I wanted to let anyone who is interested that I did purchase the TechDas Air Force lll Premium and could not be any happier. Since I do not have a dealer within 2,500 miles of me I did my own setup which was made very easy due to the excellent design and pretty good manual. The 65 pound platter is a load but using the two supplied handles made it fairly easy to install. I just found that a small step ladder helped me get over the top of the turntable making it easy to look down through the spindle hole of the platter to align it with the spindle. Of course my wife assisted in this process looking from the side and guiding me. Every other aspect of the set is simple and straightforward. The belt tensioning process took a few tries but using the Fieckert method I was finally able to achieve a frequency of 3150.5 for 33 1/3 rpms and dead nuts on for 45 rpms. The armboard they made for my Kuzma 4Point worked perfectly, is very thick and the method for locking the armboard to the turntable is simple, tight, and truly quite ingenious. Air bearing and vacuum system is outstanding and extremely quiet. When you press stop the vacuum hold down reverses and lightly pushes the record up making it very easy to remove the record. The fit and finish is excellent and what you should expect for a $40,000 TT. It operates like a dream and very smooth. It is also dead quiet. Tap the side of the plinth while a record is playing and you hear or rather not hear anything.
I have saved the best for last...the sound. Let me just say that my wife who is a non audiophile but enjoys listening to the music from her sewing room. When the AF lll was first set up she said, “I never thought a turntable could make so much difference.” Her comment was music to my ears. Another time she said, “I really like this put on Talking Heads.” Then she did something she rarely ever does she sat down in my chair and listened to the entire album. She left the room saying, “Wow, that was really good.” I could talk about the sound for pages but for me the sound seems ideal in all sonic aspects especially musicality. I cannot imagine anyone one not enjoying using and listening to the AF lll Premium. Money well spent.
