Audiophilepure

https://www.analogplanet.com/content/acoustic-signature%E2%80%99s-maximus-neo-turntable-max-quiet-clean-soundstage-and-excellent-dynamics

Coming in at the $9,200 turntable ballpark complete with tonearm and cartridge included, the Acoustic Signature Maximus NEO combo as reviewed here goes up against the following: 1) J.Sikora Initial ($9,495 without tonearm or cart); 2) Kuzma Stabi R with one arm wing ($8,845, and no tonearm or cart); 3) Rega Planar 10 ($6,375, sans cartridge); 4) Thorens TD 124 DD ($11,999 w/TP 124 tonearm but no cart); and 5) SME Model 6 ($8,995 with SME M2-9 tonearm).

That’s some tall cotton to be measured against, to be sure. But the Acoustic Signature Maximus NEO turntable juts out its chin and demands an audition. It’s a well-built machine that’s dead-quiet, fast off the mark, super-resolving, and uber-lively. In short, it’s a maximally great turntable well worth checking out. Gut gemacht!

Clearly, it was a big deal for SME to produce a brand-new turntable intended to better the company founder’s original, now-classic design. Challenge met. The new SME Model 60 with Series VA arm is an overwhelmingly successful upgrade to what was formerly the company’s flagship Model 30. It achieves new SME greatness without forsaking the vision of founder Alastair Robertson-Aikman, who would surely appreciate both this new turntable/arm combo and where his company is headed.

That said, if you want a table that allows you to swap arms or carry a pair of them, the Model 60 isn’t for you. Otherwise, if you’ve got $71,000 or a bit more for something blue or one of the other variants, you’d best check out the SME Model 60 before buying anything at or near the price point. The only remaining question is, who the hell really designed this thing?

Breaking down the sound of the Burmester 217 is ultimately self-defeating because it’s an extremely coherent sound. Going back to that Nic Jones album once more, his voice, guitar and fiddle playing demand a system that communicates music well, and that’s precisely what the 217 does so well. This album normally shows up a higher-mass turntable as being a bit ponderous and rhythmically challenged, but on the 217, it’s light, tight and beautifully ordered. Swap Nic Jones for Frank Sinatra singing ‘It Happened in Monterey’ [Songs For Swinging Lovers, Capitol] and the 217 nails it; both Nelson Riddle’s excellent scoring and Sinatra’s uncanny passing tones meld together exactly as you always knew they should.

My only real issue with the 217 is more ‘philosophical’ than ‘musical’. I’m still unsure if the high-end turntable market ‘gets’ the notion of a turn-key turntable like this. While there was a long hiatus when turntables were starting to be discussed in the past tense, audiophiles before and after the vinyl revival almost universally selected the turntable, arm, and cartridge from a selection rather than select them as a single entity. Even brands that provide all the links in the chain (Clearaudio, for example) don’t specify their high-end models as a turnkey solution.

https://www.soundstageultra.com/index.php/equipment-menu/1154-sme-model-60-turntable-and-series-va-tonearm

I was enjoying the sound so much I ended up playing the whole album, and reveled in the ease with which this special system conveyed the beauty of Barry’s score. On “Try,” the plucked double bass had astonishing depth, articulation, and timbre, and the accompanying piano sounded incredibly natural. Best of all, the system effortlessly reproduced the dramatic climaxes when the orchestra was going at full tilt, even at high volumes. There was a sense of boundless headroom and dynamics, devoid of compression. Sudden transient blasts of trumpet and drums on “Ski Chase” actually made me jump with their force and speed.

In terms of imaging, the Model 60 offered a soundstage that was so stable it felt like architecture hewn from granite. Nothing moved or drifted in depth or width, instruments and performers stayed absolutely secure, and were thus more believable. The soundstage extended far outside the confines of the speakers and I was sometimes surprised at just how wide this felt compared to other sources. Of course, soundstage is affected by a whole range of things, from the loudspeakers to room acoustics, but if the turntable isn’t retrieving spatial information from the record groove then no loudspeaker can put it back.