Pump up the VINYL
Bostjan Holc is the founder of Slovenian artisan company ‘Holbo’, which set out to make a turntable in which the moving mechanic parts do not touch each other at all. By eliminating the last vestiges of friction and physical transmission, micro vibrations and mechanical friction might be eliminated, and music could be revealed in all its magnificence, dynamics and musicality.
How to achieve this? With what Holbo calls an airbearing system, which places the platter on a bearing of air. For good measure, the tone arm also moves on a bed of air. But from what source does this cushioning supply of air come from?
The answer is the combined air pump and external power supply (right) which comes with the latest Holbo, the pictured Holbo Mk II Airbearing Turntable System. In addition to twist-locking the power cable between external box and the main turntable, you also attach a plastic tube between the two, neatly fitted with a similar twist lock to hold it in place at both ends. Hit the left of the two buttons on the front lof the platter and the air flows in, sucked through a small cork filter and out again via the tube to both air bearings in the turntable.
You’ll note that the Holbo’s tone arm uses linear tracking, with the arm sliding along and kept parallel to the groove tangents, which vinyl lovers will know better simulates the cutting stylus which put the information in the groove in the first place. Linear tracking arms traditionally have issues like vibration and wobbling, which are just the kind of thing an air bearing could overcome.
The turntable and pump together sell for $12,000, cartridge not included. We are currently enjoying a Holbo equipped with a Kiseki Blue MC cartridge in preparation for our VINYL focus next issue; for more Holbo details meanwhile, visit www.audiomarketing.com.au