Turntables — Well Tempered Lab AMADEUS 254 GT

The Amadeus 254 GT is a belt-driven turntable from Well Tempered Lab of Christchurch, New Zealand, designed by William Firebaugh and conceived mainly around the company's own LTD tonearm. It belongs to the Amadeus 254 range, whose defining feature is a two-piece plinth with squash-ball isolation. The GT version differs from the plain Amadeus 254 in the outer plinth layers - anodised aluminium here instead of bamboo. American buyers paid USD 8,750 for it.

Key specs that matter

A servo-controlled 12 V DC motor, fully decoupled from the plinth, turns a translucent acrylic platter topped with an anti-static foam mat. Drive passes through a belt made of 0.004 mm polyester thread about 543 mm long. A separate unit called the Ctrl supplies 12 V DC at 500 mA and switches electronically between 33 1/3 and 45 RPM. The pre-mounted tonearm uses a 267 mm aluminium tube with internal damping in the Symmetrex configuration, a stainless steel collar for azimuth adjustment and a polyester thread suspension that also provides anti-skating. The deck stands 195 mm tall, 480 mm wide and 410 mm deep, with a weight of 15.5 kg, or 20 kg in its carton.

Engineering and use context

Its plinth is a sandwich - a multilayer plywood core with aluminium outer layers - split into top and bottom parts. Four squash balls sit in recesses of the lower part, and Sorbothane washers under the upper part rest on them, so the upper assembly carrying platter and arm floats on the balls. Adjustable feet on the base allow levelling. The main bearing is filled with synthetic oil and has a zero-clearance upper Teflon bearing that lets the spindle stand almost free, so the platter tilts slightly away from the motor until the belt is fitted. Any synthetic motor oil between 5W and 50W can refill it. The arm is damped by a golf ball hanging on a nylon bridle in a well of silicone fluid rated at 100,000 cSt. The headshell is fixed at the factory at a 19 degree angle and is not meant to be moved. The rear panel carries XLR and RCA outputs, both isolated from plinth and motor, and an earth screw sits beside them. Warranty cover runs for one year.

Pairing

The XLR output lets the deck feed a balanced phono stage directly, while the RCA sockets suit conventional single-ended inputs. For cartridges without threaded holes, the maker suggests fixing the body in the headshell slot closest to the platter, and the nylon bridle can be shortened when a taller cartridge changes the arm height.

Alternatives

The Well Tempered Lab Amadeus 254 shares the plinth structure, motor and arm but uses bamboo outer layers and weighs 11 kg.