Kuzma XL AIR turntable

REVIEW
Alan Sircom
Mar 03, 2022

In a way, there’s not a lot to say; the XL DC is one of the best turntables ever made and its performance reflects that. The XL AIR doesn’t make that sound broken, but it pushes the envelope so much further in all the ways the XL DC does so well, and does so with few downsides, apart from the sheer physicality of the deck, with its raised height and considerable mass. Granted its XL AIR’s all-up price of £52,000 weighs a lot too, but at no point do you look at the complete turntable concept and question that price. I actually think of this as a well-made suspension bridge; it’s a piece of heavy engineering that you want to work right. OK, so the consequences of cost and corner-cutting in a suspension bridge are a little more catastrophic than when applied to a record player (no one dies from turntable bearing tolerances), but if you want the very best in vinyl replay – that will outlive your great-grandchildren – it’s an exercise in engineering, and the XL AIR is engineered for the long game.

This is not a turntable for those who flip‑flop between components in a system. It’s not one of those big names on a list to check off. It’s the kind you invest in and play for the long game. And, yet, for all the extended height and mass (and the need for at least one air compressor and tank squirreled away somewhere in another room), the Kuzma XL Air is the perfect vinyl partner. It behaves like it was meant to play record after record, and – like the ‘sell’ of a Patek Phillipe watch, you never actually own a Kuzma XL AIR. You merely look after it for the next generation. Put simply, the best just got better.