TEAC's $19,000 VPI HR-X1 turntable weighs more than your wife

Mmm, look at the old school turntable gone new. The VPI HR-X from TEAC features a belt driven, 50-mm thick acrylic platter which floats on an air suspension system at 33.3 or 45rpm. Packing a pair of 24 pole, 300rpm AC synchronous motors, this pup weighs in at 52.5-kg or 116-pounds. Oh, and It'll set you back ¥2,310,000 or about $19,000 when these go on sale in Japan in mid-June.

[Via Impress]

[D. Fiser @ Dec 24th 2008 6:58PM]

The Clearaudio-Statement is NOT the most expensive turntable in the world. The Goldmund Reference II and the new tangential arm is more then 300000,-. The Clearaudio does not come even close. I personally do not like ANYTHING from clearaudio. Too much money for bad products compared to other companies. You want more for less...? Look at VYGER top models turntables or get a Forsell second hand. A newbie should not get the Forsell because you will have to update some parts. You want a fantastic cartridge? Forget Clearaudio and get a v/d Hul Wood Colibri.

[Jugomugo @ May 30th 2007 8:43AM]

"TEAC's $19,000 VPI HR-X1 turntable weights more than your wife"

"weights"?

[Rick Lyon @ May 30th 2007 8:48AM]

20k and no mention of a meager USB port?

[James @ May 30th 2007 8:47AM]

VPI is actually a US company. Looks like TEAC is importing them into Japan. The HR-X has been around for quite sometime.

[Jeff Snugglebutton @ May 30th 2007 8:50AM]

Don't like the pulley system to turn the table, that tiny belt might loose tension over the years even if it made of titanium,hmmmm

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ May 30th 2007 3:13PM]

Gear driven (slight noise) or direct drive (silent) might be better options over a belt drive.

[Rohit Kapur @ May 30th 2007 9:03AM]

Engadget, a tech blog, read by geeks and nerds everywhere, uses the term "wife"?

Am I missing something here?

;-)

[Paul @ May 30th 2007 10:11AM]

well, if you ain't got a wife, then this thing definitely weights more than nothing.

[Thud @ May 30th 2007 9:05AM]

Actually, the belts last for years and are easily replaced--it's more or less the same system that is on my VPI Scout turntable. Belt drive does a much better job of isolating the motor from the platter, so less motor noise interfering with your music (the motor assembly is completely separate from the platter table). Even if the belt loses tension, most TTs like this are hooked up to things like VPI's synchronous drive system, so you can stabilize the speed pretty precisely. People who buy things like this are likely to spend time calibrating prior to listening every time. People who buy things like this also have systems costing $100K+. It may look pretty, but it isn't going to sound appreciably different than a close-n-play when hooked up to your Bose. ;)

You want really pretty TTs, look at the Walker Audio Proscenium...

[Eric @ May 30th 2007 9:22AM]

It may not weigh less than most wives, but it is cheaper!

[The Aggie CEO™ @ May 30th 2007 12:26PM]

Thats what I was thinkin....lol.......

The only people I know that weigh less than 120 are in high school........lol........

[geojap @ May 30th 2007 9:31AM]

This turntable has been around for some time. When you evaluate it within the entire range of audiophile turntable offerings, it is not overly remarkable.

I have a VPI Scout. They are solid, dependable tables from New Jersey, but not extraordinary in my opinion. If I had the money, I'd buy a Galiber or Walker.

My hi-fi: http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?vevol&1173569421&view

[//austin @ May 30th 2007 9:42AM]

RE: Walker Audio - If you're selling top-end audio equipment, please have a webpage that's been updated since the mid-90s.

[geojap @ May 30th 2007 10:18AM]

Virtually without exception, most of the highest quality, high-end audio component manufacturers have spartan, bare-bones websites. They obviously spend more time perfecting the product than on marketing, which I applaud.

[Warhorse @ May 30th 2007 10:03AM]

Wow, this is the first caption i've seen that had me laughing out loud in the office. Good One!

[Gabe @ May 30th 2007 10:17AM]

I'm going to chime in again with "why the hell is this a belt drive?". Sure, a motor attached directly to the platter would cause some extra noise -- but only cheap decks use a have the platter on top of a motor. Good direct drive tables have a large magnet built right into the platter such that the platter itself is the only moving part.

