Henley Designs Limited, the leading UK distributor, has announced the launch of Pro-Ject’s new 6 PerspeX turntable. The arrival of this beautifully engineered turntable sees the introduction of new technologies which help establish new levels of performance for record playing systems.
The turntable and arm are mounted on a sub-chassis machined from the granite-like Corian substrate which floats above the transparent acrylic plinth on three magnetic suspension points. For some years a form of magnetic suspension has been considered to be ideal for record turntable suspensions but in practice this has proven to be very difficult to implement. In principle one magnet is attached to the base and another to the floating assembly and they are arranged so that their facing surfaces have the same magnetic poles. These poles appose each other and the two parts separate until a point is reached where the force of gravity on the floating part equals the magnetic force at which point the object can be levitated indefinitely.
In order for this new Pro-Ject technology to work there needed to be a careful computation of the influence of the magnetic forces of the three Neodymium magnet pairs; the mass of the floating sub-chassis and turntable assembly; and the gyroscopic forces relating to the turntable mass and speed of rotation.
The substantial record platter is made from a non-resonant sandwich of materials and rotates upon an inverted ceramic bearing. The platter is driven about its circumference by a belt from a quite running ac motor with two pulleys; allowing easy speed adjustment between 33 and 45 rpm.
The 6 PerspeX also features the new Pro-Ject 9cc Evolution tonearm in which the head-shell and arm-tube are formed from a single piece of carbon fibre ensuring the highest mechanical integrity and rigidity. The tube itself is conical in shape which maximises the lateral rigidity whilst minimising any standing wave reflections. This superb support for the cartridge is mounted upon a bearing assembly made up of four hardened stainless steel tips in ABEC7 specification ball-races.
The attention to detail continues with the Sorbothane damping of the counterweight assembly which is lowered down to the level of the record to minimise the effect of cantilever forces which could disturb the cartridge tracking and in the provision of a very desirable feature; the silicone damped arm-lift.
The Pro-Ject 6 PerspeX turntable is expected to sell for around £1000.00 offering a sound quality that is quite unsurpassed at this price point.
To find out more about this and other outstanding Project products visit: www.henleydesigns.co.uk
