So where to begin? I dunno… how about at the beginning? Okay so my first turntable was an AR-XA with the Shure VR-15 cartridge. This combo spun vinyl as I had never heard before and served me well for a good number of years. But then for whatever reason I went with a Sony PS X600 turntable with their bio-tracer arm. Same cartridge, but way different. Really tracked the LPs, but never felt we were getting it all. Was good and served us well enough. Cartridges varied from the better Audio-Technica to those from Shure. These two analog set-ups were highly touted by various audio magazines at the time… so there I went with my money. Then along comes our first really "high-end" rig… the Linn Axis and K9 cartridge.
Okay, so now things are really gelling, but having to deal with foot-falls and feedback sent us to various solutions. Finally getting it more right and we smiled for many years. Being the typical audio-guy chasing his tail, we move onto the Transrotor Leonardo Doppio 25/25/60 with a Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood cartridge (see HERE) then onto the Shelter 501 cartridge and then onto a Shelter 90 and then 901. Eventually I added the audiomod arm (see HERE) and thought all was good. But was it? Well, the longer we had the Transrotor/audiommod/Shelter combo, the less we listened to it. While adding a different phonostage brought us closer to enjoying things more, as did the upgrade with the audiomod arm from the stock Rega, well… we were just missing something. Still missing something I should add. Music was good, sometimes quite great… many times (often times) better than digital. Warmer, richer… you know… more analog.
But all in all… rather pedestrian. Boring? Polite? Courteous? Not sure if I would go that far, well, maybe we should, but for sure we were not sitting there chomping at the bits to spin vinyl. Just lacking in that engagement. That sense of "this rocks and I want more please." For sure the frequencies were all there, though the bass could go a bit deeper with more slam and dynamics… and could we offer up a bit more excitement and viscerality? Hell, could we just goose up everything to a greater degree?!
Okay, so was it the cartridge? The arm? The turntable? The material? The combination of everything as a package? The beverage or lack thereof? Was it us? Did we need help with our hearing or the reality of what we can afford and would deal with? Not into expensive audio gear, which I realize is all relative. But still, these various turntables and cartridges are nowhere near the middle of the road in terms of price points.
I did ask friends for various suggestions as to cartridges that might better match our needs… and well… it sort of made us think perhaps the best thing is to just move on. Lots of suggestions. Suggestions for pretty much whatever is out there, but then we thought we should move onto something else. Something different. Better. Different is better, is it not... or is it …he asks smiling.
Yeah, the Transrotor set-up put us back a good $7k (if you add the costs of the audiomod arm and Shelter 901 cartridge to that of the turntable). The Linn was under $2k. The Sony under $1k. And the AR under $500. I guess… been so long. Oh well… anyhow, what can we get for like $10k? I mean at today's money, well that is not being too unreasonable. Or is it?
Alright so where to go? We both decided that we wanted to go with a "Made in the USA" thing. Not due to any uneasy need to be patriotic or whatever, just felt why not? We know several, make that many US made companies, heck our system is a pretty much a Made in the USA one; from speakers to electronics to cables to room treatments. Not everything, but the majority. So why not go with a table and cartridge made here as well?
So, we made a short list of companies to think about. A few with people we know personally, some not so much. And the products needed to fall into our affordable price-range, and we wanted to like the look and feel… as well as the sound. Yeah, for us, the look and feel are very important. The overall design, construction… and if we could find (own) something that stands out from the crowd—is different or unique—the better. Not so unique that it is problematic or an issue with using it, but different enough that people will go, "Wow, what is this?" We had that with the Transrotor and we wanted to keep that.
What we did not want to keep is anything that one could associate the construction or design of the current turntable, arm, etc… all that might be, no doubt is, contributing to our lack of engagement with spinning vinyl.
Meaning what exactly? Meaning let's move away from acrylic platters and Rega-like arms. Let's avoid plinths made of similar materials. Let's try something different. Let's go in a different direction.
Unipivot arm? Sure, why not. Metal or wood for either the plinth or platter… or both? Sure. Check.
Something clearly outside the typical? Oh, that would be cool.
Industrial as opposed to sleek and modern? Sound good.
A cartridge that is new and different? To us at least. One that people suggest as being a solid fit with our music, arm, and table? As opposed to a cartridge that is just highly recommended but might not be the best fit? Sure, love that idea.
But not just different to be different. It has to work, it has to work with our music, in our system, in our room. It has to get us back into wanting to listen to LPs. Buying more LPs and more importantly, it has to make us smile with happiness.
So, we narrowed our options down to a few tables, arms, and cartridges, but only one seemed to check off all the wants—the Montrose from Fern & Roby ($7500 with arm, go HERE for more). Is different in that it is quite an industrial design that sets it apart from many other tables. The materials used in its construction are as far away from those in the Transrotor as to make them from a different species. The Montrose is made from compressed recycled paper in a resin material for the plinth (Richlite) and steel for the platter with bronze inserts (also recycled). The use of bronze is also found in the pulley, record weight, control knob, arm lift, and various parts of the arm. Richlite is also used for the arm board and a few other key parts.
Uni-pivot arm too… and their arm meaning it was designed to work on that table. Well thought out with perfectionist engineering... the arm is as good as anything I would ever want. Or need. Light, stiff, fully adjustable. What more is there to have?
And the table is easy to set-up with leveling screws at each corner for the threaded spiked "feet," a bubble level on the plinth to make sure it is just right, and isolation discs that the threaded spikes fit into.
