Grand Prix Monaco review in new Stereophile- OUCH

Lewm has it right. The Monaco is a very well executed dd turntable that uses a 12 pole Hall sensor commutated motor. Nothing unique there. What is unique is the use of sinewave commutation as opposed to square wave commutation. This used to be extremely expensive, but clearly the price has dropped. Mr. Lloyd's design is elegant and brilliantly executed using high quality parts and superb machining and construction. I don't think I could have been more lavish in my praise of that aspect of the design and execution. However, just as spring suspended designs and mass loaded designs, and belt drive designs have sonic signatures, so do dd turntables. Back when the original Technics dd designs were issued, they too claimed speed perfection and the measurements available then demonstrated that was true. However, the 'hunt and peck' aspect of the servo system, which was always correcting and overcorrecting in the process of producing "speed perfection," produced a brightness and a discomfort that brought about the "belt drive" revolution of the Linn LP12. Belt drives (mostly) have problems that cause wow and flutter, but these are less perceptible as it turns out, than the high speed constant corrections of those old dd turntables. The Monaco design goes to great lengths to deal with the issues of Hall sensor torquing, and all of the other problems associated with dd motors where the platter is literally part of the motor, just as the Caliburn design has gone to great lengths to deal with the known issues of belt drive designs. Neither acheives perfection and both have sonic attributes. I stick by my sonic description of the Monaco both good (superb rhythmic-pacing performance and outstanding bass) and less good (a dry or tight quality in the midrange with a loss of low level detail and harmonic development) compared to the best belt designs. Which one prefers is always a matter of taste and as long as one understands the sonic character, one can better choose a complimentary cartridge and phono preamp. This is true of every audio product. The Monaco "white paper" claimed "neutrality" and colorlessness for the turntable. Sorry. I don't buy that there or with any other audio product I have ever encountered in more than 20 years of doing this. The review should no more discourage any interested parties from considering the Monaco than the review of the Merrill, which said that the bass was not as tight, extended and well controlled as the Monaco, should discourage audiophiles from considering that 'table. The rest of the blather here really is pretty foolish in my opinion and not worth the cyberspace it takes up.

Dear lewm: Don't be so " extreme ". All I'm saying is that when we change a componnent we have to made a " fine tunning ": that's all.

Come to Mexico and be my guest for the Coronas!!!

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Dear grooves: Of course that I know that you know how to make a TT/tonearm/cartridge set-up ( you have a DVD about. Btw, very good one. ).

The point is that you don't mentioned nothing about specially on load impedance and VTA. So, now I understand that you use the same load impedance with both set-ups, is ok for me don't problem: no one knows better your system that you.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

The goal was and is always, with any review, to make the product under review sound as good as it possibly can within the context of the review system. Of course VTA was carefully adjusted. And while I'm at it, I understand there are some IDIOTIC rumors floating around (based on a reader's email) that the Graham Phantom did not contain damping fluid. Of course it did. Who could have made such a ludicrous assertion? The Graham, which I own, was taken from the Continuum's second armboard and installed on the Monaco. The VTA obviously had to be readjusted to take into account the difference in platter height (etc.). Also, according to this reader, some yentas are asserting that my relationship with the folks at Continuum affected the review. So let's see: I attended Harry Weisfeld's son's Bar Mitzvah, I attended the funeral of his other son (the one for whom the JMW Memorial arm was named) and consider Harry Weisfeld a closer friend than I do the guys from Continuum, but somehow, after reviewing the Simon Yorke S7, I sold my TNT and bought the Yorke, though I had never met Simon Yorke at that point in time. You know what? There are some real idiots in this hobby. So let me reiterate. I LISTENED TO THE MONACO AND WROTE WHAT I HEARD. That's what I do every time, all the time. I separate the products from the people. It's essential to do that. Unfortunately, there are too many reviewers who can't do that, so they end up writing frothy, chummy reviews of every product they get in. Never a bad word. Why bother reading such reviews when you can read professional advertising copy or a publicist's hand out?

well i haven't heard the caliburn but it;s would be typical of fremer to like because it is one of, if the not the, most expensive tables on the market. It may not be a great table or it may be. But, i'd be curious is head to head it was better than a walker, galibier,teres, forsell or whatever...