My beloved Well Tempered Classic turntable which has served me extremely well is up for sale. The only reason I'm selling is that I recently upgraded to the Well Tempered Reference model.
The table is in great operational and good cosmetic condition. I have two platters for this turntable; a modified (by me) WT acrylic platter dampened with Extreme Dynamat on the bottom (as shown in photos) and the original, non-altered acrylic platter. Comes with two stainless steel platter spindles, two WT record clamps & I'll throw in a Gilabend Bren1 record clamp as well (seen in photos). I recently replaced the platter bearing assembly along with new fluid as well as a new WT belt. Includes a WT dust cover & a WT hinge kit (never installed) if desired. This TT has the most recent black Classic arm. This turntable system utilizes Bill Firebaugh's revolutionary fluid damped, zero clearance bearing and unipivot tonearm design.
This is an incredibly innovative design, and is one of the quietest, most musical turntables out there. It reproduces musical timing, nuance and detail from LPs, that you likely never knew was there before. Unlike many other turntables, the Well Tempered Classic sounds like music being played…like the master tape that the records were made from. Most other turntables sound like a turntable playing a record.
The Well Tempered Classic has outstanding speed stability, with 0.01% wow & flutter (DIN 45-507). You'll never hear it in operation because it is virtually silent with a -84 dB rumble (DIN 45-539-B) spec. No matter what you spend or which design approach you choose, you can't get significantly better than that.
The Well Tempered Classic takes a bit of time to set up, but once optimally set up, it will stay optimally set up for years. Easily adjustable for "on the fly" azimuth, VTA, anti-skate, and tonearm damping. As a bonus, if sold locally, I will set-up the cartridge & teach the lucky new owner how to adjust / tweak it. This includes a complete Fozgometer azimuth adjustment, which is super easy on the WT.
Recently named one of the 10 most significant turntables of all time by the senior writers of the Absolute Sound. Jonathan Valin said of the Well Tempered, "There had been nothing like it before, and frankly, there has been nothing like it since. A sui generis masterpiece." J. Gordon Holt of Stereophile said of an earlier incarnation of the Well Tempered Classic Arm, "It does everything better than any other tonearm I know of, including effortless (and wow-less) tracking of the most appallingly warped discs."
There are more impressive looking and more expensive high end turntables, but there are hardly any that sound significantly better than the Well Tempered Classic. This ingenious design puts most more expensive designs to shame, including popular models from Linn (sorry Charlie) and other high end turntable manufacturers.
One just sold on AudioGon for $1650. Asking $1000 for Audio Circle members, including local set-up & perhaps delivery. For an additional $200, I'll throw in & professionally set-up a very good used Grado Reference Sonata (hi-output (4.0 mV) on the table.
A local sale is highly preferred. Local is in the NYC Metropolitan area (most of NJ & CT included)... a trip to upstate NY (Albany Capitaland) is not out of the question as well...
Thanks!
Pete
