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Amazon Audio  maybe a relatively new name to many of you in both the Singapore and Malaysia hi-fi scene. Like many European hi-fi brands who prefer to build their name steadily, letting their products speak for themselves (similar to the style of Origin Live) instead of spending big advertising dollar making big claims, I bet you wouldn’t know that Amazon Audio has been in the business of turntable design and manufacturing for well over 20 years now.
In 1986, Amazon Audio presented the first AMAZON turntable and caused a sensation because of the use of a special kind of damping mechanism. It was at that time the legendary High-End magazine DAS OHR decided to use it as their reference turntable.
Amazon realized very early that a clean power supply is very important for the sound of a turntable, so only the cleanest source of all power supplies - the battery is used. Consequently using fundamental DC motors, which inherently have an easier to control vibration spectrum. Another typical characteristic of Amazon’s turntables is the renunciation of metal springs, because they always force their material resonance on the turntable no matter how well the spring is damped.
We attach special importance to the central bearing. All AMAZON turntables have high precision steel/ceramic bearings which are built for minimal friction and insensitivity to vibrations. All AMAZON turntables utilize a revolutionary bearing. It is inverted (meaning that the center of gravity is at the record level, the most beneficial placement), made of hardened steel and utilizing a ceramic ball on which rests a teflon support. The ceramic ball used is ideal for its designed purpose, since it has an extremely smooth surface and is actually harder than metal in that small a size, and can be polished to a smoother surface than metal. The ball rests on top of a stationary axle. A precision machined sleeve is placed over the axle/ball assembly. An oil pan at the bottom keeps it lubricated through capillary action. The acrylic platter is simply positioned over the entire bearing assembly. Acrylic material is also used for each base resting on 3 spikes.
AMAZON turntables are neither hard coupled nor use metal springs, which would always force distortion signals onto the drive, because of its own resonance. To reach a maximum of distortion impassivity, all AMAZON drives are equipped with LRP dampers (low resilience polymer) combined with numerous well-thought out detail solutions to guarantee a perfect music reproduction
As you can see, Amazon Audio is NOT a new or untested brand with a me-too turntable approach. Over the years, AMAZON has been winning over vinyl fans (in US/Europe) and delighting, charming reviewers all over. Under the leadership of Harmut Janßen, Amazon has now four awesome turntable models under their belt, namely:
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- AMAZON First Choice - New flagship, state of the art model recently launched in the 2010 Munich Hi-End show.
- AMAZON Referenz - Previous top model and very much still a top-end turntable by any name.
- AMAZON 1 - Amazon’s high-end model and fully upgradable to the Referenz model.
- AMAZON 2 - Amazon’s introductory model but incorporating most of the advance know-how of their high-end models.
Note: List prices above is for turntable only.
Click on this link for the official Amazon Audio website
Some Reviews of Amazon turntables
- AMAZON Referenz review at Audiogon
- AMAZON Model 1 and Referenz discussions at Audiogon
- AMAZON Model 1 review by Hi Fi news & Record Review
- AMAZON Model 2 review by Audiophilia
- AMAZON Model 2 review by Positive-feedback.com
“Faced with such excellence, it can be difficult to stop listening in order to focus attention on the constituent parts that go to make up the whole - the temptation to put on yet another LP and leave the spadework for another day is almost irresistible!” Hi Fi News & Record Review - by James M. Hughes
Amazon turntables have partnered the Moerch tonearms (of Denmark) with superb results and recommended by Amazon and we are most happy to put the two together for you. However, you are free to pick your favourite tonearm to match with the Amazon turntables. The tonearms can come from most brands (order with Amazon factory precut arm board) and one may use tonearms of length 9” - 10.5” or 12”.
The name Moerch underpins tonearms with outstanding quality among classicists. Moerch tonearms are mechanically very stable. They are the result of best mechanics and craftsmanship in perfection, made to satisfy highest technical and audiophile wishes. Moerch toenarms come in 4 masses, 9 inch or 12 inches, and in precision (bigger headshlee) or standard headshells. All tonearm-parameters are adjustable. This ensures that you can optimize the performance of your cartridge. There is nothing more flexible!
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DP-6 (gold plated) with "Precision" pipe, UP-4 (chrome plated) with "Standard" pipe
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