Turntables — Audio Note TT-Three Reference

The TT-Three Reference is the top suspended turntable from Audio Note UK and the most complete version of the brand's three-motor drive. It brings together four principles the company applies to its turntables - isolation from vibration by a suspended chassis, energy transfer through a low-mass platter, a high-torque drive free of vibration and controlled resonance in the materials. A streamlined TT-Three .5 Reference, known in-house as the Half Reference, sits in the same top tier, though its supply has at times been limited.

Key specs that matter

Three powerful motors drive the platter through an external rubber belt around its outer rim, with their speed locked together by the fully analogue control system in the separate power supply unit. No other model in the range has three speeds - 33, 45 and 78rpm - and each one can be adjusted independently. The 78rpm setting covers roughly 60 to over 120rpm, because many vintage 78s were never actually cut at a true 78rpm. Its arm board is cut exclusively for the 10-inch AN-1S, Audio Note's own tonearm. High Gloss Black is the standard finish, and buyers can choose Anodised Aluminium or Black Acrylic for the power supply fascia.

Engineering and use context

Lexan was picked for the very light platter because this inert plastic has almost no reflective properties and stores little resonance. Pairing a light platter with high motor torque means the energy stored in the motors goes into rotation instead of being absorbed and released unpredictably by platter mass. Its three-point suspended sub-chassis has its centre at the bearing, and the motors' inertia is centred at that point too, so motor and suspension stay aligned. Of the three arms of the sub-chassis, one holds the tonearm in the standard far-right position and the other two hold counterweights equivalent to the arm-plus-cartridge mass, loading every suspension tower equally.

Pairing

One tonearm support is standard, and two or even three can be ordered. This lets an owner keep several cartridges mounted at once instead of refitting a single arm each time.

Alternatives

The Audio Note TT-Three uses the same three-motor drive and Lexan platter at a lower level, with an arm board for the 9-inch /II tonearms and no 78rpm setting.