funk firm t'tables?


Anyone know about funk firm tables? They're a newer lineup from the people at pink triangle. Sepcifically anyone know about the funk table? here's a few basic specs for 860 w/out arm.
The Funk is equipped with:
# Achroplat (pat pend): Improving on acrylic, it is the perfect Achromatic (non-resonant) support.
# Inverted Sapphire Bearing. Very hard, very highly polished. Seen in the highest performance decks.
# DC Motor drive. Low vibration and optimally matched to the platter?s inertia for consistent drive.
# Sorbothane connected feet to isolate critical midband energy from the outside world.
Also, I know people love this: what would you put as the best table in this price range?
metalsymph
Tpsonic,

"I believe that the above mentioned VDH Condor was tried after several other cartridges,this was done to determine the limiting factors for the supplied table.I believe a re-read is in order.It seemed that the other tables didn't justify doing this.After looking at the represented graghing of performance,it wasn't necessary."

From what do you infer all that?

I did reread the article before posting and just did again. I see no reference anywhere to trying out different cartridges either on the Funk or, certainly, on the other tables. An easy call would have been to use one or all of the cartridges used on the other tables, to try the Condor on all the tables, and/or to at least mention the HUGE price/quality discrepency between them. Since all the tables used a Rega RB250 variant except for the one RB300 on the P3, cartridge/arm compatability/differences would have been a nonissue. I find the reviewers methods ridiculous in this regard. Other than that I think the review was very appropriate given the apples to apples similarities between the table/arms.

In no way is any of this to knock the Funk. I'm very curious myself about it and, as a dealer, I plan on getting one to check out. My point is that, at least as written, it completely invalidates the review of the Funk. Perhaps his remarks were based on a more appropriate process than indicated and as such are valid exactly as stated, but I have no way of knowing that from the review as written. For all we know, the editor was the one who removed the relevent process for space reasons.

Re: the "someone", I hardly think it relevant. I took it as a prompt to carefully reread the article as opposed to take their word for it.

Re: the rest of your post, I don't think you'll get any argument from anyone.
Try posting or searching at www.pinkfishmedia.net, a UK hifi forum. There's many references to funk on there, and the participants own a wide range of turntables from Rega P2s and Technics SL1200s through AC Ravens and Notts hyperspaces.
Seantaylor99: thanks for pointing to pinkfishmedia, I always forget about that resource. I just wish you could search without creating a user account.

I just purchased a Funk Vector yesterday and I'm going to get the my Shelter 501 MkII cart mounted and see how it compares (by memory) to my stock Technics SL1210M5G... I never fully broke in the TT arm cable on the Technics though and it had no mod (the thicker Technics rubber matt that KAB supplies is better than the stock one FYI)
Thank you for your response.Being a dealer,would you feel it appropriate to address the arm/cartridge questions?It has been a long while since I had exposure to the current crop. Would the compliance or other issues affect your choice of arm/cartridge?
Thank you in advance:Piedpiper.
Tpsonic,

I'm not certain exactly what your question is. There are two levels of compatability, mecahnical and sonic. I don't feel as qualified as someone like Thom at Galibier to discuss mechanical table/arm compatibility issues but the mechanics of arm/cartridge compatibility are well documented here. The resulting sonics are, of course, subtler and more subjective. Since I have no experience with the Funk I can't comment at this point on it.

My experience with cartridges on the Rega arms has as much to do with my own taste as anything else. I find the Rega cartridges to be convenient to mount on the Rega arms but not my favorite in that IME although they are dynamic and clear in the midrange, they lack warmth and can be edgey on top. The lower end of the Benz line is a nice match as well as the lower end Clearaudios. The Sumikos work well. Audio Technica makes some affordable carts that might do well. I don't have experience with the latest Denons nor with the recent DynaVectors. I've never been crazy about the Shures. The cheaper Grados are a bit opaque although warm and rich.The cheapest ones are a bit tizzy on the very top. I would look at a better table/arm before I would pair any cart over $400 on any of the table/arms discussed in this thread. Older, no longer made carts is another topic.