Specs & Pricing

Clearaudio Ambient Turntable System
Absolute Analog
How has Clearaudio dialed up its warmth
and richness without diminishing clarity and
transient speed Like a great musical instrument
(or concert hall) the answer is that it’s using
wood with desirable acoustic properties
throughout the system. For instance, the Satiné
wood used in the armwand and in the body of
the Concerto cartridge offers high rigidity and
low resonance without sucking the life out of
the music. Additionally, a multi-layer, highly
compressed wood called “Panzerholz” is used
as the core of the table’s plinth, sandwiched
between two machined aluminum plates. It is
relatively lightweight, non-resonant, and rigid,
yet so incredibly dense that it is able to stop a
bullet. (Panzerholz is also used in several other
new models in the Clearaudio line, including
the $80,000 Statement, as well as in the floors
of limos and armored vehicles in Europe for
presumably more than a quieter ride.)
The Ambient’s sophisticated outboard
combo motor and speed controller is physically
isolated from the plinth and connected via
three very thin belts which drive the 40mm
acrylic platter. These seamless, silicon-based
belts are said to transfer less noise than the
typical rubber belts found on most belt-drive
tables. The motor/speed controller is a joy
to use, has the feel of a precision instrument,
and ensures accurate pitch control. The speedcontrol
function alone rivals the performance
of my VPI SDS box, the best external speed
controller I’ve used this side of the Walker.
The Ambient is certainly one of the best
’tables in its class at reproducing the sound
of a piano, as sustained notes are incredibly
solid and do not waver in pitch. While it’s not
free of some occasional resonance (heard
as a little muddiness in the bass) and slight
surface noise, I found myself preferring piano
recordings on the Ambient to that of my
digital front-end—something I can’t say about
most ’tables, regardless of price. There was
just more naturalness, air, and realism without
a loss of pitch stability. Music emerged from
a black background with excellent dynamics,
clarity, and transient speed. When called upon,
this system is also sonorous and can accurately
portray the singing tone of the piano.
You’ll hear lots of inner detail with the
Ambient, too, like Joe Pass’ fingers sliding
along the neck of his guitar on Take Love Easy
[Pablo], and the leading edge of transients as he
strums or plucks the strings. On the same LP,
Ella Fitzgerald’s voice is free of excess sibilance
and is natural and beautiful, perhaps a tad less
seductive than with my Koetsu Black cartridge,
but far, far closer than Clearaudio tables and
cartridges used to be. Not surprisingly, the
Clearaudio Concerto cartridge on the Ambient
outpoints my Koetsu in terms of inner detail,
top-end extension, focus, and tracking ability,
all notable strengths of many of Clearaudio’s
more exotic cartridges. Indeed, the Concerto
is described as the entry-level cartridge in
the “super-class” of Clearaudio’s new line
of moving-coil cartridges. When coupled
with the Ambient, the Concerto’s extended
dynamic range and transient quickness makes
music listening very exciting.
Precision is one of the words that comes
to mind when describing the Ambient. The
inverted bearing is very quiet and the overall
design and execution results in a low noise
floor. Admittedly, when using the Satisfy
Satiné arm, the Ambient combo has a slightly
higher level of groove noise than my reference
and falls a bit short of the eerie silence and
jet-black background of some of the far
more expensive table/arm/cartridge combos.
However, the Ambient is much closer to the
“super analog rigs” than its price warrants, and
it is better isolated from extraneous vibrations
than most other mass-loaded tables in its class.
Consequently, the Ambient doesn’t benefit
nearly as much from placement on an airsuspension
platform as many others do.
The Ambient system appears to be designed
for someone who just wants to sit back and
enjoy the music, but if you must tweak,
there are a few substitutions that improve its
performance. The supplied “Clever Clamp”
provides good, but not great, coupling of the
record to the platter. You might experiment
with other clamps, or if you want to seriously
flatten records, you could go for Clearaudio’s
“Outer Limit” peripheral stainless steel ring
clamp. You might also consider a higher
performance tonearm. Make no mistake, the
Satisfy Satiné, with its tighter-spec’d bearings,
higher-mass counterweight, and wonderful
wood armwand is a major step up from the
stock Satisfy. But substituting my Graham
tonearm reduced groove noise, tightened up
the bass, and rendered even more detail and
nuance. Admittedly, it didn’t look as good,
and it costs a lot more. Fortunately, you can
purchase the Ambient table alone or with a
higher-performance Clearaudio arm. Finally,
consider adding the Clearaudio “VTA-Lifter.”
This is more of a convenience than anything,
as VTA can be adjusted with the stock
system, but is a tedious process. The “VTA-
Lifter” has to be the most precise and refined
“aftermarket” VTA adjuster there is. It lets
you easily dial in the optimal VTA setting for
different record thicknesses and quickly return
to the sweet spot for each.
The Ambient turntable system proves that
great looks do not always limit performance.
Its richness and warmth will come as a shock
to most of you familiar with the previous
Clearaudio “house sound,” but it still maintains
the fine detail, clarity, and transient quickness
you’d expect. The fine performance of the
table and the Concerto cartridge, in particular,
made me think it’s about time to upgrade my
analog front end, and the Ambient, as well
as other “Panzerholz” Clearaudio tables, will
definitely be on my short list. TAS
Specs &
Pricing
MUSICAL SURROUNDINGS
5662 Shattuck Avenue
Oakland, California 94609
(510) 547-5006
info@musicalsurroundings.com
musicalsurroundings.com
Ambient Turntable System
Bearing: Inverted with ceramic ball
Type of Drive: Belt
Tonearm: Satisfy Satiné
Speeds: 33-1/3 and 45 rpm
Dimensions: 21.1" x 5.9" x 13"
Weight: 26.5 lbs.
Price: $3500 (without arm), $4600 (with arm),
$6200 (as tested with arm and cartridge)
Concerto Cartridge
Type: Low-output MC
Output: 0.7mV
Weight: 4.0 grams
Recommended Tracking Force: 2.8 grams
Price: $2000 (when sold separately)
ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT
VPI Aries turntable (w/TNT V platter &
bearing), Graham 1.5 arm (w/2.2 bearing),
Koetsu Black cartridge; Musical Fidelity
Tri-Vista 21 DAC; Chapter Preface Plus
preamplifier and Couplet amplifier; MFA
Venusian preamp (Frankland modified);
PrimaLuna Prologue 6 amplifiers; Eben X-3
and Quad ESL-57 (PK modified) loudspeakers;
Nordost Valhalla cables; Gingko “Cloud Ten,”
vibration control platform
December 2006 The Absolute Sound 39