[Dave @ May 30th 2007 10:41AM]

I feel sorry for people whose ears are so sensitive that they're forced to spend tens of thousands of dollars on music equipment.

[Musicforlive @ Nov 16th 2007 6:57PM]

I don't blame you for feeling sorry for people who got sensitive ears for music. I share your feeling and am the sufferer of this sensitivity at the same time. However, I still say that it all worth it when music is brought alive ( almost ) in my living room.

[newsjoke @ May 30th 2007 11:14AM]

I *wish* it weighed more than my wife!

[Tracy in Cary @ May 30th 2007 12:26PM]

Why do you care how much the turntable weighs? Do you mean you wish your wife weighed LESS than this?

[Will M @ May 30th 2007 10:58AM]

Geojap,

You don't think that is, in and of itself, a marketing ploy? It works for plentyoffish. Lots of people since marketing really emerged as a major concern have successfully played the "everything else sucks because we're so committed to a good product" angle. That site is beyond neglected-ugly, it seems almost purposefully-ugly. Somebody PLEASE 2.0 them up. It would take like 15 minutes.

[geojap @ May 30th 2007 11:17AM]

A belt drive model of this type allows the motor unit to be completely detached from the turntable base so that it sits in a separate housing an inch or so from the turntable base. Any turntable that incorporates the motor into the turntable base transmits vibrations from the motor to the turntable base, to the platter, then to the record and to the needle and up the tone arm, which become audible as a rumbling sound from the speaker output. Remember, this is a 100% analog, mechanical, non-digital system which relies on precisely engineered parts to function optimally. There are no digital 1s and 0s here. 100% dampening, stability and frictionless operation is the goal, which is impossible, of course. But the attempt is made to reduce those negative factors as much as possible. To understand these things more clearly, the discussion forums at http://www.audiogon.com will be of assitance.

[geojap @ May 30th 2007 11:36AM]

Will M,

I suppose different angles can be found for any situation, including those who don't waste money on marketing if they already have a good product and plenty of orders. But I have always preferred products that are well-made and where the companies don't spend a lot of money on marketing. It seems pretty obvious that the consumer pays for the marketing costs of the product he/she purchased, so intelligent parties would avoid that strategy if at all possible.

To be honest, I don't care how their website looks at all. If the company has a few pictures of the products with relevant specifications, that is all I need.

Like I said, it's the general rule in high end audio that the best companies don't have extravagant marketing operations. I would speculate that this principle is true in virtually all industries.

[1100RS @ May 30th 2007 12:12PM]

Why bother building a website at all then? I have an idea for my company: everything I do except my product will be amateurish! That will make my product look great! Walker's is not just a simple, informational website -- it actually shows the signs of tons of labor done poorly! Not all audiophiles are apologists for poor craftsmanship.

[vta @ May 30th 2007 11:35AM]

This is CHEAP for a turntable. Want to see expensive, check this out $125,000:

http://www.gearlive.com/index.php/news/article/clearaudio-statement-125k-turntable-06071408/

[Pedro @ May 30th 2007 12:15PM]

My wife weighs 300lb you insensitive clod!

[geojap @ May 30th 2007 12:38PM]

"Why bother building a website at all then? I have an idea for my company: everything I do except my product will be amateurish! That will make my product look great! Walker's is not just a simple, informational website -- it actually shows the signs of tons of labor done poorly! Not all audiophiles are apologists for poor craftsmanship."

You are the reason Sony and Bose do as well as they do with inferior products. There is obiovusly a niche for companies who dress pigs up in pearls and wow the masses who are easily swayed by eye candy. Superficial trappings attract flies like dung does.

Valuation of actual substance over vapid fluff is always a more intelligent choice.

[Nash @ May 30th 2007 1:00PM]

If your wife weighs less than 116, get her some potatoes quick! Unless she's either 4'8" or you love being jabbed by bones all the time.

And this thing isn't for people with sensitive ears, it's for people with sensitive egos.

