Ked, I should have said "fatal attraction".
And tbh, it's a disadvantage in the high end world, esp analog, but also probably spkrs, to conciously turn away from tried and tested specimens like SME 30 or TW AC3 or Brinkmann Balance, and actively choose instead PTP or Torqueo or Primary Control or Spec or Saskia or EMT, or indeed AS (if I was a big enough player at that level).
Maybe I'll do a total 180 and go new SP10R LOL!
Sometimes we let our individualism, uniqueness, ego get in our way of choosing things. Mainstream tts can actually fill up all sonic and real world requirement we have. But we just want to ignor them because it would be “cool” to have a niche tt not only sound good but unique enough for others to perceive the owner of the system as one of the gurus. For those who want to own just one tt and the best sound from a system, I see no reason why not choosing the mainstream tts like NVS, Kronos, GP Monaco and a few more that you often find at shows with more appproachable price point. These tts are so good if you optimize them to match your system, you can have an unbelivable sound that you canbe so happy and want to share your experience with others. Don’t forget that if your system sound phenomenal, it is really the whole chain. Bonzo went to Mike’s and said it is one of the best system he heard. Did he hear the American Sound? Of course not, it was the NVS. He also went to David’s and listened to his system with AS. I suspect Bonzo might even prefers the sound of Mike’s system with the more mainstream NVS. My point is unless you are tt fanatic and has no restriction on budget, choosing a really good mainstream tt you found in many rooms at shows are a lot more sensible than one rarely seen anywhere at the same price point. Mainstream with dealer’s service to backup..Way to go.
Kind regards,
Tang
Tang, this is an excellent post. I sense many 'asonic' factors impacting some (not all) TT buying choices: looks, provenance and designer heritage, desire for the unique or obscure or limited, cachet, etc.
Sometimes we let our individualism, uniqueness, ego get in our way of choosing things. Mainstream tts can actually fill up all sonic and real world requirement we have. But we just want to ignor them because it would be “cool” to have a niche tt not only sound good but unique enough for others to perceive the owner of the system as one of the gurus. For those who want to own just one tt and the best sound from a system, I see no reason why not choosing the mainstream tts like NVS, Kronos, GP Monaco and a few more that you often find at shows with more appproachable price point. These tts are so good if you optimize them to match your system, you can have an unbelivable sound that you canbe so happy and want to share your experience with others. Don’t forget that if your system sound phenomenal, it is really the whole chain. Bonzo went to Mike’s and said it is one of the best system he heard. Did he hear the American Sound? Of course not, it was the NVS. He also went to David’s and listened to his system with AS. I suspect Bonzo might even prefers the sound of Mike’s system with the more mainstream NVS. My point is unless you are tt fanatic and has no restriction on budget, choosing a really good mainstream tt you found in many rooms at shows are a lot more sensible than one rarely seen anywhere at the same price point. Mainstream with dealer’s service to backup..Way to go.
Kind regards,
Tang
XV, the best bet in the UK for multiple dealer situations is SME and Clearaudio, w Kronos and AF at a v well respected Central London dealership, and Kuzma at a well established place, TW at a smaller place, Brinkmann at a couple, and AMG at my dealer.
Exposure to GPA Monaco is no go in UK for me personally despite one or two dealers.
NVS, Dohmann, Kodo The Beat not happening here.
Spec maybe if UK distribr comes thru.
XV, please do tell, how much is Spec in $AU and $US?
Is that with the EMT arm?
Maybe down to Asia and Australia having a more common market zone, more liquidity and less taxes on trade?
The 3 mainstream turntables you mention are all quite a bit more expensive than the Spec Corp table and most other tables available from mainstream importers and dealers.
The NVS, GP Monaco and Kronos imo are hardly mainstream. They would barely have a half a dozen dealers in America, let alone in other countries where many others including myself live. There are certainly zero of these table available in Australia for a listen or demo. More mainstream in Australia is Tech Das, SME, Dohmman, Brinkman, where models are actually available for demo - but again it comes down to the willingness of the local importer to keep stock.
Most of us rely on local dealers actually stocking items for demo, otherwise you have to buy unseen.
Kronos and GP Monaco are both available in Australia
I own a GP Monaco
Got good back up through Australian supplier / factory
NVS I haven’t a clue about
If you cannot get to see in Aus, a short flight to Singapore they have it all, heard Kronos in signapore a week ago and Hanoi
Both in Singapore and Vietnam that I have visited recently ( last week) the Kronos is selling very well, so it hard to claim they are fringe seller ? Lois is very active in Asia with his turntable
Understand there are distributors for both Kronos and GP Monaco and both have excellent after sales service. But can you listen to one? Or are they sitting there waiting for someone to place an order?
I had one of the original two Monaco 1.0 tables the distributor brought in for 3 months - when I was minding it for a friend ( great table btw ) - I am not sure if they have brought anymore over for demo purposes.
Good to hear Kronos is doing well in Asia. Seemed that way in HK as well. Not my cup of tea.
cheers
I'm going SP10R at some point. it will be by far the best value.
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