Home Vinyl Asylum

Welcome Licorice Pizza (LP) lovers! Setup guides and Vinyl FAQ.

REVIEW: Ariston RD40 Turntables

Model: RD40
Category: Turntables
Suggested Retail Price: unknown
Description: All metal, cool looking TT
Manufacturer URL: Not Available
Manufacturer URL: Not Available

Review by Bassman (A) on January 14, 2003 at 05:20:01
IP Address: 192.36.190.2
Add Your Review
for the RD40


Belt driven, AC motor with two-size/speed pulley (33/45).
Round, black, all metal chassis, suspended with 3 adjustable springs (inside the 3 cylindrical feet).
Concave aluminum platter with threaded disc-clamp. Maybe 3 mm thick rubber mat.

I think I bought mine in the beginning of the eighties.
The stock arm was nothing special, I have a Rega RB300 with a Goldring Eroica MC pickup on it, and it´s a good combination.
I have put special rubber half-domed shaped feet under mine, which helps a lot to isolate from vibrations.
I have also substituted the arm weight with a small tube/pipe cutter, which is a bit heavier than the original, but most important, is direct coupled against the arm, and not via rubber rings, as the original. It also has it point of gravity below the arm. Much better detail and dynamics with this weight.

Well, how does it sound?
Nice balanced tonality, lively and detailed.
Musical.
More natural than my Arcam Alpha 7 CD player (which I like very much).
(When I played Traveling Wilburys, my cat sat wondering and looked for the invisible musicians between the speakers..)
This is not a top of the line player (as you can see I go for rather inexpensive, but good gear). It may not be as holographic as some, or as firm in the bass as others, but it makes my feet tap the floor.
And it looks very cool in black and aluminum with it´s round shape


Product Weakness: ??
Product Strengths: Musical
Looks


Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier: Audio Innovations Series 500 (all tube)
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): none
Sources (CDP/Turntable): Arcam Alpha 7
Speakers: JPW 910 floorstanders
Cables/Interconnects: DIY CAT5 speaker cable, Van den Hul interconnect
Music Used (Genre/Selections): Pop, jazz, classical
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner




This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
  Atma-Sphere Music Systems, Inc.  


Topic - REVIEW: Ariston RD40 Turntables - Bassman 05:20:01 01/14/03 (15)


You can not post to an archived thread.