I am in the US and have an AFI Flat MK2 that I bought direct last month. I agree with bluewolf assessment of the Flat. Personally I think it is a great piece of equipment. It looks great, but I have mine in my basement so no one but me really get to see it. It works flawlessly, the controls are easy to use, the magnetic switch they have employed is a great idea and keeps the unit from ever being turned on accidentally.
But most important it dose the job of flattening records almost perfect all the time. I say almost perfect because on one record that had a large bump on the outer edge, and a warp, it was not able to smooth out the bump, but it did fix the warp. I have used the Flat on 25 records so far and, other than that one I just mentioned, they have all come out perfectly flat. One of the things I notice now that I have the Flat is that most records are not perfectly flat, many have a slight but small warp, and you can watch the cartridge, even slightly move up and down as it plays through the record. But after placing the record in the Flat is perfectly flat. :-) I have also used it a lot on newer records as they almost all seem to come with a slight warp, but that is easily fixed now.
The Relax program seems to work as bluewolf describes. I hear that there is slightingly more weight to the sound now. For me the sound is slightly more forward in the mid range and fuller all around, the highs are more clear yet not as harsh.
The two programs seem to be similar, but the main difference is how long the record is kept at the target temperature of 59C. For Standard it is 50 minutes, for Relax it is 10 minutes. the cool down seems to be the same and is sort of dependant on how warm the ambient room temperature is, as it will slowly cool down until the record is less than 30C. In speaking with Oliver in Germany, if you use the Standard Program you get both the warp being fixed as well as the benefits of the Relax program. With Relax the record will sound better but you might not get a warp fixed.
Any other questions just ask.
But most important it dose the job of flattening records almost perfect all the time. I say almost perfect because on one record that had a large bump on the outer edge, and a warp, it was not able to smooth out the bump, but it did fix the warp. I have used the Flat on 25 records so far and, other than that one I just mentioned, they have all come out perfectly flat. One of the things I notice now that I have the Flat is that most records are not perfectly flat, many have a slight but small warp, and you can watch the cartridge, even slightly move up and down as it plays through the record. But after placing the record in the Flat is perfectly flat. :-) I have also used it a lot on newer records as they almost all seem to come with a slight warp, but that is easily fixed now.
The Relax program seems to work as bluewolf describes. I hear that there is slightingly more weight to the sound now. For me the sound is slightly more forward in the mid range and fuller all around, the highs are more clear yet not as harsh.
The two programs seem to be similar, but the main difference is how long the record is kept at the target temperature of 59C. For Standard it is 50 minutes, for Relax it is 10 minutes. the cool down seems to be the same and is sort of dependant on how warm the ambient room temperature is, as it will slowly cool down until the record is less than 30C. In speaking with Oliver in Germany, if you use the Standard Program you get both the warp being fixed as well as the benefits of the Relax program. With Relax the record will sound better but you might not get a warp fixed.
Any other questions just ask.