Townshend rock is widely acknowledged as one of the most innovative turntables produced in the golden age of analog. Speak with the British vinyl enthusiast, and many acknowledge that the Rock is the equal or superior to a LP 12 produced during the same time period. The following review is a spot on evaluation of the capabilities of this table.
http://www.regonaudio.com/RockMarkIII.htmlMSRP of $2200. Sell for $650
There several significant technological advancements that were implemented in this table, that in some cases cannot be found in other designs. First of all this table was an early adopter of the inverted bearing design. This is a quiet bearing design, I couldn't hear it with a stethoscope placed on the bottom of the housing. Secondly, the chassis contains a Townshend Seismic sink as the suspension. This air bladder is sandwiched between two heavy and dead halves of the plinth. The isolation of this table is remarkable, sometimes simplicity is the best implementation. The Seismic Sink suspension also isolates the motor from the plinth. With the stethoscope I had to be directly under the motor to hear it. This is an acrylic platter and an alloy subplatter, this combination of materials works in tangent to dampen resonances from the whole platter assembly.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Rock is the dampening trough. It swings out over the record and has a paddle that attaches to the end of the tonearm. This ingenious arrangement eliminates resonances and vibration in the tonearm/cartridge assembly. This allows the cartridge to properly function, and is the secret behind why this table sounds so good. One aspect that is cool to the cost conscious audiophile is that a modestly priced tonearm will see improved performance, rivaling arms that cost significantly more. Throw a Rega 250 or 300, or a Jelco on this table and get the lions share of what high end tables have to offer.
Table comes with record clamp, two bottles of silicone for the trough, one paddle assembly, new belt, air pump for the suspension, and several blank arm boards. New arm boards for this table are difficult to locate, but simple to make. These are 3/8" acrylic. I have eight or nine cut, and have finished a couple of them. One has a textured finish that matches the black wrinkle paint of the plinth, another I have sanded to a flat matt black. I can provide the original arm board as a template for you to have. You can finish the other arm boards in any way you choose.
This table offers high performance analog playback for a modest price. Mount a good quality arm and you have a table capable of showing what vinyl can do. The design is unusual, but its a fantastic implementation of well thought out engineering principals. No hype, exotic mumbo jumbo, or snake oil. Its just a darn good table.
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