[zer010gic]

Anybody checked out the Clearaudio Performance? How does it compare to similarly priced tables like from VPI?



Corey

 

[searchenabler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zer010gic /img/forum/go_quote.gif Anybody checked out the Clearaudio Performance? How does it compare to similarly priced tables like from VPI? Corey

You can be sure that engineering, craftsmanship and finish quality do not get better than Clearaudio products.

The CMB bearing on the Clearaudio is 1st rate - better than the vast majority of bearings on high end tables. It is a magnetic levitation bearing, and obviously, noise/rumble is incredibly low and friction is as low as physically possible.

I have the same arm (Clearaudio Satisfy) on my turntable and it's a beautifully engineered/precision arm, simply beyond what you traditionally expect. It utilizes polished sapphire bearing with tungsten shaft points. The bearing friction is so low that it seems frictionless to my clumsy hands. Yet the unit has no play what so ever and seems to be extremely rigid at the same time. The arm has a very nice anti-skate system (variable magnetic) and appears to be extremely rigid and inert. The headshell is very nice; offering maximum rigidity while being extremely adjustable. The lift/lower cue mechanism has superbly smooth dampened action. It is a Gimbal arm, as opposed to the pivot type on the VPI Scout series. The Clearaudio arm is anything but average and I can not find any real faults to pick on. It seems to act essentially like a neutral transcribing tool that tracks with perfection, which is the point, is it not? My table has the motor that is a model lower than the one on the Performance. My motor is superbly accurate, being considerably better at speed stability than is factory specification(measured with a high quality test lp and performing FFT analysis on a steady state sine wave over a 15 second time period to ascertain max. and min. speed as well as averaged). I would think the higher end motor on the Performance is even better, and mine is already completely pitch stable on all music types. Mine only measures very slightly worse than a very good quartz locked direct drive.

Chris

 

[pinkpanther]

+1 on the Performance.  I own one and I love it.

 

[metalgear]

another clearaudio performance supporter here with satisfy arm. like the easy upgrade path but havent found the need to move up.