Ultimate Turntable search...OMA K5 or ?

@mattdrummer

exciting to be contemplating turntables of this level, i use to own the Rockport Sirius III, and you own the Caliburn. heady stuff.

personally not heard either of the OMA tt’s, but i am impressed with what i’ve read about them. however; not sure they offer particularly top level value. either one. but maybe your relationship with Jonathan can help you there?

i did buy the Esoteric T1 last year; it’s a magnetic drive idler, not a belt drive. but it’s an amazing turntable that i love and it delivers. check out Fremer’s review of it. he directly compares it to his K3.

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/esoteric-grandioso-t1-turntable/

another one to consider is the Acoustical Systems ’Astellar’. not heard it as the first one’s are arriving at customers just in the last month. so no listening feedback yet, and no reviews yet either. it’s a belt but has some interesting design ideas.

https://acousticalsystems.audio/astellar-turntable/

my opinion is that both of these turntables likely equal the K3 overall or exceed that level at a lower price point. and the build quality of my Esoteric is remarkable. don’t know enough about the Astellar to comment about it.

and as you mention, there is more discussion of higher end turntables over on What’s Best Forum.

I wonder why you describe it as a "magnetic drive idler", since according to the Fremer review there is no conventional idler wheel, and the platter is driven by magnetic induction, such that the drive force is applied at a distance from the platter. (In other words, this is a direct drive turntable by another

@lewm

no. not a direct drive. a direct drive turntable has the motor directly connected to the platter.

an idler pushes. it pushes the inside of the platter, or the outside of the platter (rim drive idler). my Saskia, and the Garrard i use to own, both pushed the inside of the platter with an idler wheel. the Esoteric T1 pushes the bottom outside of the platter magnetically. a motor turns a wheel which magnetically causes the platter to turn with a magnetized bottom ring on the platter. in fact the platter and plinth have zero physical connection to the motor assembly. there is nothing direct about it in any way, shape or form.

the advantage of an idler is more torque since it acts on only the outside housing of the platter, instead of the center shaft with a direct drive. which has benefits musically to the drive and PRaT of the music. in the case of the Esoteric, you can actually dial the torque with a micrometer which varies the distance from the drive wheel to the platter. quite an amazing design.

i will agree with you that the Esoteric is not a belt drive. but that does not mean it's direct drive.

Esoteric costs ???

@lewm

Esoteric T1---$72,500 without arm, $80,000 with the TA-9D Ikeda arm and arm board.

arm boards are approximately $3000 each, and take 90-120 days to get.

the Esoteric T1 sounds better with an OCXO 10mhz clock. the best choice being the Esoteric G1X clock which is $27,000......although there are lower cost alternatives. i do have this G1X clock. big step up.

https://www.esoteric.jp/en/product/g1x/feature

and a high quality optical 50 ohm 10mhz clock cable matters too. here is the one i use.....$2450.

https://shunyata.com/products/digital-cables/sigma-series-digital-cables/sigma-v2-aes-ebu/

so when you add up the costs of an optimized T1 with two arm boards, clock and cable, you are around $107,950 at list prices. and that plays at the highest levels of turntable performance, has a modest footprint, and can handle up to three arms.

in today’s uber turntable landscape, based on the OP’s questions and experience with the over $150k Caliburn, it represents a good value proposition.. i certainly think my Esoteric is at the tip top. i’ve now been listening to my T1 for 10 months every day. love it.

the most significant part of a turntable is the steady powerful drive and energy of the music that the turntable projects. that is the main separator of good, better and great.

cool looking turntables are a dime a dozen. exceptionally musical and transformative sounding turntables are rare. should be purchased with ears not eyes.

at the high level all the turntables are quiet. some of those sound boring.

which one touches your soul?

When it comes to experience, Fremer got rid of his Caliburn and now owns a K3. He didnt buy the SAT (which I have crossed of my list since it is basically a modified SP-10 motor) or TechDas or even the Esoteric (which is magnetic and not direct drive). And since Fremer used to have the Caliburn in his system, I am quite interested in his preferences. But as I mentioned in my original post, I am very curious if anyone has real life experience with the K3/K5? Or any tables with similar tech?

 

@mattdrummer

i think he would have bought the Esoteric had he not already bought the K3 prototype. as it’s character is more middle ground in terms of sound signature (felt it split the difference between the K3 and TechDAS Zero), but much more flexible platform (three arms with reasonable mounting options) for his purposes. he loved the build quality, tech innovation and elegance, and a much smaller footprint too. just my take on his review and other off line feedback on it.

carefully read the review comments on his serious respect for the design innovation. he was very impressed by the whole thinking behind the Esoteric.

the K3 is a magnificent extreme turntable, but a poor review tool. and even if he had the space for the TD Zero, he could not (or would not) afford it even at the accommodation price.

i like the K3 and K5. think they are works of art and legit. some time back i honestly did try to buy a K3 but could not work it out, so there is that. 

AS-2000 is the real deal. formidable turntable.

heard the AS-1000 myself, not the AS-2000, but almost bought the AS-2000. the AS-1000 was impressive to look at in person. personally I love the look for what that is worth.

it is rather a bargain at less than $100K.

@lewm

the AS-2000 is more than $100k by the value of a nice turntable (fill in the blank). and only sold direct, if there are any left to purchase (my sense is that there is no further inventory). Peter would know more about that.

Personally I could not put up with the string, the push start, the waiting.

simplicity is it’s design ethos. 

The wonderful thing with the UK and Europe, is that there are still options to walk into a premises and share in experiences as seen in the Video Clip, or have ones very similar.

these things happen in the USA when there are established relationships between the dealer and customer. i have experienced it multiple times. not every customer is serious minded enough to earn that sort of support. those that are deal/price focused have to find their own source of performance/value information. dealers are not bending over backward for them. on-line buying tends to reduce service. figuring that part out is one issue that has to be addressed. price negotiation is a different animal in different markets.

the high end use to be about relationships. still is in some places.