Installation of The Wand Master Series Tonearm

I've just made another change to my review system--I've installed The Wand tonearm from New Zealand on my trusty Unison Research Giro turntable. As the US distributor I've installed a couple of these tonearms in the past, but this is the first arm from the new Master Series and we bought one so I could both familiarize with the installation and, well, up the ante when it came to my analog rig. (The stock tonearm on the Giro is a modded version of the Clearaudio Satisfy tonearm, which is a fine tonearm and has been a steady team player over the last few years.) The current MSRP of the 9.5" Master Series tonearm is $2250...there are also 10.3" and 12" versions available.

The Wand Master Series has the following improvements over the Classic and Plus Series tonearms: easily adjustable-on-the-fly VTA, a vibration shunt/damper (which comes in the form of an oil-filled trough), silver-coated copper wiring and a silver carbon fiber arm tube. You can easily tell the difference between the Master and the others in the line--the Master has a silver arm tube while the Plus and the Classic have black arm tubes. The armrest assembly on the Master is also much more complex.

When I first unpacked the Master from its compact wooden box I was surprised by all the pieces, especially compared to the Plus arms I've installed. My first impression was how daunting it all looked, but once I sorted everything I out I realized that there were several versions of many parts so that the Master could be installed on a wide range of turntables. This is a feature for many premium tonearms--I remember my SME V tonearm and how many extra parts and hardware remained in the box after I was done. Most of these extra parts revolved around the two-piece mounting plates for the arm--different plates work on different turntable plinths, with different screws for different plinth thicknesses.

Finding the right mounting plate for the Giro was the reason why I had to install and uninstall the Master three times. The mounting plate for the Satisfy arm actually has more than one piece, and I had to remove more than I anticipated to set the height of the arm so it would line up with the platter. This is the Giro sans arm, as clean and disassembled as I've seen it. The Wand tonearm can be mounted with any turntable with the right size arm hole in the plinth--23mm to 25mm are ideal, but the mounting plates will work with holes up to 28mm in diameter. If the hole in your turntable is bigger--up to 48mm--Simon Brown, the designer, will send you a fitting. Simon offers a wide range of additional accessories that will help you install this tonearm on a wide range of turntables.

This was the mounting assembly I wound up using. I had tried a couple of the others, but they didn't quite fit. Then I noticed this plate, which had a tiny purple post-it note stuck to it. The note was from Simon, who told me that he designed this particular plate for the Giro. D'oh. (Simon is a stickler for reading instruction manuals FIRST.)

This is what the mounting plate looks like after it has been installed. Notice that Phillips-head screw that keeps the two plates together? Turns out it's very important later. I'm jumping ahead, but when you loosen that screw, it allows the plate to move around in the hole. That's how you set overhang on the cartridge! I like this much more than constantly fiddling with the tiny mounting screws on the cartridge, and those tiny bolts that like to fall into the carpet, never to be seen again.

This is how you position the arm assembly so that the effective length of the arm is correct. You install the spindle (The Wand is a unipivot, which means the arm tube rests on a single point), set the correct height using a notch on the side of the supplied jig (that funky-looking metal thing), and then you place the jig between both spindles to get the distance correct. This jig was so accurate that when it came time to adjust the overhang on the cartridge, it was already close to correct. The jig itself is fantastic--you can set everything but tracking force with it (which is why Simon includes an Ortofon manual stylus force gauge with every arm he sells). You can set overhang and azimuth with it as well.

Whoops, I forget something. The first step in Simon's manual is mounting the cartridge on the arm before it is installed on the turntable. I'm not going to on and on about this, other than it's very easy to do with The Wand--my main problem, as usual, is with the antique mounting hardware required by the Denon DL-103. (My Transfiguration Axia will be mounted after it gets a re-tip, and it will be much easier to mount.) Notice that the holes for the mounting screws are fixed--overhang is set at the mounting plate, which is unique in my experience. Also, Simon includes a couple of small plates that can be installed between the cartridge and the headshell to add weight--a feature needed for lightweight cartridges.

Next, it's time for the armrest assembly, which comes almost completely assembled. You just have to install the cuing level (easy), hook up the anti-skate (the traditional tiny weight/monofilament style) and set the right height of the armrest on the spindle. There's a trick to the angle of the armrest so that it doesn't collide with the arm as it tracks across the record, so that the vibration shunt is aligned, and so the anti-tracking weight hangs loose. Then you route the tonearm cabling through the clip so that the wire makes a nice arc that doesn't touch anything on the arm.

