing as 'Not worth it'. How you percieve value is totally different from how another might percieve it. If everything comes down to monitary value, then 'nothing' is worth it. Quality will always be quality, beauty will always be beauty, pricelss to some, valueless to othes.
So Glad people have made such amazing machines ; Would one dare go near one of these with a 20 or 30 dollar LP? Even though they may be 'amazing' – I cannot help but be drawn to the expression "they have more money than sense!" And where to keep it?
in a dust-free, Child-proof, windowless,air purified bomb proof VAULT ? With glass and stainless steel chairs & matching end tables ? Could you ever fully enjoy using
such an item without the fear of sneezing on it ! And who do you get to tune it service it? I liked the one in "Pulp Fiction" But this is too extreme!
Hardly the point, If I had the money I would buy something similar, and sit and look at it all day, everyday. Beauty is priceless.
Hardly the point and total nonsense. Because somebody is lucky enough to have a lot of money and buy the things they desire doesnt make them a 'fool'. Give the drugs a miss mate.
Anyone who'd think of purchasing one of these goofy turntables is nuts. Period.
Diminishing returns aside, I highly doubt a human could tell the difference from playing a disk on a Technics 1200.
Just like those fools that thought coathanger wire sounded better in a blind listening test over monster cables.
Fools.
…or maybe, just maybe, we've got real live aliens from space living on this planet.