[Norman Tracy]

 Robert H. Levi over at Positive Feedback is quite enamored with the MAG-LEV.



His are the most through reviews I am aware of, three installments thus far, latest here https://positive-feedback.com/reviews/hardware-reviews/mag-lev-ml1-turntable-part-3/.

He details the limits within which it must be used. Chief among those are it must be precisely level and tracking weight must be in range of 1.2 to 1.75 grams.

Within those limits and with some tweaks he reports:
 "Combined with the E.A.R. 324 phono stage which allows for MM tweaking, the finest interconnects and power cords, it is outclassed only by my Grado Epoch/ EAT Forte S combination in my system, $20,500 retail vs. $4400 including my custom changes for the ML1. Note, the ML1 is just as quiet and dynamic as my top reference. The big difference is the extraordinary Grado Epoch cartridge is noticeably more detailed overall at 13x the cost of the Ortofon."

[toocool4]

Robert H. Levi over at Positive Feedback is quite enamored with the MAG-LEV.

He maybe, but what I heard both last year and 2 years ago I was not impressed with. I would not want to spend my money on it.

[Rusty Jefferson]

Robert H. Levi over at Positive Feedback is quite enamored with the MAG-LEV......

I'm not questioning whether it's a good functioning TT. 

The development of the TT took several years from the time they started the Kickstarter campaign, when they thought they'd have it ready in less than a year. The delay getting it into production obviously cost significant resources, so when they finally got it going they couldn't afford to deliver TTs to their backers. They are now delivering tables to dealers trying to raise enough money to keep the doors open, and are slowly (a couple tables per month it looks like) to hundreds of backers that funded the project.  If you read the comments page, you'll appreciate the frustration of the backers.

I have no idea how many Kickstarter campaigns never make it, or deliver for the backers though.  I imagine late is better than never.

[mix4fix]

After looking at this, I have questions/concerns:

I can anticipate one or all of those "legs" sticking (up or down) due to dirt/grim or the mechanism breaking.

Is the magnetism enough to keep the platter in place? If you bumped it, wouldn't the platter fly off?

Would the magnetism cause any kind of adverse issues especially with the cartridge?

[ricmon]

I finally took a look at the Kick-starter page and I don't get all the hate.  It looks way cool and probably would make for great conversation piece and provide some visual satisfaction (ass long as it doesn't produce just down right horrible sound).  Plus the manufacture not making any outrageous claims.

"At MAG – LEV Audio we love innovation and music. We were searching for a way to give people a better, newer way to experience vinyl records. By pushing the frontier of audio technology, we were able to integrate the uplifting experience of music into the turntable design itself, bringing the feeling of zero gravity into your living room."

Ric