CES & THE Show 2012 CES & THE Show 2012 • Hot Product Limited to a run of 250, the Kronos Turntable (no alphanumeric model designation) reassesses key elements of any turntable: the suspension, platter, motor and materials. The Turntable's suspension and dual platters work in concert to eliminate torsional forces -- the inclination of a turntable's plinth or frame to rotate with the platter. Kronos's solution involves both a multi-element suspension system and a second platter that rotates in the opposite direction of the main platter to cancel its energy. The Turntable uses Swiss-made DC motors that make real-time speed adjustments based on information optical sensors receive from the platters. In terms of materials, it's easy to see all of the machined aluminum, but sandwiched between these plates is a composite material similar to Bakelite. Perhaps most surprising is the cost of all this forward thinking: $28,000 -- not cheap by any means, but when you see and hear the Kronos Turntable, you'll think it must cost much more.
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CES & THE Show 2012
CES & THE Show 2012 • Hot Product
Limited to a run of 250, the Kronos Turntable (no alphanumeric model designation) reassesses key elements of anyturntable: the suspension, platter, motor and materials. The Turntable's suspension and dual platters work in concert to
eliminate torsional forces -- the inclination of a turntable's plinth or frame to rotate with the platter. Kronos's solutioninvolves both a multi-element suspension system and a second platter that rotates in the opposite direction of the mainplatter to cancel its energy. The Turntable uses Swiss-made DC motors that make real-time speed adjustments based oninformation optical sensors receive from the platters. In terms of materials, it's easy to see all of the machinedaluminum, but sandwiched between these plates is a composite material similar to Bakelite.
Perhaps most surprising is the cost of all this forward thinking: $28,000 -- not cheap by any means, but when you seeand hear the Kronos Turntable, you'll think it must cost much more.
CES & THE Show 2012
CES & THE Show 2012 • Hot Product
Limited to a run of 250, the Kronos Turntable (no alphanumeric model designation) reassesses key elements of anyturntable: the suspension, platter, motor and materials. The Turntable's suspension and dual platters work in concert to
eliminate torsional forces -- the inclination of a turntable's plinth or frame to rotate with the platter. Kronos's solutioninvolves both a multi-element suspension system and a second platter that rotates in the opposite direction of the mainplatter to cancel its energy. The Turntable uses Swiss-made DC motors that make real-time speed adjustments based oninformation optical sensors receive from the platters. In terms of materials, it's easy to see all of the machinedaluminum, but sandwiched between these plates is a composite material similar to Bakelite.
Perhaps most surprising is the cost of all this forward thinking: $28,000 -- not cheap by any means, but when you seeand hear the Kronos Turntable, you'll think it must cost much more.
The other Lamm room featured two pairs of ML2.2 amplifiers ($37,190/pair) biamplifying Verity Lohengrin II loudspeakers ($95,995/pair), but what stopped me in my tracks the moment I walked into the room was the Kronosturntable ($28,000). The stunning Kronos, equipped with a Graham Phantom II Supreme 12” ‘arm ($5800) and aDynavector XV-1s cartridge is to my eyes one of the most gorgeous turntables that has ever spun an LP. It is, according to designer Louis Desjardin, the world’s first turntable to combine a suspension with a counter-rotat-ing platform -- which precisely duplicates the size and weight of the platter -- in one unified design.
Through a system consisting of Lamm’s LP2 Deluxe phono stage ($7995), two-chassis L2 Reference line stage ($15,575) and the Lohengrins, Desjardins spun old favorites and some stunning test pressings from Ying Tan’s Original Recordings Group, including the justly renowned London recording of La Fille Mal Gardee. The image stability, deep, perfectly pitched bass, and immense soundfield produced by the Kronos were ear-opining indeed. I am intimately familiar with Lamm electronics and Graham ‘arms, and I have used the XV-1s as a reference for years, but this was something new under the sun.