This is what everything looks like after the armrest is in place. That tall tower is the VTA setting, which can be adjusted on the fly. You can also see the vibration damper and its trough, which is filled with oil. Simon gives you three different bottles of oil with different viscosity so you can experiment with the results--or you can choose not to use the oil at all. You can also see the armlock, which hooks onto the same post on the bottom of the arm tube that drags through the oil in the trough.

Here's one more photo of the alignment jig, and how easy it is to set overhang. For me, that's one of the most time-consuming parts of mounting a cartridge--fiddling with the tiny screws, checking the tip of the stylus with a protractor and a lighted magnifying glass, going back and forth until you get it right. Getting the overhang right took much less time than usual. From there it was just a matter of getting the tracking force right (Simon includes a number of plates that can be added to the back of the counterweight, with fine adjustments done with a large, knurled bolt--again, simple.) Azimuth is also adjusted by adjusting the counterweight--a notch on the jig helps with that as well.

Next thing you know, I was finished. It took several attempts because, as I explained, I wanted to try all of the parts to find the right combination to match with this particular turntable. But once I dialed it in, I could probably take this arm apart and put it back together in a relatively short amount of time.

And the sound? Yes, I noticed an immediate improvement in the overall sound of the system--everything sounded more full, with better bass control. I do have experience with this arm and my Transfiguration Axia--that's the combo we used at AXPONA a couple of years ago--so I know I will hear incredible gains in detail once that's back in the system. But for now, I'm content to know I tackled this super-arm, and this will make my music reviews ever more fun than before!

More Prototypes from Les Davis

Les Davis, who has created the constrained layer damping (CLD) material I talked about after my trip from Australia, has just sent more more prototypes of his new footers to try out. As you can see from the photos, Les has been playing around with colors, patterns and even thicknesses. His latest assortment includes CLD footers of different thicknesses--three layers, four layers, five layers and even six layers.

The idea is that we've pretty much confirmed that the material works, and Les has conducted plenty of A/B listening tests to confirm that this isn't just another hi-fi tweak that only works if your system is resolving enough, or if your ears are good enough. As I've mentioned before, our initial tests were conducted with a rather modest source--an old Arcam CD player that probably only retailed for a few hundred dollars when new. (Those modest Arcam players, by the way, employed the stellar Ring DACs, so they always sounded exceptional for the money.)

Now I have to determine if the sonic improvements can be increased even more by adding layers of CLD material. We do know that the overall sound of the system improves if you keep adding footers to all of the components. Back in Sydney, we started off with four footers under the feet of the CD player. Then we added more material under the amplifiers we used (Tara Labs, Einstein and REDGUM). Finally, we added CLD footers between the Brigadiers Audio BA2 monitors. With each addition, the sound improved incrementally. The CLD footers made our test system sound fuller and with a greater wealth of detail.

We all made the comment that "more music flowed through" with the footers in place--I've since read in an equipment review that the flowing music description has become a huge cliche, so I will refrain from using it in the future. But you get the idea, I hope.

These additional tests will help Les to determine the finished product. Will he offer the CLD footers in different thicknesses, at a proportional retail price? I'm using a very resolving system to determine that--the new flagship Unison Research Unico 150 integrated amplifier, the equally new Unison Research Unico CD Due transport/DAC, my Trenner & Friedl ART monitor speakers, the PureAudio Vinyl phono preamplifier and my Unison Research Giro turntable/arm mated with a Transfiguration Axia cartridge. All cables and power management are from Furutech. I've settled on this system over the last few weeks because it is unusually resolving and allows me to hear deep into recordings (another audio cliche, by the way).

The different colors and patterns are just Les having fun. I had one person at CES ask me if the footers would be available in different colors and patterns, and Les told me he could do anything the customer wanted. He's still considering how to finish the footers, but he's already determined that wood and metal sandwiches may look attractive, but they lessen the impact. So he might be close to a finished product for now--he's experimenting with laser cutting so that the edges are neat and professional.

That kind of makes Les' footers a no-BS kind of audio accessory, I think--you're not paying for anything that doesn't affect the sound. Besides, when you put the footers under amps and digital sources, you can't see them. Plus, and this is an important point, keeping it simple allows Les to sell them at a very, very reasonable price. So this will be a tweak for the masses, something just about everyone can try!

