The Townshend Rock V Record Player

Considering that the Rock V is very much a work in progress, the musical results are extremely impressive as well as artistically beguiling. There’s no missing the natural, unforced quality or easy pace and separation, sweetened top and solid bass that this ‘table delivers. It’s a sound I could easily grow to love and a sense of poise and unexaggerated clarity that I’ll miss when it goes. So why not install it on a permanent basis? The lack of real interchangability in the arm (meaning no mono replay), the lack of interchangability of arms full stop, and the lack of VTA adjustment on the fly are all issues for me. The lack of a lid – given the amount of silicon fluid around – is also a problem (albeit shortly to be solved) and I’d like to see a more sophisticated power supply. Most of these things are possible future options, especially the VTA adjustment and external power supply. Until they arrive however, the Rock V is remarkable to me for the performance it achieves without these refinements. This early sample also lacks the levels of fit and finish that you get with more expensive and longer established designs, but then, they don’t have a trough and once you’ve heard what a trough can do, you might just become addicted too. That’s when concerns about the way a product looks recede into the background (besides which the latest units are far prettier than this early, well travelled sample). Because one thing’s for sure: the engineering basis that’s under-pinned every single Rock design is alive and kicking in the V – and so is the music it plays.