Проигрыватели виниловых дисков — Connected-Fidelity TT Hub

The TT Hub is a belt-drive turntable from Connected-Fidelity, the British manufacturing arm of Air Audio Distribution, which imports Hana cartridges and Sorane tonearms into the UK. It was designed by Michael Osborn and launched at the Bristol HiFi Show 2023. In the USA it is priced at USD 5,000.

Key specs that matter

The plinth is built from multiple layers of bamboo ply in a mechanically isolated constrained-layer construction, in dark stained or clear lacquer finish. The turntable is non-suspended and stands on its own bamboo isolation base with silicone damping feet and height-adjustable brass spikes. The main bearing is a self-lubricating sintered bronze design, 16 x 75 mm, running on a PEEK base with a sapphire thrust pad, inside a thick-walled aluminium housing. The platter is solid acrylic, 30 mm thick, with a bonded foamed damping layer on top. An AC synchronous motor in an aluminium housing is powered by an outboard quartz-regulated controller with a stated accuracy of 0.003%.

Engineering and use context

Osborn chose bamboo for being economical, attractive and well damped, since it stores little vibrational energy. The constrained-layer plinth sandwiches layers so that vibration is converted to heat at the boundaries rather than resonating through the structure. Without a suspension, the turntable relies on its isolation base and spikes to decouple it from the support. PEEK, a high-performance plastic, was chosen for the bearing base because of its very low friction, and a sapphire thrust pad carries the platter's weight on a hard, smooth surface. The acrylic platter has an impedance close to that of vinyl, and the foamed top layer absorbs vibration from the record. A quartz-referenced controller generates a stable mains frequency for the synchronous motor, so speed does not follow fluctuations in the wall supply. The TT Hub accepts various tonearms, and a custom option supports two arms. In the UK a complete package with a Sorane arm and Hana cartridge is offered, and US packages combine it with Sorane, AMG and ViV Laboratory arms and Benz Micro cartridges.

Pairing

The TT Hub pairs naturally with a Sorane tonearm and Hana cartridge, the brands its parent company imports. Connected-Fidelity's Float isolation pucks can support other components.

Alternatives

Connected-Fidelity lists no other turntable besides the TT Hub.