Just Arrived...Les Davis' CLD Prototypes

Mere moments after I finished my next Vinyl Anachronist column for Perfect Sound Forever, where I mentioned Les Davis' CLD material, I received a package in the mail from Australia with the first batch of footers that I will try to bring to CES next January. Les Davis sent me 32 pre-cut footers in two different sizes. The smaller round set, I presume, are for placing under the feet of components, and the larger square pieces are probably meant for placing under loudspeakers, especially between bookshelf speakers and their stands.

Again, these are prototypes, just the actual CLD sheets Les manufacturers and not a finished product. After hearing the sonic improvements of these sheets back in Sydney, I recommended that Les find a way to package them in an attractive way, perhaps sandwiched between pieces of wood, aluminum--anything attractive so that audiophiles won't mind placing them in a visible location on their equipment racks. My only concern was, of course, that the outer casing did not diminish the effects of the CLD material.

Now that I have them on my rack, I think they're visually interesting in their raw form. When you place them under amplifiers and CD players and basically anything in a big rectangular chassis, the thin footers disappear from view. When placed where they can easily be seen--in this case under my Unison Research Giro turntable and the Unison Research Phono One phono pre--they're still not obtrusive and I don't mind their presence at all. Perhaps an outer ring may enhance their appearance, but I don't want the price of these footers to increase exponentially just so they'll be pretty.

After just a couple of hours of listening, I still heard the same exact sonic improvements in my current system that I did with the Einstein/Brigadiers Audio/Arcam system back in Sydney. Using the wonderful, lovely-sounding Analogue Productions reissue of Dean Martin's Dream with Dean, I noticed a rather disjointed feeling between Dean and his backing band, which to me suggested that they were not recorded in the same space. There's a real center-fill problem with the band itself--guitar way over to the right, drums and bass way over to the left, with Dino smack dab in the middle.

Once the CLD footers were placed under the amp, turntable and phono stage, Dean and his band returned to the same studio space. The overall sound became more coherent, and more seamlessly blended from top to bottom. The footers also fleshed out the bass in the recording with more woodiness, more bloom. I removed the footers and listened once more (this is the best way to detect sonic improvements through changes in the system as well as minor tweaks) and I immediately felt like I was missing something. Dean's voice was a little drier, a little more distant.

I'm going to experiment with these footers a little more, testing their effects on system combinations that are both more resolving and less so. I'll come back with more findings in a few days.

CCI at the T.H.E. Show in Newport Beach

Colleen Cardas Imports, along with Blackbird Audio/Gallery, will be exhibiting at the upcoming T.H.E. Show in Newport Beach, California on May 31-June 2. Our system will consist of the Unison Research Giro turntable, PureAudio Vinyl phono preamplfier, Unison Research Unico CDE CD player, Unison Research Sinfonia integrated amplfier and Opera Seconda loudspeakers, with all cabling and power management by Furutech. We will be located in Room 525 of the Hilton, so come see us! For more information on the show, please visit the T.H.E. website at http://theshownewport.com/visitors/index.html.

You can't make precise adjustments when setting up a new turntable...

...without the Lucy strobe.

Getting Ready for the 2012 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest

It's that time of year again...time for the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, one of my favorite trade shows in the audio industry. This particular gathering has really become a favorite of a lot of audiophiles because it's not as business-centered as the Consumer Electronic Show in Vegas (which isn't even open to the general public). The atmosphere is more friendly, less stressful and generally just more fun for both attendees and exhibitors. Plus you get to travel to Denver in October, a really exciting time. Will it be warm? Will there be snow on the ground? Who knows?

Colleen and I are doing a rather novel thing this year; we're teaming with Bob Clarke of Profundo (Heed, Transfiguration, Trenner & Friedl and VivA) and Dan Muzquiz of Blackbird Audio Gallery in Santee, California for our room. We'll have two separate systems on display, although we will be sharing the turntable. Bob will be bringing the incredible Pharaoh loudspeakers from Trenner & Friedl and a wide variety of gear from Heed Audio. We've also mounted a Transfiguration Phoenix cartridge on our Unison Research Giro turntable, and it's making great music in my listening room as we speak.

In the photo above you can see the basic Colleen Cardas Imports system. Going clockwise, we have the Unison Research Simply Italy integrated amplifier, the Unison Research Giro turntable with Transfiguration Phoenix cartridge, the PureAudio Vinyl phono preamplifier and the Unison Research CDE CD player.

