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"Head-Bopping Drive and Remarkable Timing"
The European Audio Team, helmed by Jozefina Lichtenegger, offers turntables combining maximum technology, breakthrough performance, and elegant eye appeal. EAT's Forte and Forte S turntables with their specially designed high-mass platters have been favorites in high-end audiophile circles. Then came the E-Flat turntable with special flat tonearm, flat chassis, and a mass-loaded dual-motor design. The success of the E-Flat prompted EAT to bring an even more elegant and slimmer turntable to the market: The C-Sharp.
This version of the C-Sharp turntable comes with the optional EAT Jo No. 5 MC phono cartridge. "It challenges my favorite $3,500 cartridge reference for best overall definition, imaging, and musicality," reports Robert Levi at positive-feedback.com. "I cannot even suggest a cartridge at Jo’s price that comes close in overall performance."
A Super-flat, Highly Rigid Table
The latest materials like carbon fiber and thermoplastic elastomer plus EAT's superior design expertise made the super-flat C-Sharp table possible. The low profile base chassis is made out of highest density MDF. On this base the ultra low-noise motor is mounted as well as ten damping feet constructed from energy-absorbing TPE (thermoplastic elastomers a high-tech, high energy absorbing damping material). The cone-shaped TPE columns support a sandwich subchassis constructed from layers of carbon fiber and MDF composite for ultimate rigidity.
The stiffness is important for the creation of a super rigid base for the tonearm/cartridge and bearing/platter assemblies for quiet, accurate tracking. Any rumble from the platter/bearing assembly is directed to the energy-absorbing TPE columns. Furthermore, these columns prevent unwanted energy from the motor as well as other surface vibration from entering the subchassis or tonearm and ultimately the phono cartridge.
The bearing is an oversized inverted design with an inert, resonance-free ceramic ball on top. Around the bearing EAT is a super heavy 1.5-lb. mass point, which absorbs any energy around it. The stiff carbon subchassis helps to direct all vibration to this mass point, and these vibrations are transformed into harmless amounts of heat. The platter is constructed from a special alloy of very inert aluminum and it, too, is damped by TPE inserts. The belt is made from special anti-static rubber. It’s glued and then polished for best performance.
"The speed stability of the C-Sharp was excellent. The main reason for the head-bopping drive and remarkable timing I experienced during my evaluation was the ’table’s drive system—with which I could find no fault. Well done," notes Andre Jennings in The Absolute Sound magazine.
New Tonearm Design
The C-Sharp's tonearm is a completely new design which combines all advantages of a unipivot arm with a Cardan design. The traditional Cardan bearing ensures high stability and ease of use with very low friction. Also inside the tonearm is a special silicon-based lubricant to damp the tonearm/cartridge resonances by more then 50 percent.
The arm tube is made out of carbon fiber, which is super stiff and rigid. The headshell is constructed from a special light and rigid aluminum, offering the advantages of carbon with the better inner damping of aluminum – plus the capability of precisely mounting high-end moving coil cartridges.
An external DC power supply unit with an AC generator creates a total clean power source for the motors. Speed change from 33-1/3 rpm to 45 rpm uses electronic switching driven by microprocessor. A separate control panel with lighted control buttons makes speed change particularly convenient.
EAT Jo No. 5 MC Cartridge
You can order the C-Sharp with the EAT Jo No. 5 moving coil phono cartridge. Jo No. 5 has a nude fine line stylus. The cartridge body and stylus guard are made of polyamide ceramic and are produced by an additive manufacturing process called Selective Laser Sintering (SLS). This process sinters thin layers of power with a laser to build the final structure.
The Jo No. 5 comes in unmistakable mint green color and features the truthful and immersive sound that is the signature of all EAT products.
"The EAT Jo No.5 MC Cartridge is the best overall performing MC cartridge I have heard in a long time, and the current 'price/performance value' of the decade," notes Robert Levi at positive-feedback.com. "It is not just a very good sounding cartridge. Jo is a cutting-edge high tech music machine enhancing the performance and erasing distortion!"
