2026 Awards – Turntables

Founded four weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, German turntable brand Luphonic didn’t have the easiest start in life. But founder Thomas Luh used that time well to experiment with different materials and shapes for his distinctively attractive and immaculately finished turntables, and the resulting R3 is one that is different enough, and better enough, to stand out from the competition and warrant serious consideration.

The R3 is a five-layer sandwich of three Corian slices, separated by two cellular rubber damping layers, with each layer naturally isolated from the others. The armboard, mounted on the middle Corian layer alongside the motor assembly, is a rotatable disc of Corian that can easily accommodate arm geometries from 200-300mm – Luphonic here offers a 9” or 12” version of its K2 tonearm, a gimballed design with a low-resonance carbon armtube and a headshell of sintered, glass bead-filled polyamide.

The coolest speed control

Then you have one of the coolest electronic speed control mechanisms in the turntable world – a double-sided magnetic puck that can be placed white side up for 45rpm and black side up for 33.3rpm. However, remember not to lose the puck; replacements are available, however. Fans of the clean, simple lines of the Scandinavian or Bauhaus design schools are going to love the R3’s rounded-cornered monochrome chassis, too.

Less subject to personal preference is the R3’s sound, which gets musical cohesion and nuance down to a tee. Reviewer Steve Dickinson is totally won over by its absolute poise and responsiveness, its “balance, subtlety and unobtrusive control of basics like timing and energy” alongside “vivid but tight” dynamics and “rich but not accentuated” tonal colours.

Reviewed in Issue 241

Luphonic • luphonic.de

Read more Luphonic reviews here

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Clearaudio is renowned for its linear-tracking tonearms, and the TT5 represents the most economical way to experience one. It can be ordered pre-mounted on a Performance DC deck, which is designed around a core DC motor that features electronic speed selection (including 78rpm), and can be powered by an optional 12V linear PSU (£550) that proves its worth in sonic gold.

The TT5 forgoes any form of air bearing and instead glides along a meticulously polished glass rail, driven by the moving cartridge, which in this setup is a Stradivari V2 moving-coil design. It’s crafted from long-aged ebony wood, produces a useful 0.6mV of output and, most importantly, is an inherently good match for the TT5. 

A winning combination

The overall build and finish across the components is notably impressive, even at this level, although price awareness is no more apparent than when you listen to them in action. UNKLE’s Keys to the Kingdom, buried at the edge of side A, is never the happiest-sounding, even with a well-aligned tangential arm and a decent stylus profile, but Ed Selley finds that the TT5 and co finally do the piece justice. 

They sound consistently articulate and nimble, and possess, Ed says, “the combination of tonal realism and the space in which everything is presented is both believable and a heady mix of lushness and immediacy”. This is a setup that will undoubtedly win many admirers – and deserves to.

Reviewed in Issue 245

Clearaudio • clearaudio.de

Read more Clearaudio reviews here

As long as ‘Technics’ has existed, so too have ‘Technics direct-drive turntables’. Indeed, the iconic lineup needs little introduction, although an explanation of the SL-1300G’s place within it is useful. An evolution of the 2016-released third-gen model, it is the latest model in the mid-tier Grand Class to enter its fourth generation, following the transition of the ‘DJ Styled’ SL-1200/1210GR2 in 2023. How this ‘Hi-Fi Styled’ SL-1300G differs is in its absence of pitch control, strobe, and cueing light.

This latest generation brings a new motor system closer to that found in the level-up Reference Class decks, and an improved version of the classic 9” S-shaped tonearm. But the SL-1300G’s main talking point is the new delta-sigma drive system, which employs pulse-width modulation conversion to rectify minor rotational inaccuracies that exceed conventional wow and flutter speed tests, effectively minimising errors in the drive signal to the extent that it suppresses micro vibrations. Further flying the flag for noise reduction is Technics’ own Multi-Stage Silent Power Supply.

Keeps you captivated

Set up is straightforward, requiring only the tools and measuring devices that come with the deck or your cartridge, and it is remarkably quiet. Better yet, the SL-1300G is inherently musical, extremely detailed, superbly coherent, and boasts a sense of refinement and grace as rare as it is enjoyable. “It delivers one of the finest sonic performances I’ve encountered from a record, almost irrespective of price,” says Alan Sircom in his review. Praise doesn’t come more enthusiastically than that.

Find a quality cartridge, and you’ll enjoy LPs for years.

Reviewed in Issue 241

Technics • technics.com

Read more Technics reviews here

To achieve its main goal of creating the ideal platform for a high-quality arm and cartridge, Transrotor selects high-mass platters for speed stability and vibration damping, and carefully uses mass within the deck’s structure, primarily using acrylic. Positioned toward the upper middle of the extensive Transrotor range, the Bellini is a belt-driven, slab-chassis, three-footed design, whereby a substantial aluminium platter is powered by a freestanding motor unit that is situated in a circular cut-out within the plinth and fed by a separate power supply and speed controller. Transrotor’s TMD belt-drive decoupling system is particularly special. It uses a two-part subplatter that sits on the bearing shaft, mounted on the chassis, and between the flexibility of the polymer belt and the slight ‘float’ in the magnetic coupling of these two parts, isolation from motor-induced vibrations is significant. Transrotor’s own TRA9 tonearm is a gimballed design, with hybrid steel and ceramic bearings to ensure optimal breakaway force with low friction, and a two-tube aluminium armwand designed to cancel mutual vibrations through the interaction of the tapered and straight sections. The magnesium-bodied Figaro cartridge, meanwhile, is manufactured by Goldring to Transrotor’s specifications.

Goal achieved

Transrotor successfully designed the Bellini TMD to be quick and simple to set up, and the aesthetic and finish of the large thick, transparent acrylic slabs and numerous shiny metal parts are flawless. Happily, the sound matches the visual promises. “The Bellini is prominent, confident, secure, and stable, while skillfully avoiding the typical risk of sounding blocky and dull with high-mass designs,” says Steve Dickinson in his review. Its responsiveness to setup and tweaking highlights its inherent neutrality as a platform, too, fulfilling Transrotor’s design goal.

Reviewed in Issue 249

Transrotor • transrotor.de