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An Affordable, Truly High-End Turntable
The European Audio Team (EAT) is acclaimed for its real high end turntables – and for driving physics to the theoretical maximum, especially with the use of mass! EAT designs reduce extraneous vibrations, resonances, and sonic coloration.
Now for the first time with the new Prelude, EAT offers its most affordable turntable, which, despite the highly affordable price, is still neutral in sound. EAT's basic design principle stays the same. EAT believes that only a heavyweight aluminum platter can give you the correct speed and precision, so that's what Prelude provides. The Prelude uses a low tolerance (0.01) polished stainless steel spindle in a soft bronze bushing to ensure a super silent and smooth movement. This is the same base material that EAT uses in its high end models.
Very Dense Chassis with Isolated Motor
Often in this price category you would get a particle board chassis with glued laminate. But Prelude's plinth is made out of very dense MDF treated with eight layers of lacquer for a luxurious look and finish.
EAT uses a freestanding 100% isolated motor for the Prelude with no connection to the plinth, which is the only way to ensure no motor vibrations are passed on. The Prelude also includes a precision diamond-cut pulley, a high damping, precision cut drive belt, and high purity balanced copper cable.
New A-Note Tonearm
Most turntable customers in this price range will use an MM moving magnet phono cartridge rather than an MC moving coil cartridge. So EAT designed the new 9" A-Note tonearm for the Prelude that is a lightweight, ultra stiff, and resonance free carbon tonearm tube, fabricated as a single piece. The designers decided against a heavier metal headshell, as the lightweight design creates ideal tonearm/cartridge resonance frequencies with a moving magnet cartridge.
Very unusual for this price is the bearing block for the tonearm and the counterweight. The mass bearing block acts like an energy sink for resonances from the cartridge as well as low frequencies from the plinth. The counterweight uses an anti-resonator damper to reduce the amplitude of the natural tonearm/cartridge resonance. In addition, the counter-weight is marked for easy set-up of the cartridge downforce, and the anti-skate set-up is even easier still.
Phono Cartridge and Dust Cover
EAT has chosen one of the best-buy cartridges available today, a perfect partner for Prelude. The discerning listener will admit that the Prelude tonearm will elevate the pre-fitted Ortofon 2M Red cartridge to a completely new level. A hinged acrylic dust cover also is included, and the elegant piano lacquer finish fits into every home.
The Perfect High-End Starter Turntable
We know that in general all low mass turntables tend to sound boomy because of the stored energy and vibrations. With its careful application of mass and stiffness, the Prelude will surprise you with an astonishing lack of coloration as well as with its great dynamics. It's the perfect start for a true audiophile hi-fi system. And it may be the last turntable you'll ever want or need.
