Проигрыватели виниловых дисков — Clearaudio PERFORMANCE DC

The Clearaudio Performance DC is a German-built turntable with belt drive, offered as a complete package with the Clarify carbon tonearm and the Virtuoso V2 moving magnet cartridge. The package exists for both versions of the Performance DC, with or without the wood chassis.

Key specs that matter

Playback speeds are 33 1/3, 45 and 78 rpm, chosen with blue illuminated buttons, and trim pots let the user fine-tune each speed, with speed variation given as 0.03 percent. Adjustable feet level the plinth. The standard warranty of one year extends to five years once the warranty form is registered. It measures 420 x 330 x 125 mm and weighs about 11 kg. The platter is a 40 mm slab of CNC-machined POM, also known as Delrin, with a weighted rim. Claimed rumble is 92 dB A to DIN IEC98 method A. The Clarify arm weighs 320 g, or 410 g with counterweight, has 17.31 mm overhang and a 23 degree offset angle, and takes cartridges of 2.5 to 19 g. Its 1 m signal cable has 136 pF capacitance. The Virtuoso V2 weighs 8.4 g, gives 3.6 mV at 1 kHz and 5 cm/s, and tracks at 2.2 g plus or minus 0.3 g.

Engineering and use context

A decoupled, resonance-damped DC motor with precision plain bearings turns the platter through a flat belt. Motor and belt are hidden inside, which keeps them protected from dust and UV light, and power comes from a DC wall adapter. Below the platter sits Clearaudio's patented CMB, a ceramic magnetic bearing with a polished ceramic inverted shaft in a sintered bronze bushing and magnet rings that carry the load. The chassis is a composite with a fibreboard core between two anodised aluminium plates, wrapped in an aluminium band. The Clarify arm tube is woven carbon fibre, and the arm hangs from a single pivot wire while a magnetic bearing pulls it upward. Tracking force is set by a rotary adjuster that applies torsion to the support wire, with 2.4 g as the default. The cartridge body is polished ebony and its cantilever aluminium.

Pairing

The Virtuoso V2 wants a moving magnet input loaded at 47 kOhm and 100 pF. Tonearm and cartridge must be mounted and the deck calibrated before first use. A version with the Concept MC cartridge is also offered, and other arms for the Performance DC include the Tracer, the Satisfy carbon fibre arm and the TT-5 linear tracking arm.

Alternatives

Clearaudio's Ovation is a belt-drive deck with a Panzerholz sandwich chassis and optical speed control.