Avid HiFi

Acutus Dark Iron Turntable

From £10,000 RRP

The Acutus Dark Iron is the latest vinyl spinner to emerge from the fertile mind of Avid's founder and designer, Conrad Mas. It also replaces the Acutus Dark Limited Edition from 2018. The Mas philosophy centres around dealing with vibration, particularly that put into the record by the stylus. In early research using a laser scanner, Conrad was shocked by how much records moved up and down when played – which is read by the cartridge along with the recorded waveform and introduces distortion and colouration. His solution to this starts with the design of the platter mat and extends through the whole turntable.

The Acutus Dark Iron has a composite felt mat on a 10mm aluminium plate bolted to the 10kg platter. A one-knob record clamp pushes the record down firmly onto a raised brass disc around the pivot and onto the mat over the recorded area. However, my review sample was supplied with the optional upgraded precision polymer resin platter and double-action clamp, designed to secure the record more effectively. I personally found this a bit fiddly, preferring the simpler one-knob clamp, which felt quicker and easier to use. This resin was custom-engineered at the molecular level to absorb vertical vibrations. It is cast onto an aluminium plate, top-machined and bolted to the main platter. Conrad explained that the aluminium and polymer together absorb vertical vibrations and reflect lateral energy back into the record.

With this core philosophy, the record clamp's task is to direct what remains of the record's vibrational energy downwards through the raised brass section via the spindle and bearing. All Avid turntables are designed around the same self-lubricating inverted bearing, comprising a tungsten carbide ball on a sapphire jewel atop a tapered stationary shaft. It is claimed to generate very little noise of its own. This shaft expands downwards, which is claimed to direct energy from the record, reducing its concentration and intensity en route due to the shaft's increasing cross-section. Eventually, this is dissipated as heat within the cast subchassis, which is W-shaped to provide the greatest rigidity between the bearing and tonearm.

The Acutus Dark Iron is directly related to the chrome-plated Acutus Classic model. Chrome plating is expensive, so to bring much of the Classic's performance to a lower price point, the Dark Iron is finished in a rather fetching black metallic powder coating, electrostatically applied and baked on. It not only looks stunning but also acts as a damping layer to control high-frequency surface vibrations. Lower frequencies are apparently absorbed within the subchassis casting due to the grade of alloy used, the trick being to balance absorption over the frequency range by controlling the coating thickness at the electrostatic coating stage.

In the Acutus Classic model, the powerful 140 Newton, 24-volt synchronous motor is positioned separately to minimise vibration transfer, but this makes it trickier to align. So, in the Dark Iron, it is connected to the main chassis for consistency. Motive voltage comes from an accurate digitally controlled sine wave controller with an 80VA linear power supply transformer. It's essentially the same one fitted to the Acutus Classic and Sequel Sp but fine-tuned to suit the Dark Iron. Just like the Sequel, the platter accelerates like a train to full speed in next to no time despite the massive platter. It's more like a direct drive in this respect and quite unexpected for a belt drive.

The Dark Iron has the same design of pillars and suspension as the Classic, comprising a trio of three-point-located rubber O-rings to stabilise lateral movement and corresponding metal weight-supporting springs to deliver a vertical low-frequency resonance of 2.5Hz. Therefore, external vibration above that frequency is filtered out before it reaches the record and tonearm. The platter is deeper and heavier than that of the Sequel (which features a cork mat and is stabilised by a two-point O-ring system). The Acutus Dark Iron's O-rings suppress sideways oscillations much better so that the vertical bounce is far more stable, with less sideways wobble. While the platter lacks the Sequel's peripheral O-ring, the Dark Iron's platter is more inert and audibly less resonant when tapped.

THE LISTENING

This turntable is characterised by its assured poise, clarity, fine detail, low background noise and tight and detailed bass. It deals with all genres of music with equal aplomb, bringing them to life with a firm rhythmic drive. It can be lyrical and sensitive, or assertive, powerful and dramatic, as the music demands and the recording allows. It's not a 'rose-coloured spectacle' view of the music, so it doesn't smooth over poor transfers to vinyl – instead, it tells it like it is.

