Проигрыватели виниловых дисков — Einstein Audio Components THE RECORD PLAYER

THE RECORD PLAYER is the belt-drive turntable from Einstein Audio Components, a Bochum-based German maker that also builds valve amplifiers, loudspeakers and a complete analogue chain of its own. The deck was shown as a prototype at trade fairs for several years before it reached production, and Einstein offers it in a base version and a Deluxe version, the latter adding a graphite mat and a heavy stainless steel record weight.

Key specs that matter

The plinth stands 11 cm high, or 14.5 cm with the platter fitted, and measures 56 cm wide by 42 cm deep. Total weight is 24 kg, a figure that includes the external power supply. The outer platter weighs 5.8 kg, has a diameter of 32 cm and is driven by a belt, while the base version comes with a mat of natural wool felt. The Deluxe graphite mat slopes by 1 degree from the outer edge towards the centre and is used with a stainless steel stabiliser weighing 1,120 g. The motor block with its pulley weighs 2,540 g, and each of the three feet weighs 760 g.

Engineering and use context

A low-speed, low-torque synchronous motor sits in its own housing. Einstein machines the 300 g pulley from aluminium and builds a mechanical clutch into it, intended to stop motor cogging from reaching the platter as wow and flutter. Both the inner and the outer platter are milled from a solid aluminium block. The inner spindle is polished stainless steel resting on a ceramic ball inside a heavy bearing block made of a copper-based alloy similar to brass. The main board is vertically cut bamboo, bonded to a 6 mm frame of solid stainless steel, and the company chose bamboo because it does not store energy and acts as a mechanical filter against vibration. Three floating sub-chassis feet developed in-house are tuned to a resonance of 4.5 Hz to keep mechanical and acoustic feedback away from the stylus. With the sloped graphite surface and the stabiliser weight, the record is pressed down onto the surface in a way Einstein likens to a turntable with its own air pump.

Pairing

The arm mount is built from two materials to reduce resonance - an inner plate of ebony with four adjustment screws, held in an elliptical outer plate of solid aluminium. It is set up for a 12 inch tonearm, and rotating the ellipse by 180 degrees moves the mounting point for arms of 9 to 10.5 inches. Einstein lists THE TONEARM, its PICK UP cartridge and THE FLASH phono cable as matching partners, although any arm of those lengths can be fitted.

Alternatives

The Einstein THE AEROLITH is a far more costly belt-drive turntable listed at EUR 100,000, resting on a two-stage air-based damping system.