[nikster @ May 30th 2007 1:16PM]

nash, depends on where u are. here in asia 45 - 50kg is pretty normal for a woman. yeah, they tend to be on the small side. they also tend to be not fat. and they tend to be.. hot! :)

[Mousetrapreplica @ May 30th 2007 1:48PM]

Check this one out! $19K is peanutes compared to this!

http://www.unitedhomeproducts.com/id140.htm

[Nipponese @ May 30th 2007 4:19PM]

Majority of Japanese women weigh less than this turntable. And no, they are not anorexic nor are they less than 5ft tall. Like my wife.

[Jeremy Moses @ May 30th 2007 2:13PM]

If you buy products based on a checklist, high-end audio is not for you. If you don't appreciate the difference between "well-made", and "obsessively well-made", or if you're not willing to pay for craftsmanship, high-end audio is not for you. Also, if you think your ears are not good enough to hear the difference between similarly specced $150 speakers, and $10K speakers, you're wrong, and high-end audio is certainly not for you. Go play in a different sandbox.

[Thud @ May 30th 2007 2:27PM]

@geojap-There is no defending the Walker Audio site. Don't think its marketing either. I think, FBOW, the reality is that given WA's $tag, they are marketing to a bunch of 60 year plastic surgeons and proctologists who probably don't know what the internet is (sadly, most of them probably don't have the golden ears they think they do either). Face it, for an analog company, they probably look at the internet as a bunch of mp3-playing acned teens. It costs about 1/50th of the price of one of their turntables to get a decent site built. No excuse.

Why would you spend nearly $2K on a VPI Scout--if you throw in an arm and cart--that you think is nothing special? Seems sad.

[a @ May 30th 2007 9:46PM]

I nominate this post as the best title of the year.

[NakedOldGuy @ May 30th 2007 2:31PM]

Ever take into account the fact that records are made in a less than precise manner? The discovery channel has a program called "How Its Made" where one episode covered the production of a master record made of silver and what not then the vinyls themselves. The process is extremely imprecise unless you can somehow get a hold of a master negative -- you're just not listening to an exact copy.

High end audio is purely bullshit. Sure, there is a world of great audio reproduction beyond that of mp3s, but it doesn't require tens of thousands of dollars to get there. I think the solution is something called *.wav.

[Jesse @ May 30th 2007 2:40PM]

You haven't seen my wife

[geojap @ May 30th 2007 3:20PM]

Thud, I agree their websites are dated, but that isn't the point here. They make great products that produce excellent music. Who cares what the website is like as long as it offers basic, pertinent info? Walker Audio makes some of the best turntables, if not THE best, in the entire world. My VPI/Benz turntable sounds very nice and is a solid performer, like I said. I'm very happy with my choice that was within my price range and budget. But when comparing it to other more exquisite models in the audio world, it isn't anything special. Someone who knows their audio components and is realistic would understand this.

NakedOldGuy, anyone who gets their education from American television is going to be a very misinformed person. The Discovery channel actually regurgitated the myth that California will disappear into the Pacific when "The Big One" hits on one of their science shows. Roflcopters.
A proper vinyl setup does sound quite a bit better than an equivalently priced digital system.

[Nils @ May 30th 2007 4:44PM]

That's Lara Croft's Turntable! (In the first movie.. anybody else remember that? Bungee-ballet?, anybody?)

[Ray @ May 30th 2007 7:25PM]

I'll keep my Technics 1200, magnetic driven and A LOT cheaper.

[vinyl1 @ May 30th 2007 6:46PM]

This is the price in Japan. Since this turntable is made in New Jersey by VPI Industries, the US price is only $10,000.

[AJ @ May 30th 2007 10:08PM]

This isn't the most expensive turtable. Actually, this turntable won the award for best turntable under $100,000. The most expensive ive seen is this one:

http://www.needledoctor.com/Clearaudio-Statement-Turntable;jsessionid=ac112b2a1f4319c10becec414038ba08b957f5831643.e3eSbNyQc3mLe34Pa38Ta38Mahz0?sc=2&category=45

[Dominosonfire @ May 31st 2007 8:15AM]

belt-drive?

direct is where its at

[Dan Isaacs @ Jun 1st 2007 11:08PM]

Should read: "weighs more than your wife did when you got married."