Move over Air Force One!

Ki Choi

Member Sponsor
May 13, 2010
764
29
1,590
Seattle WA area
All printed audio magazines are some what tainted with potential conflict of interests from impact of ad revenue generated vs transparency in reviewing certain product from particular company honestly - not to mention individual reviewer having preference for certain company or 'special' arrangement they would receive that might influence what they would say. This is my personal opinion with no proofs - period.

With that said, I had been reading Japanese StereoSound magazine (Korean translated version) for many years and felt they were lesser of all audio publication evils with better indepth review of audio equipment often disassembling the gear and coming to their conclusion not based on one man's opinion but from a panel of reviewers with open votes. Earlier this year, StereoSound gave out their annual Grand Prix award for analog gear introduced in 2012.

To my surprise, the panel of three reviewers gave two votes each to the Air Force One but all three people awarded three votes each to the Thales TTT-Compact Turntable w/ Simplicity arm. Makes you wonder...

If someone was in the market for the "best" turntable setup, one would owe one's ears a trial of the Thales before taking out a second mortgage on one's house for the AF1.;)
 

XV-1

Well-Known Member
May 24, 2010
3,591
2,573
1,860
Sydney
Ha ha

I can see Gary, Jack and Rockitman dumping their AF1's quick fast ;)
 

Peter Breuninger

[Industry Expert] Member Sponsor
Jul 20, 2010
1,231
4
0
 

cjfrbw

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
3,323
1,313
1,730
Pleasanton, CA
I demand a DBT!
 

rockitman

Member Sponsor
Sep 20, 2011
7,097
412
1,210
Northern NY
The arm looks like a Siamese twin...the good thing about the af1, once you hear it in your system you will never yearn for another table...at least that is how I feel. This looks like a pretty smart kit for the money. I bet it sounds great.
 

JackD201

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
12,308
1,425
1,820
Manila, Philippines

Gregadd

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
10,517
1,774
1,850
Metro DC
They might want to switch tonearms, Sorry Bob
 

Johnny Vinyl

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
May 16, 2010
8,570
51
38
Calgary, AB

c1ferrari

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
May 15, 2010
2,162
51
1,770
Interesting application of tangential philosophy.
Reminiscent of a Garrard Zero 100 iteration I enjoyed as a tee
nager :cool:
 

Namaste

Well-Known Member
Feb 20, 2013
32
1
843
I have listened to both the AF1 and the Thales tt (although in very different systems). I'll take the AF1 anytime.
 

jfrech

VIP/Donor
Sep 3, 2012
2,152
749
1,160
Austin
I don't doubt the AF1 (and I bet the AF2) are just killer tables. However that Thales arm is very interesting, I got hear it in a unfamiliar system with horns and all Tron electronics. From my time with my Schroder LT arm...I have to admit pivot arms have a weakness....now everything likely does....but I am glad to have a least 2 arm designers pushing the geometry envelope in a difference direction than just from 9 =>10.5 =>12. The Thales seems to accomplish the linear tracing via a unique set of bearings...
 

GaryProtein

VIP/Donor
Jul 25, 2012
2,542
31
385
NY

The Thales looks pretty similar to the Garrard Zero 100 from about 1970.



EDIT: sorry c1ferrari, I didn't read the entire thread before I made this post! I saw the initial photo of the Thales and immediately thought of going for the zero 100 pic.
 

audioarcher

Well-Known Member
May 6, 2012
1,396
51
970
Seattle area
The Thales arms are pretty cool. I'm sure the bearings and the materials used in their arms are better than what was used in the Garrard Zero 100. I really wanted one until I discovered they would not fit on my TT. It is difficult to get 9" arms to fit on my SP10 and the Thales would be damn near impossible without removing the body around the platter of the SP10 and redesigning the whole plinth. Not too long after that, I heard about the development of the Schröder LT. Now that the Schröder LT is in production I will be getting my hands on one soon.
 
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Bruce B

WBF Founding Member, Pro Audio Production Member
Apr 25, 2010
7,006
512
1,740
Snohomish, WA
www.pugetsoundstudios.com
Just got the new Stereophile, Jan '14. Looks like Mikey reviews the Thales TT.
 

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