My New Turntable : PrimaryControl Kinea & Arrow

Hi!

After working together with Bernd Hemmen of PrimaryControl on several High End fairs and getting to know his superb craftsmanship and knowledge it was just a matter of time until his creations found their way into my system.

My trusty Scheu turntable got replaced by Bernd's Kinea which completed development this year and served as source in our system at the High End.

As tonearm I picked the Arrow which appealed to me for the easy set up and adjustment.

The turntable is completed with the Atlas cartridge from Lyra.

Bernd personally delivered the turntable and set it up for me.

Here we see him unpacking everything which comes in a huge box.

The base still without platter and arm:

Hooking up the turntable to the external control unit:

This unit drives the motor which is a direct drive system. Besides speed selection it allows for different settings of torque.

Bernd mounts the tonearm:

And meticulously cleans the platter before it is put on the table:

Everything set up...

... and ready for a first critical listening...

... and re-adjusting.

The final result.

The turntable works as I got to know it during our joint exhibition at the High End. It simply performs without any trace of tracking errors or distortion. It enables the cartridge to pick up every detail out of the grooves. A very solid and steady performer. No unnecessary bells and whistles. Just the way I like it.

The perfect source to demo my amps and preamps. And for my private listening joy as well.

And I love the simplistic and very pure styling. The turntable is extremely heavy and solid. Yet Bernd managed to give it a very elegant appearance.

With the white base and black glass surface with the company logo beautifully embedded this table is a joy to look at. And to listen to of course. Every detail is crafted to very high standards. Avoiding the flashy look many modern chrome laden turntables in the size of an oil platform have nowadays. It perfectly fits to my taste.

And a great combination with the stunning Atlas.

I am also very happy to announce that I am acting as a representative for PrimaryControl. If you are interested in these products, you can listen to them at my place and also get them through me.

I'd like to thank Bernd for this beautiful turntable. Keep up the good work!

Best regards

Thomas

European Triode Festival, ETF 2016 - recap

Hi!

The ETF was a blast just like the previous years. Although I tried to cover as much as possible in my live blogs, I certainly missed some stuff. There simply is so much variety and so many systems and they keep changing during those 3 days. Impossible to catch everything.

Back home I sorted through the photos I took and found many some more which are worthwhile sharing.  This one catches the spirit nicely. It's all about the gear AND the music:

And for the first time some live recordings were made and could be listened to afterwards. This was a great idea for the shootout.

Thanks again to Bjorn and Karsten for this idea and for organising it. And thanks to the musicians for making it happen.

A great opportunity to compare the reproduction to the real thing.

It was a surprise how many people brought recording equipment and how much effort they put into this.

The results were extremely good. Actually all of the recordings from the different people sounded at an extremely high quality level and they represented the different philosophies applied in capturing the musicians and instruments.

Although there was an official winner of the shootout, to me all those recordings were great and all who participated are winners. Thanks again for this insight.

What's so great about the ETF is that things are not taken too seriously. It is about socialising just as much as about the gear.

And so much sharing of knowledge and experience and work going on right there.

So many passionately built things.

So many different styles and ideas.

And tubes everywhere

As mentioned above although there always is a contest, it is not about winning or being the best. There are so many different philosophies, preferences and ways to do things. There is no best. In fact there was not one poor sounding system and most often the small, humble systems are the most surprising.

As great and inspiring the big system with it's GIP drivers, Western Electric 12a horns and set of crazy amps was.

My personal favourite was Torbjorns creation which in my opinion totally reflects the spirit of the ETF.

Made from cheap parts, without any commercial interest. Only made for sharing at the ETF. Untested before the event, finished and tuned right there during these 3 days, it simply sounded amazing. Also the way it is put together is great. At first look it looks very improvised but the final result is beautiful. Another stunning piece brought to the ETF by Dave Slagle:

A field coil cartridge made by him! Mind blowing!

A big part of the ETF are the lectures. They are always well attended and it is amazing how much knowledge is shared freely.

Thanks again to everybody. The mood, spirit and fun makes for such a great relaxing atmosphere. This makes it possible to take in and digest these many different impressions.

See you again next year at St. Helene in Tisvideleje

Best regards

Thomas