The Beijing-based manufacturer of Bill Firebaugh’s new Well-Tempered Turntable, Opera Audio, showed a prototype of the new turntable. The design builds on Firebaugh’s radical ideas about turntable construction. The table and arm are unmistakably Well-Tempered, but this unit uses some cost-saving techniques that reportedly improve the performance.

The most interesting of these is a golf ball to which the tonearm is mounted. The golf ball rests in a cup containing silicone damping fluid. I also attended a presentation on the turntable by Bill Firebaugh, who took a group of audiophiles through the design decisions. The new ’table is expected in the U.S. in March at a projected price of $2500. I’ll be visiting the Opera Audio factor in Bejing later this week and will have more details then.

In addition to lots of Chinese-made gear, just about every major American and European brand was also on display at the show. It’s easier to list the few companies who weren’t represented than those who were.

A vendor area for CDs and LPs was chock full of attendees, enduring music blasting from adjacent booths as each vendor tried to show off his wares. Multiply by about 50 and you have a recipe for a 100-decible cacophony.

Analog is quite popular in China as evidenced by the number of exhibits featuring turntables. One entire floor focused on turntables, and several flagship models were on display. These included the big Clearaudio Statement,

the equally big Transrotor

the Kuzma, and the mighty Work of Art from Basis Audio.

Next: Mega-turntables and Cables

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