home entertainment 2007

ined with the refined, rich tonal balance
and Teflon-like musical flow,
produced a calming yet simultaneously
stimulating effect, much as you get
when listening to live acoustic music
in a good hall. It also rode smoothly
and quietly in the grooves, minimizing
surface noise and other record defects.
Even though the MC2 Finish Gold
was less than brilliant on top, I found it
satisfying and enticing with all musical
genres. Somehow, it didn’t sound
polite, rolled off, or soft. It never led to
boredom, or to me wishing it would
“open up,” as I do with many overly
polite cartridges.
The seamless top-to-bottom balance
of the Allaerts MC2 Finish Gold produced
a sonic picture that was believable,
texturally, tonally, and spatially. However,
while I enjoyed listening to all kinds of
music reproduced by it, I recommend it
primarily for acoustic music. Given that,
the Allaerts MC2 Finish Gold is a truly
distinctive and magical cartridge. Now I
know why it’s back-ordered.
IN HEAVY ROTATION
1) The Apples in Stereo, New Magnetic
Wonder, Yep Rock 150gm
LPs (2)
2) JJ Cale & Eric Clapton, The Road
to Escondido, Reprise 180gm
LPs (2)
3) Tchaikovsky, Serenade for
Strings (Charles Munch, Boston
Symphony Strings), RCA Living
Stereo/Cisco 180gm LP
4) Herbie Hancock, Takin’ Off, Blue
Note/Cisco 180gm LP
5) Clemencic Consort, Dances
Anciennes de Hongrie, Harmonia
Mundi/Speakers Corner
180gm LP
6) Tony Bennett & Bill Evans, The
Tony Bennett Bill Evans Album,
Fantasy/Analogue Productions
45rpm, 180gm LPs (2)
7) Bloc Party, A Weekend in the
City, Vice/Atlantic 120gm LPs (2)
8) Karrin Allyson, Footprints, Concord/Pure
Audiophile 180gm
LPs (2)
9) Yo La Tengo, I Am Not Afraid of
You and I Will Beat Your Ass,
Matador 180gm LPs (2)
10) Martin and Neil, Tear Down the
Walls, Sundazed/Electra 180gm
LP.
Visit www.musicangle.com for full
reviews.
ANALOG CORNER
Thorens TD 350 turntable
with SME M2 tonearm
A reader once e-mailed to ask how I’m
able to review lesser turntables with
the $100,000 Continuum Audio Labs
Caliburn sitting on the
adjacent stand. The
answer is simple: It’s
my job. Plus, with analog,
for some reason, if
a turntable is properly
designed and set up, it
will make pleasing
music—I don’t care how
inexpensive it is.
At $3299 without
tonearm, the new
Thorens TD 350 is not
inexpensive. The 350
revives the brand’s
famous suspended-subchassis
design, updated
for 21st-century vinyl
playback with (per the
ads) modern materials
and concepts to independently
damp the springs’
horizontal and vertical excursions.
The subchassis, hidden within a
beautifully worked wooden plinth,
floats at an effective frequency low
enough that, during playback, banging
on the plinth or the platform—and I
mean banging, not tapping—didn’t faze
the system. I couldn’t hear the faintest
thump through my speakers.
A built-in electronic speed controller
spins the internally mounted
synchronous AC motor. A plastic pulley
protrudes from the top of the plinth
to drive a thin, square-section elastomer
belt, which in turn drives a 9-lb,
12" platter of heavily damped aluminum.
A hinged dustcover is included.
The TD 350 is 17.3" (440mm)
wide by 6.3" (160mm) high by 13.6"
(345mm) deep—compact, classic proportions
that have fallen out of favor
with audiophiles at this price point.
But despite its relatively small footprint,
the Thorens weighs 22 lbs. If
you’re in the market for a ca-$3000
turntable, you’d be making a mistake
by not considering this one.
The review sample came with an
SME M2 tonearm installed, for a total
price of $5399. It can also be had with
an SME 309 for $5799, or a Rega
RB250 for a reasonable $3599. The
SME M2 represents a significant sonic
step up from the Rega RB300, at least
based on a direct comparison I heard
using the T+A G-10 R turntable,
which comes with either the RB300 or
the SME M2. So I extrapolate that the
M2 is at least as big a step up from the
RB250 (though some Rega enthusiasts
insist the 250 is superior to the 300).
The Thorens TD 350 and SME M2
Thorens TD 350 turntable with SME M2 tonearm and Clearaudio
Maestro cartridge: an outstanding combination.
seemed the ideal turntable and arm
with which to audition the Clearaudio
Maestro, a wood-bodied moving-magnet
cartridge ($999) with a boron cantilever
that’s uncomfortably exposed
(as are the cantilevers of most current
Clearaudio designs). Don’t worry
about it, just be careful.
A turntable’s most important job is
to spin at the right speed. The TD 350
produced a 1004Hz tone from a
1000Hz test track—about as good as it
gets. Speaking of as good as it gets, in
the category of turntable, tonearm, and
cartridge for under $6500, I’d recommend
this combination all day and
every day. In fact, it was so good I didn’t
try any other cartridges with the
TD 350. Why break up a successful
act? The 350, M2, and Maestro produced
a vivid, harmonically rich picture,
with a velvety image physicality
that made me want to reach out and
touch whatever was appearing
between the speakers.
I played lots of records over a twomonth
period, enjoying the presentation
for what it was without wondering
what I might have gotten from the
Continuum Caliburn. That’s how wellbalanced,
relaxed, and enticing this
combo’s performance was. I listened
twice straight through a superb-sounding
45rpm issue of The Guitar Artistry of
Charlie Byrd (Riverside/Analogue Productions
RS 9451), so relaxing yet stimulating
was the musical presentation
26 www.Stereophile.com, May 2007