For speakers we are using the brand spanking new Opera Grand Mezza speakers. Right now I'm breaking in the very first pair out of the Opera factory in Italy; this will be the US debut.

This year's RMAF will take place from October 12-14 at the Denver Marriott Tech Center Hotel in Denver, Colorado. The Blackbird Audio Gallery room, where Bob, Dan, Colleen and I will be hanging out, is located on the 11th floor in Room 1113. We hope to see you there!

New reference amp for my system--the Unison Research Sinfonia!

We have a new amp in the house--the Unison Research Sinfonia! This is going to be my personal amplifier for a while, and after just a few hours with it I'm very, very happy.

It's a single-ended parallel design that uses Tung-Sol 6550s (KT88s can also be used) to get 27 beautiful watts per channel. In comparison to the newer S6 amplifier, this is a more "classic" tube design that offers a smoother, warmer and more seductive sound. The S6, which has been my favorite Unison amp so far, sounds a little "faster" and more linear, but the Sinfonia has this romantic, addictive sound that's better suited to classical music. I'm currently listening to the TrondheimSoliste LP I reviewed just a few days ago, and the forward presentation I found "bracing" now sounds more balanced and musical.

And since it's Italian, it has to be gorgeous! I love the stainless steel plate on top, and the wooden chassis that's finished in cherry (with a matching cherry remote).

I have a big pile of CDs and LPs to review, and now I can catch up. In addition, the FedEx man is currently driving around Central Texas with my Giro turntable, which was just returned by Dave Clark of Positive Feedback Online--review will appear shortly. Once I get my Unison Research Simply Phono phono preamp back from reviewer Michael Mercer, my reference system will be once again intact--for the first time in 2012!

My Kingdom for an Amplifier

After being on the road for a while--nine states in nine days--I finally came home to Central Texas and found a lot of new music in the mailbox. I only have one problem: no system to play it on! That's right--we've been so busy sending out equipment to dealers, reviewers and customers that my own system is decimated. Well, not quite decimated, but I do seem to be lacking an amplifier.

As you can see, I'm down to my old system--Rega P3-24, Lehmann Audio Black Cube SE and my Trenner & Friedl ART monitors. I do have the Unison Research CDE CD player, but that's the only piece of inventory in the house. Most importantly, there's no amp. Unfortunately, that's what I need to listen to music.

Fortunately, help is on the way. I'll be getting a new Unison Research Sinfonia integrated amplifier from Italy in a few days. Also, Dave Clark of Positive Feedback Online is getting started on his review of my Giro turntable, so I should have it back pretty soon. (No rush, Dave, but hug the Giro for me!) Within a couple of weeks I should be neck deep in gear again.

And once I have a complete system again, I'll get started on those CD and LP reviews.

Getting Ready for CES

Now that the holidays are pretty much over, it's time to get ready for the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Professionals in the audio industry are usually quite stressed out this time of year--even more than reg'lar folk--because we have to follow up Christmas with the biggest trade show of the year. I know people in the industry who don't even celebrate the holidays anymore because it just gets in the way of CES preparations. Bah humbug.

Colleen Cardas and I will be there, of course, along with Bartolomeo Nasta of Unison Research. We'll be running the Unison Research Room--it's room 29-117 at The Venetian--so stop on by and say hello. We'll be featuring two systems in the room (one active, one static) that will debut no fewer than four new products from Unison and Opera Loudspeakers: the Unico 50 integrated amplifier, the Simply Italy integrated amplifier, the Opera Quinta loudspeaker and the Opera Seconda loudspeaker. We'll also be featuring such established products as the S6 integrated amplifier, the Unico CDE CD player and the affordable CD Primo CD player.

We'll be sharing the room with Audience, who have supplied us with their premium Au24 line of loudspeaker cables, interconnects and power cords. Everything will be plugged into one of their adeptResponse line conditioners. In fact, I have all the Audience gear here at the house and I've been playing with it over the last couple of weeks. It's truly fine gear, and we're proud to feature it in our room.

You might be asking yourself, "What, no turntable?" While we decided not to feature the Giro turntable in our room, it will be making an appearance in the Joseph Audio room. Jeff Joseph, a good friend of ours, requested to use the Giro in his room (at Room 29-140 at the Venetian), and we didn't hesitate to say yes. Rumor is that he's going to mount one of the fine cartridges from Soundsmith (remember the company that makes cantilevers out of cactus needles?) on the Giro.