Auditioning a turntable is not a simple matter because there's also a tonearm and cartridge involved—both of which impose their own characters on the sound. I used my Sequel Sp as a reference, with an Origin Live Conqueror tonearm and Ortofon Cadenza Red moving coil cartridge, but much swapping around of arms and cartridges would be required to get a full sonic picture of the deck's contribution.

To that end, I asked Conrad to loan me two Nexus tonearms. I fitted one to the Acutus Dark Iron and the other to the Sequel Sp. A borrowed Ortofon Cadenza Red moving-coil cartridge enabled me to mount the same cartridge model in both arms for quick and easy AB comparisons. However, the focus is on the turntable; this is not a review of the Nexus tonearm. While I thought the Sequel Sp was pretty good, I was gobsmacked by the extra detail and clarity delivered by the Dark Iron. This was firmly brought into focus by playing Gregory Porter's I Fall in Love Too Easily, when I could clearly hear what was going on.

Initially, the Sequel seemed softer, with the Dark Iron louder and more direct. However, it was more nuanced than that. I could hear the envelope of the piano's attack, its inner sounds and decay, which were merely hinted at with the Sequel Sp. The initial sharp attack, rise and fall were revealed in glorious detail, not just more dynamic, brighter, clearer and crisper, but more like an actual piano.

This was further reinforced while listening to Richter playing Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto Number 2 (Wislocki, Warsaw Philharmonic, DGG 1959). Here, Richter plays the piano forcefully and yet also sensitively. It's a heart-on-sleeve performance that the Dark Iron conveyed so convincingly, revealing the piano's power and subtlety under his command, along with the orchestra's scale, depth, pace and richness.

Playing the Modern Jazz Quintet's They Say It's Wonderful, from Night in Tunisia on the Dark Iron, the music emerged from a quiet background, free of sonic distractions and noise. Milt Jackson's vibraphone sounded so vibrant, and the upright bass was well-defined and tuneful, with no waffle or added bass bloom. On How Deep Is The Ocean, the delicacy of the brushed cymbals and drum skins was palpable. The Sequel sounded very good, too, although it didn't dig as deep into the groove. Playing George Benson's On Broadway from Give Me The Night, and the Dark Iron brought great clarity to this track. The bass line was super-firm and punchy with a strong push to the beat, while the guitar sounded tonally rich, and strings and horns had great texture and reverb. It proved to be excellent by the standards of other decks at this price point.

Spinning Beethoven's 5th Symphony (Karajan and the Vienna Philharmonic, DGG 1972) on both turntables brought about similar conclusions. From the first bar, the sound of the Acutus Dark Iron was more vibrant and translucent, rhythms more propulsive. Double basses were more textured, drum rolls right at the back of the orchestra clearer, and strings shone with greater lustre. It was also a brighter sound due to the extra transparency, detail, and realism.

To see if there was some symbiotic preference with the Nexus/Dark Iron combination, I also mounted my Origin Live tonearm on the Dark Iron, a Nexus on the Sequel, and Ortofon Reds in both tonearms. I found the same benefits with the Dark Iron/Origin Live despite the different signatures of the tonearms, which only goes to confirm the adage that the turntable really is the key to vinyl replay.

THE VERDICT

Avid's new Acutus Dark Iron is an outstanding turntable, then. It brings music to life with vibrant levels of detail and clarity, plus taut, tuneful bass and a fine sense of rhythm. It's all delivered with assured poise, fluidity and stability against super-quiet backgrounds. But it's not all drama and dynamics, it does subtlety too. Yes, it is expensive, but the quality can be seen and heard. As such, it's well worth an audition if you're fortunate enough to be looking for a no-compromise high-end vinyl spinner.

Visit Avid for more information