Scheu Analog Cantus tonearm

I'm not a huge fan of acrylic turntables, but this new acrylic tonearm from Scheu Analog is a looker. This is the same company that carries the pink Diamond turntable I talked about last month. The Cantus is available in both 9" and 12" versions, and it differs from other tonearms in that arm tube is a mechanical framework rather than a mere wand to carry the cabling.

I wonder if you can get it in pink...

For the men...

That pink turntable from Scheu Analog certainly created a stir on both my blog and my Facebook page. A couple of men objected to the idea of marketing a pink turntable to women. Not surprisingly, a number of women audiophiles took one look at the pink Diamond turntable and thought it was absolutely beautiful.

Jeff Dorgay of TONEAudio commented that "I know quite a few women who would be highly insulted if I even suggested that they like something because it is pink or simple to operate...never good to pre judge [sic] your audience. I know more women who prefer black to pink." Colleen Cardas replied that "I think most women are afraid of tables that are expensive and have all the bells and whistles. Anything that can be done to make them feel user friendly to women should be considered." She went on to say that "this table is advertised as designed with a women in mind."

Adam LaBarge, a reader of this blog, commented "WOW - I mean - I know 'pink' is the new 'black'. But doesn't is really show the 'out of touch'ness the male makes of hi-fi audio are? Many other industries have moved way beyond the 'pink is for girls' color scheme. BTW - I'm a guy - and I'd own that in a hot second."

MY final take is this: For every woman who doesn't like pink, there are probably five that do. Do you risk turning off one customer to make five sales? Of course you do. In fact, most business people would risk turning off five people to make one sale. And if you're a woman who doesn't like pink, you're probably used to having pink marketed to you so you're not going to get truly upset or offended anymore...you just won't buy. Most women do like pink. Market research backs this up.

So where do you stand?

By the way, the Blue Moon turntable above is made by another German turntable company called Audio Agile Unterhaltungs Elektronik (boy, that's a mouthful) and the pic is courtesy of Eduardo Gutierrez of Eduardo Audiofilos Mexicanos. I love that shade of blue!

Here's one more shot of the Scheu Analog Diamond:

One for the ladies...

 
Colleen Cardas of Cardas Audio just sent me a link for Scheu Analog, a German audio company that makes high-quality turntables. This particular turntable, called the Diamond, is being aimed at that rare and elusive market segment known as the Female Audiophile. Here is some of their copy:

"Pink, classic, seductive, simply ladylike--that is Diamond. A turntable designed specially for ladies--an innovative new product from Scheu Analog!"

Other than the color, I'm not sure what distinguishes this turntable from those made for grunting, belly-scratching male audiophiles. If I say that it's easy to operate, would that be sexist? How about if I phrase it like this: women are probably less likely to put up with the inconveniences that male audiophiles take for granted. For instance, macho purist audiophiles are more likely to put up with cartridge loading that can only be done by opening a component case with a flimsy Allen wrench, re-inserting jumpers and setting tiny DIN switches. Or, hairy, smelly male audiophiles thinking nothing about eschewing tone controls, balance controls and even cueing levers for the sake of ultimate sound quality. Or, strong, insensitive hunks are more than willing to sacrifice the integrity of their lower back muscles by shifting their 450 pound full range speakers a quarter of an inch further from the back walls of their listening rooms to achieve that last iota of imaging and soundstaging.

If you check out the comments section of the Scheu website (at http://www.acoustic-dimension.com/Scheu/Diamond/Scheu-analog-diamond-main-page.htm), you'll see at least one man who kind of digs the look of this turntable. And for those of us who aren't quite so secure about their masculinity, a version of the Diamond is available in drab, dreary black.

All kidding aside, Scheu 'tables are highly regarded, and I'm sure the Diamond offers a level of sound quality that will appeal to both men and women. That said, Scheu is not the first audio company to offer one of their products in pink--Rega recently announced a pink version of their venerable P3-24 turntable! So pink is the new black!