Specs & Pricing

THE
Cutting Edge
Kuzma Stabi
XL Turntable/
Air Line Arm,
Walker Proscenium
Black Diamond
Record Player
As most of you already
know, when analog
records are mastered,
the cutter head that inscribes the
signal in the lacquer blank travels in
a straight line from the outer edge
toward the center of the spinning
disc. It is generally accepted that,
all other things being equal, the
tonearm should follow the same
line as the cutter head for the
most accurate playback and lowest
tangential error. Of course, all
other things aren’t equal, but we
will come to that in a moment.
Both the $40k Walker
Proscenium Black Diamond
and the $28.5k Kuzma Stabi XL
turntable with Air Line tonearm
are air-bearing, tangential (straightline-tracking)
record players. Both
tonearms ride on a very thin
(10-micron) cushion of air, which acts as a frictionless bearing; both
arms trace the same straight line across the LP that the cutter head did,
theoretically playing back discs with zero tracking error. Why, then, do
they sound so different
Well, part of the difference is attributable to the different ways these
two superb record players spin LPs.
The Kuzma Stabi XL is a suspensionless, modular, twin-belt-andmotor-driven
turntable that depends on the carefully chosen materials
it is made of for damping. Since it has no suspension and no means
104 December 2006 The Absolute Sound
Jonathan Valin
to adjust level, the Kuzma ’table
and arm must sit on a sturdy
stand or air-suspension table,
like a Vibraplane, that can itself
be precisely leveled.
The Stabi XL doesn’t have
a traditional rectangular plinth.
Instead, it has a 59-pound
“base”—a beautifully machined
cylindrical hunk of brass, with an
inverted, oil-bathed, non-metallic,
ruby-tipped bearing-shaft in its
center. An aluminum subplatter
is fitted snugly onto the bearingshaft,
a 48-pound platter—made
of a sandwich of aluminum and
acrylic plates and topped with a
proprietary rubber-and-textile
mat—onto the subplatter. Drive
is supplied to the platter by two
cylindrical, brass-encased motors
that fit into cutouts on either
side of the turntable base. Twin belts run from both motors around the
subplatter—a symmetrical setup that is said to maximize stability and
minimize vibration. Motor speed is controlled by a quartz clock in the
Stabi XL’s outboard power supply. The whole thing looks exceptionally
cool—a genuine work of applied art. 1
The Walker Proscenium Black Diamond is an air-suspended, singlebelt-and-motor-driven,
air-bearing turntable. It, too, depends on the
mass and composition of its component parts to provide damping,
although the Walker also sits on air-suspension feet that decouple it from