The 2012 CES will take place in Las Vegas on January 10-13. Feel free to stop by and say hello to Colleen, Bart and me!

Unison Research Giro Review at TONEAudio

Our Unison Research Giro turntable--and I mean the actual one I own and play music on in my house--has just been reviewed by Jeff Dorgay of TONEAudio. Jeff, who was my old boss at TONE when I worked there from 2006 to 2009, was eager to review the Giro from the moment I received it and mentioned it on this very blog.

Jeff was even able to rush the turntable back to us in time for the Hootenanny on Friday, which Colleen and I truly appreciate.

You can read the review here. Thanks again, Jeff, for the great review!

Setting up for the Hootenanny

Here are some quick pre-pics of the Hootenanny we held at Whetstone Audio last night. I'll blog about the whole event in a bit, but I thought I'd give you a little insight into what goes into the planning of these events.

Here's a pic of the system as it started to take place. We decided on the Unison Research Giro turntable ($3995) with the matching Unison Research UN1 cartridge ($550), as well as the Unison Research CDE CD player ($3995) as sources. We used the Unison Research Simply Phono phono stage ($1600) and its outboard power supply ($800). It was powered by the incredible Unison Research S6 integrated amplifier ($4895), which is a single-ended (parallel) pure Class A design that creates 30 wpc with EL34s from Tung-Sol. Everything was hooked up to the flagship Opera Callas Grand loudspeakers ($9995 per pair) with Cardas Audio Clear Light cable throughout.

Here's Bob Clarke of Profundo helping out by attaching the feet to the Opera Grand Callas loudspeakers. Bob and Whetstone Audio's Brian Di Frank helped out enormously during setup. Bob had come in earlier in the week and set up his system which included the brand new Trenner & Friedl Pharoah speakers, Heed Audio amplification and a Well-Tempered Amadeus with Dynavector 20X cartridge that was supplied by Brian.

Here's another view of the Callas Grands as they were being prepared. Note that beautiful mahogany veneer on the sides...I think this is the most beautiful wood I've ever seen on a pair of speakers, although the wood grain patterns on the Pharoahs were equally intriguing with their almost Asian appearance.

Even as we were working, Brian still had customers coming in. Here Brian is installing an Ortofon OM-5e cartridge on a customer's old Pioneer turntable. The customer came over and glanced at all the Rega turntables Brian had on display, and I think he talked himself into getting an RP1 turntable down the road. He stopped and admired our Giro turntable and probably said to himself, "One day, one day..."

And here's the system set up and ready to go. I have to admit that I loved hearing the Callas Grands in a much bigger room than mine (which is only about 12' by 14' with 11' ceilings). The rear-firing tweeters on the Operas need plenty of space around them to achieve a truly giant and extended soundstage. By 2pm I had the turntable assembled and the cartridge aligned (the arm on the Giro is exceptionally easy to work with and I had everything dialed in within 20 minutes or so). The system had a full four hours to warm up and play before the first guests started arriving at 6pm.

The Hootenanny Is Tonight!

Our Music Event at Whetstone Audio is tonight! It will run from 6-9pm and we'll have plenty of beer and pizza. We will have our Unison Research Giro turntable on hand--the only one currently in the US--as well as plenty of Opera and Unison Research products. Bob Clarke from Profundo will also be there with gear from Trenner & Friedl (including the new Pharoah speakers) and Heed. Whetsone is located at 2401 E. 6th Street, Austin TX. See you there!

Our Hootenanny gets written up by Stereophile!

Our upcoming Hootenanny at Whetstone Audio on December 2 just got a little press coverage on the Stereophile website. As someone who has subscribed to the magazine since 1985, I find this very exciting--even more so than when they started publishing my letters to the editor back in 1990 or so!

As I write this, we're gearing up for the event. It looks like we'll have two separate systems on display at Whetstone. Bob Clarke will have a system showing off the new Trenner & Friedl Pharoahs (pictured above) backed up by a full system of Heed Audio components. For those of you who follow my blog, you'll know how much I love Heed and how well they match up with Trenner & Friedl loudspeakers.

Colleen and I are still planning out our system. Although we intended on featuring the brand new Unico 50 integrated amplifier, the truth is that we're selling almost every unit we can import. We also have one of the first Unico 50s in the US making the rounds with several reviewers. In other words, we may not have one available, but we will have the extraordinary S6 all-tubed integrated instead. This is one of my absolute favorites in the Unico line (I haven't heard the 50 yet), and I think it's really going to be a huge hit at the event.

