New Reference turntable with active vibration isolation
To celebrate Thorens’ 140th anniversary
The New Reference turntable, with which the German company Thorens intends to celebrate its 140th anniversary, is equipped with a new level of vibration protection system. Compared to headphones, the vast majority of players are protected from vibration (analogous to noise in headphones) by passive systems – they are similar to soundproofing closed headphones. Thorens New Reference uses active vibration protection – an analog of an ANC headphone.
According to Thorens, active vibration isolation has not been used in vinyl turntables before. The New Reference is equipped with piezoelectric acceleration sensors, the signal from which is fed to the electronic control system based on the Seismion Reactio active vibration isolator. The system controls several non-contact inductive drives, which work on the principle of a conventional speaker. These actuators compensate for system oscillations in all six degrees of freedom.
Thorens claims that this vibration protection works at frequencies even below 1 Hz, and after 10 Hz attenuates vibrations to a level of less than 1% (-40 dB). This is approximately 17 times more effective than the most advanced passive vibration isolation, for example, based on pneumatic shock absorbers.
Naturally, all this is installed in a very massive case. The New Reference uses a classic belt drive. It is claimed that the elastic belt isolates the disc from the vibrations of the drive motor quite enough. The speed is controlled by a pair of ultra-high precision crystal oscillators. It is promised that over 20 years of operation, the rotation speed will “go away” by no more than 0.0002 rpm.
The turntable allows you to install up to three tonearms in sizes 9, 10 and 12 inches. The demonstrator, which Thorens plans to show at the exhibition in Munich, will be equipped with only two. The first is the newly developed TP160, equipped with solid silver wiring, the second is the Thiele TA01, whose rotary mechanics brings the shell behavior closer to tangential models with a deviation of 0.036 degrees. The price of the Thorens New Reference turntable has not yet been announced.