AVID HIFI INGENIUM
The Ingenium Plug&Play is AVID HIFI's least expensive turntable but it incorporates many of the technologies of the more expensive models, comes ready with fitted tonearm and cartridge, and is ready to use in under ten minutes.
AVID HIFI has always believed that turntable design is fundamental to the performance of a record player (turntable + arm + cartridge). The record should always rotate at the correct speed, even under stylus drag, and there should not be any translation movements of the record itself slipping, sliding, wobbling or vibrating on the platter.
This includes AVID HIFI's unique sapphire jewel bearing and clamping system used in AVID HIFI's most expensive Acutus turntable, a solid aluminium chassis, and a motor that is far more powerful than any found at this price point. The extra large isolating feet are made from AVID HIFI's own bespoke Sobothane compound rubber.
The Ingenium Plug&Play is fully upgradeable. You can upgrade the platter to a heavy solid aluminium one similar to the one used in models higher up in the range. The Electronic PSU upgrade includes a DSP power supply, a new motor housing with a 24v Mass damped motor and twin drive belts. Tonearm can be upgraded with any Rega tonearm suitable for a higher grade MM or MC cartridge. And you can add an isolation platform.
Generous in materials and making just about everything in house at AVID HIFI's facility near Huntingdon in the UK the Ingenium Plug&Play is the perfect entry point into high-end vinyl playback for about $2,500. Clever in design and built to last, for many this may be the only turntable you will ever need.
Ultra Rigid Solid Metal Chassis and Isolating Feet
The heavy 2" by 2.5" main chassis at the heart of the ingenium is machined from a solid block of aluminum and eliminates any possibility for relative movement between the platter bearing and tonearm bearing in any axis. Musical information is preserved and bass response is excellent. The compact footprint can be accommodated by all standard size hi-fi stands. It is also extremely durable and will last indefinitely.
A high degree of isolation from the surface onto which the table is placed is provided by the substantial feet - considerably larger than those used on other tables. Made from a specially formulated sorbothane type material, vibrations for the supporting surface are effectively prevented from smearing the soundstage. Another purpose-built from scratch engineered component typical of an AVID product. A dedicated turntable isolation platform will further enhance this effect.
Sophisticated Inverted Bearing and Screw Down Clamp
The AVID HIFI Ingenium turntable has an inverted stainless steel bearing with a tungsten carbide sapphire thrust point - the same concept used in all of AVID HIFI's turntables.
The advantage of having the bearing point in the plane of a perfectly balanced platter is to reduce the possibility of vertical platter wobble. In the usual well-type bearing with its contact point well below the plane of the platter, wobble will be amplified just like being in a Crow's nest on top of a mast in a choppy ocean.
In the AVID HIFI Ingenium turntable, the metal sub-platter and massive bearing are integrated into one piece that rests on top of the upright bearing post. As in all AVID HIFI turntables, the brass spindle is threaded, and a heavy clamp screws down mechanically coupling the vinyl record to the platter so there is a pathway for the transfer of vibration energy. A sapphire crystal, located under the threaded brass spindle establishes the tungsten Carbide bearing ball / Sapphire thrust point. The screw down clamp is a more effective method than simple heavy record pucks that rest on the record surface changing the resonance frequencies without a pathway to redirect energy.
By redirecting the unwanted vibrations of the record surface into the large bearing and subchassis away from the cartridge, the clamping system gives a noticeably audible sound quality improvement as the information encoded in the micro dimensioned grooves can not be faithfully detected by the cartridge if the whole record itself is vibrating horizontally or vertically. Draining away these unwanted vibrations allows the stylus to accurately trace the grooves, and lowers the noise floor, so you hear more of the musical performance. The best way to handle unwanted external vibrations is to redirect their energy rather than dampening them with excess mass which will always be frequency dependent and non-linear.
Precision Machined Platter with Cork Compound Mat
The standard platter is made of sealed (MDF) that is very stable and self-damping topped by a cork-based compound mat that is the first isolation barrier to record vibrations being transferred into the platter. Can be upgraded to a solid aluminum platter.
AVID HIFI choose belt drive over idler wheel or direct drive not just for maintaining a constant, unvarying accurate speed, but also to isolate the record from the vibrations and noise of the motor. There is simply greater freedom and more options with belt drive in matching the size and quality of the main bearing, platter mass, and power of the motor. Because in direct drive the spindle supports the platter and is also the drive shaft of the motor, the challenge is to prevent the spindle from transferring motor noise to the platter and thus the record. Not easy - a noise generator in fact.
Powerful motor
The 12mNm motor used in the AVID Ingenium Turntable is more powerful than those typically used in turntables. It better overcomes stylus drag against the side wall of rotating record grooves - especially heavily modulated ones - far more effectively than the typical small motor relying on the 'flywheel effect' of the platter. The flywheel effect is limited because the 'moment of inertia' resisting change in rotational speed is proportional to the square of the rotational speed (In typical engineering applications the rpm is in the order of thousands versus 33 1/3 rpm). The driving force of a powerful motor will better control the platter.
Dimensions
14.6" x 12.0" x 5.1" (wdh) - Compact design fits most equipment shelves
Weight: 13 lbs
kemela commentary
AVID HIFI's Ingenium Plug&Play turntable is very well made and sounds excellent even with the upgradeable tonearm and cartridge it comes with. The price is competitive considering the low background noise floor, ability to reach deep into the recording, an evenly illuminated soundstage, good dynamics, and overall quality of the product. This award winning record player is a bargain with multiple upgrade paths that gets more out of the supplied tonearm and cartridge than you might think. It's rather special.
U.S Retail Price: $2,495
(Optional flat dust cover available $139)