RMAF 2009 Analog Report + Meet and Greet

Thanks, Dre. So I assume that the $7800 only gets you the turntable, without tonearm or cartridge. I am very surprised to learn that this product has been around for 3 years. I just heard about it in the last month or so. The design is very promising, but the price is a head-scratcher, to me anyway. They must use a fabulous bearing and platter. The plinth construction and materials might or might not be good choices. At about $3K to $4K or maybe even $5K sans tonearm, they would fly out the door.

Lew,

That that is correct. The Artemis Labs web site lists the table at $7800 USD. I believe three years ago was the introduction of the table designed by Frank. This maybe part of the reason for the higher price. I'm not sure when the table was ready for production after that. You can read about it here: http://www.artemislabs.com/SA-1-Turntable.html
I'm not sure if that helps with the head scratching though.

Dre

I learned something more about the construction last night from a knowledgeable friend. Apparently the platter and bearing ARE pretty special; it's not just the Schroeder association that determines the cost. He also said that it is a great sounding table, FWIW. The fancy version with cocobola or zebrawood or some other endangered species of wood, that costs nearly $11,000 - now THAT one does seem overpriced.

Hi guys,
Just a couple of remarks regarding the Artemis SA-1 table. The wider based plinth version is more expensive due to the plinth material being three times more expensive(than the bamboo used on the small footprint deck) and more timeconsuming to finish. It is not made from an endangered species(and neither Cocobolo nor Zebrawood are anyway), but from a pressure treated palm plywood.
The motor on those tables costs us 250$. Try to find a table anywhere near that price that has a motor costing more than 50$...
The platter and bearing are manufactured to extremely tight tolerances(+/- 1/1000mm) in all dimensions by a company that usually works for NASA, Lockheed, etc...
Other features that you can't make out right away are the unique drive system, an eddy current brake acting on the platter, the possibility to correct for off center holed records and the armbase allowing for overhang changes.
There is a lot more, but this isn't going to become an ad.
Try it and hear if you like it :-)

And thanks to everyone who visited us at RMAF. Bring more of your own records next time!

Cheers,

Frank

Eddy current brake on the platter, Frank ... you been talkin' to Mark Kelly too, or is this one of those hundred monkey sort of things?

Cheerio,
Thom @ Galibier