Turntable

Tonearm: Clearaudio's Clarify

http://clearaudio.de/en/products/tonearms-clarify.php

The innovative Clarify tonearm features friction-free magnetic bearing technology, a micrometer-style adjustable counter weight and an azimuth adjustable headshell, which is especially designed to allow easy and accurate alignment of the phono cartridge.

Clearaudio recommends the Clarify tonearm in combination with the "Ovation" turntable and any of the clearaudio MC cartridges.

Made in Germany by expert craftsmen, the latest Clearaudio technology and a timeless design combine to ensure high-end performance.

The main chassis consists of a complex sandwich of materials: aluminum - bullet-proof-wood - aluminum. Within the precision-machined bullet-proof wood layer, Clearaudio has introduced an elaborate resonance damping measure: an internal 'mat' comprising approximately 100,000 tiny stainless steel balls. The powerful and smooth-running DC motor is integrated within and is effectively decoupled by the main chassis. Clearaudio's 'Optical Speed Control' technology continuously monitors a micro infrared strobe to ensure exact speed stability.

The motor is hidden beneath the platter and drives the precision machined aluminum sub-platter via a precision machined POM main platter are supported by Clearaudio's patented Ceramic Magnetic Bearing'. The drive system is operated by four blue illuminated buttons, ergonomically integrated into the front left of the chassis.

Panzerholz 'Sandwich' Construction

Material and construction excellence are major components to this turntable. The sophisticated 'sandwich' composition takes maximum advantage of two different materials. The Ovation's combination of brushed aluminum and bulletproof plywood (Panzerholz) provides a truly non-resonant chassis that resists ringing and energy storage that can otherwise stand between you and your music. For additional resonance control, the plinth is mass loaded and internally damped with stainless steel shot damping tiles.

1.5 inch-thick Milled Delrin Platter

The 1.5"-thick Delrin platter with weighted rim provides the stability and mass needed for vinyl playback. The mass helps the turntable maintain absolutely precise speed, while the acrylic material is non-resonant to the max. The machined aluminum sub-platter also contributes to Ovation's stable performance.

Like other Clearaudio turntables, the Ovation uses the company's ingenious ceramic magnetic bearing assembly. The ultra-smooth ceramic material provides an extremely low friction bearing. It works in tandem with magnetic resistance to virtually 'float' the platter in place and acts like a shock absorber to aid with isolation.

Factory Mounted Clarify Tonearm

The Ovation comes with a factory-mounted high-quality Clarify tonearm. The armwand is fabricated from carbon fiber, and the headshell is made of machined aluminum, making this arm lightweight and rigid. The Clarify tonearm features a magnetic bearing and low center of gravity counter-weight assembly adjusted by internal mechanism. Almost any commercially available 9 inch tonearm can be fitted.

----------------------------------------------------

Clearaudio Ovation & Clarify turntable & tonearm

By Erick Lichte • Posted: Oct 5, 2012

Stereophile

I loved my time with the Clearaudio Concept (see my Follow-Up in the August 2012 Stereophile); it was fun, pleasant, and simple to use, and what it lacked in resolution and truth it made up for in musicality and grace.

Now to set my sights on something a bit more serious: the Ovation, Clearaudio's finest offering in a turntable with a traditional plinth.

Horses to Water

Like most folks I've met in the audio industry, Musical Surroundings' Garth Leerer and Joe Wessling are wonderfully helpful, insightful, and enthusiastic about the brands they distribute. Leerer was uncommonly good at articulating the salient features of the Ovation turntable when, recently, I grilled him. So, straight from the horse's mouth . . .

How does the Ovation fit into Clearaudio's line and the greater world of turntables? "The Ovation fits into the Clearaudio line as their best 'traditionally shaped,' rectangular-plinth turntable. It has the same footprint as the Concept and Performance models, [which are] priced below the Ovation, and uses all the technology of the more expensive Innovation series from Clearaudio—hence the name, Ovation. There are turntables with big plinths and/or big platters, but the Ovation uses materials and technology unique at its price point."