All right, there is a lot going on here other than just a motor sitting on a plinth spinning a platter with some bearing. Best to go to the Fern & Roby site (HERE) to learn as much as they can tell you… I will add that it is rock stable via their drive system… from their site: "Our turntables are built around our Modular, Active, P.I.D. Drive Unit (we call it the MAP Drive). The MAP Drive incorporates a computer controlled, real-time P.I.D. controller (You can learn about the P.I.D. concept here). The Controller uses "active" feedback from the platter to regulate the performance of the deck."
Not just any motor, not just any bearing, not just any plinth... no, the Montrose is not just any table. Chris has spent considerable time and effort to get things just right. And what is great is that he continues to find ways to improve his products all of which are retro-fit-able to past products.
Sweet. Set the speed via the on off knob (33.3 or 45), the LED lights orange and then once the table is up to speed, it lights green. Never saw it change back or flicker and never heard any hint of wow and flutter. Music was rock solid with a wonderful sense of pace and rhythm. And it sound fast... not fast in terms of being sped up, but fast in terms of the delivery... the PRaT (pace, rhythm, and timing) that good friend Art Dudley used so aptly many years ago in describing how music moves in a way that is ever so right (I am told that the term actually came from the UK, possibly coined by Ivor Tiefenbrun of Linn or Julian Vereker of Naim, so there you go).
The arm is easy to use, and as well they chose a way to minimize that left right wobble that all uni-pivot arms seem to possess. A unique insert (made from the same material as the plinth and arm board) sits on the pivot and is machined to just the right degree for clearance between it and the arm's housing (see images below). No concern at all when lowering the arm and it is fully adjustable. Rock solid.
So, the Montrose came with the Zephyr MIMC cartridge from Soundsmith ($1995 and more HERE on the Soundsmith site… wait a minute! Just realized that there is a video of the Zephyr on a Sony PSX table like we used to own on the Soundsmith site… spooky degrees of separation!). This cartridge is recommended by Chris at Fern & Roby as a great match to the table and, funny coincidence, this is the same cartridge I was being told to get to replace the Shelter by many friends as well—based on our music and listening habits… this is the one people felt would punch our ticket.
Alright… so how does it sound? And please consider this a review of the complete package as delivered; arm, cartridge, and turntable. So how does our music sound on the Montrose/Soundsmith rig?
Well, it sounds way different than the Transrotor rig. Make that way different but in a good way. A way good way.
Bigger, bolder, more dynamic. Slam and extension. Dead quiet and dark. Not dark in the sense of being cold or closed in, but dark in how stuff emerges, or is shot out of a black emptiness of quietness. Extended and not the least bit lean or analytical, but you get all the details in the music. Just not in a hyped or over the top way. All rather seductive and lovely.
We found that lowering the VTA so that the Zephyr was riding lower in the back (think low-er rider) addressed a hint of brightness that was perhaps too evident in too many of our records. Doing so warmed things up a bit and made our music that much more engaging. All easy to do with the VTA adjustment on the arm board. Way cool and quite easy to tune things just so to one's preference.
As I had mentioned earlier, the Transrotor was a tad too polite… one could even go so far as to say sedate and, while quite musical in its own way, it just was no longer captivating with our LPs. Spin a record or two and then it was time to move on. Make that the music as presented by the Transrotor rig was not captivating.
With the Montrose table as supplied… hell no! A complete 180 in most aspects that we hold dear to our hearts. Speed, clarity, engagement, bass definition, etc… it is all there. Way more open. Way more life and energy.
We find ourselves playing LPs at a higher volume and for longer with no hint of fatigue. Any visitors are truly transfixed with tapping feet and nodding heads… the music is there. It fills the room. It is quite stellar. We are buying the table and cartridge. Not leaving the room. Sold.
Love the look. Love the finish. Love the functionality of the design. Love the supplied feet and record weight. Love the simplicity and yet stability of the table. Stability such that once set, there is nothing else to do other than to listen to as many LPs as time will permit. We are buying a ton of vinyl now, which is good and not so good... we are retired and so money is pretty much fixed. Oh well, what can you do when you have an audio component that makes you want to have more music?
A couple of observations. The table does require a decent stand as it weighs a good 45-50 lbs. Two people make it easier to do things than one. Leveling is simple and elegant with the supplied screwdriver. In assembling, make sure that the motor pulley is down far enough, but not too far or it will rub on the top of the motor assembly. Make sure that the large nut is tight on the underside of the table that holds the bearing assembly. Make a simple Oxbow with the tonearm wire so that it has as little impact on the arm's tracking. Tighten things to finger tight, no need to use brute force with any of the screws and bolts. If you feel a need too, try getting a torque driver and think about some testosterone inhibitors. Sit back and enjoy.
Chris really over thought everything with this table. The fit and finish, the materials, the design and functionality, the beauty in the simplicity and yet, complexity that is all rather hidden inside the table's appearance. Note: the table and arm, all the materials and whatnot are made in-house. This is all Fern & Roby engineering and design; their choices, execution, and assembly. All with a strong sense of design and art—all intertwined with a focus on engineering and its beauty. This is not some kludgy concocted audio thing to be put away on a shelf or cabinet. No, the table needs, requires, demands to be set out (up) in a way that any piece of art would.
Yeah, we are that smitten. Quite smitten. For sure this is a rave, just not sure what else to say. Heck, I can't find anything to dismiss or quibble over. The Montrose turntable and Soundsmith cartridge "rocks... and I want more please."
All images by Dave Clark