We're also going to try to bring my Unison Research Giro turntable to the event. It's the only one currently in the US, and right now it's being reviewed by TONEAudio, so I'm hoping to get it back in time.

The Hootenany will be held at Whetstone Audio here in Austin from 6 to 9pm on December 2. Whetstone is located at 2401 East 6th Street #1001, Austin, TX. The phone number is (512)477-8503. Please come out and meet with me, Colleen Cardas, Bob Clarke and Brian Di Frank. If this event is a success, we'll plan on future events at Whetstone on a regular basis.

Music Night at Whetstone Audio

Along with Colleen Cardas of CCI, Bob Clarke of Profundo and Brian Di Frank of Whetstone Audio, I'm putting on my first music event on December 2. Here is my press release to Stereophile:

"On December 2, 2011, Whetstone Audio in Austin, Texas will host a Music Night featuring product lines from US distributors Profundo (Heed, Transfiguration, VivA and Trenner & Friedl) and Colleen Cardas Imports (Unison Research and Opera Loudspeakers). This event will feature the US premiere of both the new Trenner & Friedl Pharoah loudspeakers and the Unison Research Unico 50 hybrid integrated amplifier.

The event will run from 6pm to 9pm, and food and drink will be served. Whetstone Audio is located at 2401 East 6th St. #1001, Austin, TX 78702. For more information, contact Brian Di Frank of Whetstone Audio at 512-477-8503 or 512-784-8282."

We are all working on making Austin, Texas a true mecca for high-end audio. I've been in Austin for over two years, Colleen has been here since February and Bob Clarke and his wife Stacy just moved here a couple of months ago. Brian, of course, is a Texas native and has run Whetstone for many years. Austin is so well-known for its music scene, and we have some great hi-fi stores here as well. It's about time we pooled our resources together and introduced Texans to some outstanding gear!

I'm hoping we'll have a great turn-out for the event. If it's a success, we'll have more events just like this one. So please show your support by coming on out, indulging in some pizza and beer, and meeting all of us!

More Pics of the Giro...

Got the Giro all set up and playing. All in all it wasn't that difficult to set up properly; if I had to do it again I'd breeze right through in a few minutes. The Unison UN1 cartridge was especially easy to mount, and the Unison-supplied protractor was effective and fairly accurate.

The only downside is that you need to set tracking force with an external gauge, so if you don't have one you'll need to get one. There are no little markings on the counterweight a la Rega.

Anti-skating is also dealt with in a novel way; the large bolt in the bracket just to the right of the tonearm pivot sits opposite of a trio of magnets on the tonearm, near the pivot. By screwing the bolt in or out, you counter the anti-skating forces. Simple and elegant.

Finally, I had to reset the loading on my Lehmann Audio Black Cube SE for the UN1 cartridge, which is an MM. I also used the phono section on my Unison Unico Nuove amp for a brief spell. Now it's time to let everything break in.

The Giro has landed.

I know, I know...I said I wasn't going to mention Unison Research or Opera Loudspeakers in this blog since Colleen Cardas and I are the US distributors. But it's news when the Vinyl Anachronist gets a new turntable, isn't it? I'm a company man through and through, and I wanted to get familiar with it before we start selling it in the US.

This is the Unison Research Giro turntable that I just bought. It's mine. I just unboxed it and got it partially set up, but I'm still waiting on the matching UN1 cartridge to show up. [Note: It was hiding in the box the whole time.] Both the Giro and the UN1 are made for Unison by Clearaudio, so you'll notice a distinct resemblance. But these products aren't badge-engineered a la General Motors but made to Unison's specifications. Plus there's all that gorgeous wood on top of the typical Clearaudio acrylic, a Unison trademark.

It's also not plug and play...you have to put it together piece by piece. I've been so spoiled by Rega over the last few years that I'll have to drag out my TT tools and brush up on Turntable Set-Up and Cartridge Alignment 101. It's not anywhere as difficult as the Michell Orbe SE I owned from 2003 to 2009, which came apart in about 100 pieces. But it takes a little time to get everything set up right. But at least Unison supplies a pair of white gloves so you can keep the beautiful, glossy surfaces clean while you're assembling the Giro.

So that's all I will say on the subject.