What materials and technologies are unique to the Ovation? "The chassis sandwiches Panzerholz, a high-tech wood laminate, between two sheets of machined aluminum. Panzerholz machines similarly to steel, has a high rigidity-to-mass ratio, a low Q, and a wideband resonant signature. This means it does not ring, and its sonic signature is rich and full. Because Clearaudio has to machine out space in the Panzerholz plinth for the platter bearing, motor, and armboard, they fill the rest of the cavity with a rubber damping tile filled with stainless-steel shot. This adds mass and damping. The Ovation is the least expensive Clearaudio turntable using Panzerholz."

The Ovation's motor is said to have some unique features. What are they? "The motor on the Ovation features what we call an Optical Speed Control. An infrared sensor is mounted on the top of the plinth, and the metal subplatter has a fine strobe pattern inlaid on its bottom. The sensor monitors platter speed to regulate speed accuracy in the presence of stylus drag. The sensor reads the rotating platter speed via the strobe and, via a servo, tells the motor how to quickly compensate for speed accuracy. If you look at a vinyl record, soft passages are very small, fine groove modulations, while dynamic passages and crescendos are more widely spaced grooves. These large grooves can cause small speed variations, which are often perceived as soundstage collapse or glare. The speed accuracy also has benefits for piano and choral music, where pitch accuracy is paramount. The motor in the Ovation is the same custom DC motor used in the Innovation series, and is decoupled from the plinth with elastomer isolators. It uses a flat belt for accurate coupling. The advantage of the belt being hidden under the platter is that the rubber belt is isolated from UV, which can cause it to dry out and age prematurely. The Ovation runs at 331/3, 45, and 78rpm.

The Ovation employs a Ceramic Magnet Bearing. How does it work, and why do you use it? "The Ceramic Magnet Bearing (CMB) was developed by Clearaudio about nine years ago. A traditional bearing goes down below the plinth, and the platter acts like a spinning top. An inverted bearing has the bearing shaft rising above the plinth, placing the bearing contact point, sometimes referred to as the thrust pad, right under the platter spindle. The argument for an inverted bearing is that it is more rotationally stable; the argument against it is that it places a potential noise source—the contact point of the spindle, ball bearing, and thrust pad—right under the spindle and, thus, the record. The spindle is typically hardened steel, the ball bearing steel or ceramic, and the thrust pad can be bronze, or a synthetic such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). As these parts rotate and contact each other, there is the potential for not only vibrational noise but also for wear, which results in noise increasing over time. Typically, oil is used to lubricate all the parts to reduce friction and wear. The CMB addresses these issues. The upper bearing part is magnetically levitated above the lower, eliminating the need for a ball bearing and thrust pad. The spindle is a ceramic material with lower friction than steel, so vibration, noise, and wear are greatly reduced. Clearaudio provides a synthetic lubricant for the ceramic shaft to further lower friction."

The Ovation's platter seems particularly robust. What is it made of? "The Ovation platter is 40mm-thick polyoxymethylene (POM), an engineering thermoplastic used in precision parts that require high stiffness, low friction, and excellent dimensional stability. Like many other synthetic polymers, it is produced and sold under many commercial names, including Delrin, Celcon, and Hostaform. POM platters are machined using traditional methods such as turning, milling, and drilling, and require sharp tools to maintain precise tolerances. The bottom of the platter is milled out for the metal subplatter to be inserted, and features a weighted rim for increased flywheel effect. Thus the Ovation uses both passive and active techniques for speed accuracy. POM is 'softer' than the acrylic previously used by Clearaudio, and is more similar to vinyl."

