Brutus Awards 2019 - Page 2 of 2

Walker Audio Arm/Supply Stable Pressure Control

The Walker Audio Proscenium Black Diamond Level V with all current modifications, with the new Arm/Supply Stable Pressure Control (the switch and gauge to the bottom right above)

This final 2019 Brutus Award is for the most esoteric audio development that I've heard in my listening room in 2019: The Walker Audio Arm/Supply Stable Pressure Control.

I'll freely admit it: this particular Brutus Award is only for people (like me!) who have the joy and delight of owning a Walker Audio Proscenium Black Diamond Level V with the new air supply. That is a very limited crowd, but they have access to some uniquely stellar analog experiences with this exceptional turntable system.

My Walker Audio Proscenium Black Diamond Level V before the modification…

As a longtime member of that "we happy few," I stay in regular contact with Lloyd Walker about developments over in Walkerland. Lloyd and I talk…and even videoconference now…a number of times each year. And his products are always worth knowing about.

Back in late October of 2019, Lloyd sent along a new upgrade product for our Proscenium BD LV turntable, equipped with all of the upgrades, including the updated air compressor system that Lloyd installed back in 2016. This was his new Arm/Supply Stable Pressure Control.

In sum, this upgrade inserts an air pressure control between the main air feed from the air compressor…

…the most recent Walker Audio Air Compressor…

…and the air supply on/off switch, with the new Stable Arm/Supply gauge and control beneath it.

…and the master on/off air supply switch on the Proscenium BD LV platform itself. In the above photograph, the clear tube is the main incoming air feed, which hits the master switch itself. Flipping that switch is the master for activating the air pressure feed to the turntable. Within 30 seconds, the Proscenium BD LV is ready to go; just fire up the motor for the belt drive, and away you go.

What Lloyd has done is quite innovative: He's inserted a new pressure control point that allows the user to fine-tune the air pressure to the Proscenium air-bearing tonearm, while at the same time adding further stability to the already incredibly stable, highly-engineered air system.

Closeup view of the Walker Audio Stable Arm/Supply gauge and control

My initial impressions of this new upgrade were that it was a significant step forward for Proscenium Black Diamond Level V owners, provided that they've already done the earlier upgrade to their air compressor. It installs pretty easily, and Lloyd can help you via phone or video app if you need some guidance beyond the printed cuneiform. Nothing hard about this.

This upgrade allows you to set and fine-tune the tonearm pressure separately from the main suspension air pressure elsewhere in the turntable system. This is a remarkable level of granularity, since you can address the cartridge/tonearm interaction directly, without having to do readjustment to the rest of the air supply matrix. Once you get that exactly right, down to the nearest tenth of a pound (or less) of PSI, you can leave it alone. This setting will not be affected by VTA or any other air pressure setting that you might change. (Although I find that I don't need to do that with the Walker, anyway.)

And, as is usual, once you set a parameter on the Walker Audio Proscenium BD LV, you can forget it. The system is wonderfully adjustable, in ways that other turntables cannot match, but it is NOT "tweaky."

Nay, it's as solid as the bloody proverbial rock.

From year to year…and that's no exaggeration at all.

Just ask the guy who knows.

While I'm still tuning and fine-tuning my final tonearm pressure setting, I've already heard the very noticeably improvements that I can bring even by adjusting my tonearm air pressure by small margins. It's quite a revelation to find more "more!" in the Walker.

Lloyd Walker at work: a portrait. Happy Valley, OR, 2014

And so, I really must give Lloyd Walker and Walker Audio one of my 2019 Brutus Awards. It will join the many others that he has earned over the years from me. They are a powerful testimony to the superlative nature of his designs, and the excellence of his engineering and artisanal craftsmanship.

Done!