The keys to the kingdom of heaven? Well, I think so! But, I do not want to jump to the conclusion, as this is just my first sentence.
Some years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting George Thomsen of Prometheus Audio and wrote a subsequent article about that interesting experience. For George is a walking encyclopaedia of classical recordings on vinyl. Ask him about any performance and he will look up in to the middle distance and quickly tell you what SXL number the piece is recorded on, if it was on Decca, which was the best performance and then recite it’s availability on all the other labels!
Professional dealers regularly call him for information and over the years he has supplied to collectors vinyl amounting to more than $150,000.00 George, however, has another talent, for he is a master craftsman!
How do I know? Well, I have lived for many months through the experience of him building for me a eference turntable. George has hand built several of these beasts already and I count myself lucky to be one off the few people who have enjoyed experiencing this hand built engineering marvel.
It is the exact opposite of today’s mass production. It has been a real pleasure to discover someone who can use solid building techniques, combined with current state of the art materials, who can build such a wonderful machine. I thought therefore, that you may enjoy the illustrated journey and story of the birth of this device.
It started last summer with choosing a piece of wood. George had found a small amount of mahogany, which was brought into the UK from Africa in 1953. It was left to dry naturally, protected in a timber yard and the grain and figuring is really superb. Most modern wood has to be kiln dried, which although a very quick process, does not provide the same quality and finish as air dried timber. It is obviously very rare and difficult to get hold of, but George, found enough upon which to build his reference turntable.
Next comes the bearing and platter. Well, the platter weighs over 20Kgs and when I asked him if he drilled it out to achieve perfect balance as other manufacturers have done, he gave me an old fashioned look and said “no, I get it right by design from the very beginning!” George works to very fine tolerances. Less than 2/10ths of a human hair. As for the bearing, George spent months combining several different oils into his secret formula. Even the thrust pad material is an industrial secret. The greatest thing is, that George did not just follow a computer derived formula for the best combination of oils, he actually listened to the different sound variations of each one.
Ok, now we have a wooden base with a bearing and a platter. What does it all sit on? Actually, it is something created millions of years ago – slate. Thanks to our geological past which has created this interesting material, we can now put it to good use, but the wooden base does not just rest upon it for it is insulated by another one of George’s researched secrets. He also makes an equipment stand built to heroic proportions. In researching an insulating material to use between the pillars, he hit upon material which has outstanding audio qualities and could on a larger scale be used as part of the “turntable sandwich”. I hope by now from the photographs you will get some idea of the quality of manufacture, which extends right down to the adjustable feet. Alright, we now have a superb support for the platter.
What about the motor? Well, again George spent many months listening to a variety of different motors. As an example, should they be of AC or DC design. Well, I asked him which he chose and he asked me to turn the motor spindle. I could feel no cogging whatsoever. Yes George smiled and said he found the DC motor to be best and that is what he uses.
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