"As for Artisan Fidelity, their plinth is a copy of mine and I resent that." Not so fast. Although Mr. Porter's tale makes for good story telling, anyone with a fastidious eye for detail and a keen memory should be able to spot immediately what classic Technics design was the near aesthetic duplicate of "yours". For those interested in investigating further, search Technics SH-10B3 Obsidian plinth on Google. Once a suitable image is located, note the familiar beveled edge angles (top and bottom) and armboard location and shape. Now, if one were to imagine this plinth's center slightly taller and a slightly longer armboard.....you get the idea. An original exterior design, yes, only by Technics circa 1980 or so. This base criteria also served as a personal design concept of mine on paper, long ago. Constrained layer damping in mechanical engineering is a practice which has been utilized in various industries, even audio for decades. Panzerholz, again, not invented or conceived by the poster above. Furthermore, the internals of these two respective Sp10 designs differ substantially. The method of cld layering, applied isolation, bonding, materials used, finishing techniques and implementation as a whole vary to a significant degree. The principal similarities of the plinths in question are almost solely aesthetic in nature. While we are sharing openly, inquisitive readers might also be interested in researching Artisan Fidelity's once unique practice of thick outer plank wrapping over a constrained layer core. This practice has been embraced by AF from the start and only later copied by certain others. If anyone is curious as to why another might suddenly switch their approach from thin to thick panel wrap, just ask, the whole story is an enlightening one, that much I can assure you. And the sudden offerings of Sp10Mk3's with aluminum chassis refinishes? A "copy" perhaps of our long standing practice or merely coincidence? The list goes on, but why bother....
Where credit is due on Mr. Porter's behalf, in my humble opinion, lies in helping bring to light the vast potential of these particular direct drives of a bygone era, the Technics Sp10Mk2 and Mk3 which were once overlooked by many, primarily as a result of poor implementation. (ie. plinth design) In this capacity, this individual has served as an inspiration to both myself and others. This includes the fundamental approach of Panzerholz core based plinths in conjunction with the above stated models.
Artisan Fidelity's core substratum methods employed for Panzerholz based and conventional style plinths have been proprietary since day one for each individuals set design requirements and tailored uniquely for each make and model. For anyone following our work, never have our aesthetics for the Technics Sp10 remained static and based solely around the vintage factory SH-10B3 Obsidian plinth or "Porter" style in question. Moreover, our latest Sp10Mk2 and Mk3 next generation design efforts build upon knowledge learned through previous conventional design approaches and are a significant departure from either.
Never has Mr. Porter made an effort to approach me privately regarding his feelings on the Sp10 plinth style matter, instead he wishes to continually express his thoughts in a contriving manor on public forums. Perhaps had he contacted me early on, and made the choice to discuss things directly like a professional, as a like minded audio enthusiast, we could have avoided these unpleasant and unnecessary forum antics.
Time to put this to rest.
