TechDAS Air Force III Turntable Takes Flight
Air Force III is the newest member of the Air Force family of turntables and draws heavily from the experience Japanese manufacturer, TechDAS, gained in building Air Force One and Two turntables. StereoNET reviewed the exceptional Air Force Two back in March this year, and while the Two showcases what modern design, technologies and materials can achieve today, the III promises to be a more affordable option.
All three turntables feature air bearing and vacuum hold down technology that contributes in no small way to the super silent background noise performance. Through isolation and damping of extraneous vibrations and termination of the vinyl resonances, the Air Force technology delivers sonic performance they say is second to none.
Warwick Freemantle, Managing Director of Australian distributor Pure Music Group and Australian distributors for TechDAS told StereoNET:
With a pedigree dating back to Micro Seiki and legendary Japanese build quality it is an investment for a lifetime of listening pleasure.
The Air Force III features a precision CNC machined aluminium chassis weighing 18kgs. Manufactured according to TechDAS' tight tolerances Air Force III uses a high mass aluminium platter and an air bearing that lifts the platter to just 30 microns during use. Vinyl records are held down during playback through the use of a vacuum, and automatically decoupled via air injection.
Drawing upon the Air Force One, a ripple-free, low-vibration, silent air pump is used, along with four height adjustable feet employing pin-point support and a low centre of gravity.
Pitch control is adjustable with an accuracy of +/- 0.1 RPM, and rotation speeds of 33 1/3 and 45 RPM are said to be completely unaffected by temperature changes or power supply thanks to a high precision micro controller.
One armboard is provided with the Air Force III, however up to four tonearms can be fitted (accomodating 9" - 12").
There will also be a number of upgrades and optional extras available for the Air Force III including different platter materials and isolation platforms.
Dimensions
- Main Chassis - W312 x D360 x H160 mm (Excluding Tonearm)
Weight - Chassis 18kg, Platter 9kg - Motor - W188 x D155 x H140 mm
Weight - 4.6kg - Air Pump/Power Supply W350 x D270 x H160
Weight 7.8kg
The TechDAS Air Force III will be available from December 2015 with an expected price of around $24,000 including GST.
TechDAS is distributed in Australia by Pure Music Group.
Marc Rushton
StereoNET’s Founder and Publisher was born in England and raised on British Hi-Fi before moving to Australia. He developed an early love of music and playing bass guitar before discovering the studio and the other side of the mixing desk. After writing for print magazines, Marc saw the future in digital publishing and founded the first version of StereoNET in 1999.
Posted in: Hi-Fi
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