WHAT HIFI (UK) Aug.1997

STAR PERFORMER - QUASAR

For: Excellent detail and bass extension from a user-friendly design
Against: Slight pulling of punches in the midrange
Verdict: The Quasar is the result of an unusual approach to turntable design, but one which works really well.

The striking design of this turntable belies several proven engineering principles. There's the clear acrylic platter - a material often chosen as a support to vinyl by makers like Michell, Voyd, Pink Triangle and others. Then there's the outboard motor, which you place on a table next to the deck with just enough tension for the rubber belt to drive the platter. Speed change for 45 or 33 rpm is achieved by changing between two polished steel pulleys atop the chrome-case motor. The platter bearing and armboard are mounted on two chromed-steel bars which run between brass bars on the subchassis, suspended at four corners by levelling pillars on springs. The subchassis itself is mounted on an acrylic plinth, and the whole thing is easy to set up.

One advantage of the clamped armhoard is that it can be moved relative to the platter, allowing a wide variety of tonearms to be used and set correctly. We opted for a gorgeous SME - the gold-plated V model costing £1938. We partnered this, incongruously some might say, with a moving magnet cartridge - the van den Hul MM2. Moving magnet design are coming back into high end fashion, their real-world prices compared to some of the crazy stuff, and full driving sound being preferred by some ears. The MM2 is equipped with the famous vdH 'Type One diamond tip - a real groove go-getter.

We tested the Quasar after listening to the Anna Log - a bit like putting Tony Blair in a war cabinet that's just been presided over by Winston Churchill - hut after the initial shock (Anna really is good at what she does) the combination started turning out some great sounds.

Separation and detail are especially good here. There's plenty going on and the turntable leads you through a piece like Bruckner's Ninth Symphony(Carl Schuricht conducting the Vienna Philharmonic on EMI) with verve and deftness. The great swathes of music in the third movement are presented with broad brush strokes while brass trumpets perform a rejoinder in the middle of the soundstage. You don't get that absolute locked-on feeling that the Anna Log turntable achieves through its solid backdrop of sound, but the deck portrays the tonal contrasts between horns and tubas wonderfully. Dynamically the deck is a little soft in the midrange, though some will love the sweetness this can bring to massed violins, the resolution, the sense of bows biting strings suffers. This wasn't the cartridge either - it wasn't apparent using the vdH 2 on another deck.

Listening for this we put on female vocals - Break It Up from Patti Smith's Horses album. And to be honest it's not a serious fault at all - there's some midrange energy missing compared with the Anna Log here or a Michell Orbe, though it didn't stop us enjoying the rest of Horses, especially the rhythmic Land. When Patti Smith starts to talk over the track, the deck handles her sibilants superbly. The way sounds decay into the acoustic is good, and there's a sense of almost limitless headroom making percussion sound live and vibrant. Good decks don't present surface noise in a way that dynamically challenges what's happening in the music, though it would be churlish to say they ban it altogether. Our copy of the Patti Smith disc was the recipient of years of teenage abuse yet the Quasar SME combination tracked it unerringly, never bothering us with surface noise.

One of the Quasar's strong points - a result of the midrange imbalance - is a stomping bass. The opening bars to Stunt Girl by Garbage come across with huge thumping drumming that can take you aback, though on older recordings such as Al Green's Belle, we found the low-end to be somewhat overblown. However, it's great with dance-orientated music, and we enjoyed lots of tracks like The Happy Mondays' Loase Fit on this deck.

If the midrange could be a little bit stronger this would be a blindingly good deck for the money. As it is the Quasar is just really really good.