The Ovation typically ships with the Clarify tonearm. Please describe it. "The Clarify has a machined aluminum headshell with azimuth adjustment, a carbon-fiber armtube, a magnetic bearing, and a low-center-of-gravity counterweight with integral mechanism for adjusting the vertical tracking force (VTF). The magnetic bearing has two opposing magnets, for a friction- and wear-free bearing. The armwand is suspended via a wire loop that threads through the lower section of the tonearm bearing. A knob on the bottom of the arm is used to tension this wire for antiskate adjustment. The tonearm wire is Clearaudio's proprietary Direct Wire, a five-conductor configuration of copper with Teflon insulation, implemented as a direct run from the cartridge clips to a 1.2m tonearm cable terminated with RCA plugs. Typically, the Clarify prefers cartridges weighing between 7 and 12gm and tracking at between 1.5 and 3gm, and with medium to low compliance."

You fitted my sample of the Ovation with the Talismann V2 Gold moving-coil cartridge. "The Talismann V2 Gold houses Clearaudio's patented symmetrical generator in a body of ebony wood, with a boron cantilever and micro HD stylus. The V2 Gold has eight super-neodymium magnets instead of the four used in the V1. There is one coil per channel, wound with 24K gold wire with an internal impedance of 30 ohms and an output of 0.7mV at 5cm/s. This is the generator that's used in the Concerto V2, the model above the Talismann."

Funk to Funky

Right from the first few notes played by the Clearaudio Ovation, I knew I was working with a machine that loved making music. Everything I played had terrific body to the tone, and a harmonic cohesiveness from bass to treble that gave music a very natural and organic feel. The Fleet Foxes' Helplessness Blues (LP, Sub Pop 888) was well served by the Ovation. Each instrument and voice sat unambiguously in the soundstage with a largeness and roundness at its edges—the opposite of an analytic and etched sound. Yet there was very good resolution. The Fleet Foxes album often moves from very intimate sounds made by a single voice and guitar to sonic explosions of reverb-drenched percussion and harmonies—it can be a lot for an audio system to sort out. The Ovation was more than up to the task, very accurately capturing the vast dynamic and spatial swings of "Sim Sala Bim," adding a bit of fullness and body to the intimate moments, and offering good delineation of the larger moments.

Stephen Mejias hipped me to Amon Tobin's Isam (LP, Ninja Tune ZEN168) an album that revels in colorful, kaleidoscopic electronica. Much of this music lacks tunes or even good grooves. Instead, it communicates through timbral shifts and its sheer expanse of sound. Isam is chill-out music without the chilling out—beautiful, but at times intense and insistent. The pressing must be very good; the Ovation gave me enormous amounts of low bass, vast soundstages, great scale, and a treble that was open and extended yet sweet. It let me not only enjoy the music but the sound of the music on this album—and I think that's partially what Tobin had in mind while making it.

Kraftwerk's The Man-Machine (LP, Astralwerks/Capitol/EMI STUMM 306) sounded brilliant on the Clearaudio Ovation, which lent just enough warmth and body to the sound to humanize this music while not obscuring its drive and pulse, its stops and starts. "The Model" sounded supremely funky and warm, with excellent continuity and coherence from bass through treble. The highs, in particular, were extended yet nuanced, and the midrange had a slight glow that made those old Moog synthesizers really sing. The bass was taut yet full. In fact, The Man-Machine sounded so good on the Clearaudio that I returned to it again and again.

Apples to Apples

Compared to Clearaudio's Concept, the Ovation was clearly a much more resolving and nuanced turntable—as it should be for more than twice the price. While the overall balances of the two 'tables were quite similar, image density, weight, and realness were significantly greater via the Ovation. The Concept's images of musicians and instruments were lovely, but seemed slightly ghostly compared to their solidity through the Ovation. The Concept showed me the shadows dancing on the walls of Plato's Cave; the Ovation let me turn around and look straight at the dancers. The Concept's sound was admirable and musical; the Ovation brought me far closer to the music in each disc's grooves.

Dollars to Doughnuts

The Clearaudio Ovation is a serious turntable. It is resolving, musical, and beautifully built. Clearaudio's innovative use of materials and well-executed design make it a joy to use, to see, and to hear. Highly recommended.

----------------------------------------------------------------

An Anti-skating control compensates for the 'skating' force that pulls a turntable's tonearm towards the center of the record. This anti-skating force can be adjusted. This video explains the adjustment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIBtZR941Yw