Lifetime Achievement Award
He is, of course, far too young, really, for a Lifetime Achievement award (although he had a stint developing software for bionic engineering, so that some suspect he may now be augmented). But Mark Döhmann has an impressive CV as a turntable designer that stretches back to 1982. Of course there’s no forgetting the Continuum Caliburn, which offered a performance benchmark for vinyl arguably not seen since the days of the big Rockport turntables and the Micro Seiki 8000II.
Then in 2014, he was enlisted to spearhead a new statement turntable project, under the stewardship of the Audio Union company, accompanied by other key leaders including tone-arm designer Frank Schröder; Allen Perkins, designer of the multi award-winning Spiral Groove SG1 turntable bearing; and Dr. David Platus, founder of Minus K technologies, world leader in the field of vibration isolation for applications as diverse as microscopy, spacecraft ground testing and neuroscience.
The result of this collaboration was the Helix 1, and then the Helix 2, both Sound+Image Award winners and recognised as the highest level in the art, science and engineering of turntable design, the benchmark in noise suppression and isolation.
But this award is for more than Mark Döhmann’s track record in innovation and design. We’re also recognising his attitude to collaboration, his easy recognition of the input of others, and his desire to communicate his passions within the industry and especially to the music-loving public, at events like the Turntable Masterclasses he ran at both recent shows in Melbourne.
For all this and more, we’re delighted to present this year’s Sound+Image Lifetime Achievement Award to Mark Döhmann.