REFERENCE JUBILEE

The new Reference Jubilee turntable marries the best of ‘Clearaudio past, present and future’ to usher in a new era of analogue precision. It delivers lifelong synchronized rotational speed, astonishingly low levels of both resonance and friction, and a breathtaking moment of torque.

Its 6cm-thick main platter is constructed from highly damped polyoxymethylene (POM) and, as you might expect with any Clearaudio turntable, the platter rotates on a special variation of the brand’s own patented ceramic magnetic bearing (CMB). The motor housing is elaborately decoupled from the chassis by an elaborate network of rubber ‘tightropes’.

While Clearaudio has earned a considerable reputation for innovation in all things analogue, here the design team has expertly married digital and analogue technology to achieve a new level of precision and consistency of rotational speed. A 12-bit DAC generates the drive motor’s voltage; the DAC has exceptionally high resolution and zero fluctuations or ‘drift’ in response to either time or temperature. What’s more, it has been cleverly designed to work in tandem with Clearaudio’s optical speed control system. Every three seconds, an optical sensor takes a reading of the 8.5kg stainless steel sub-platter’s rotational speed, and delivers that reading to a control unit; the control unit then immediately regulates the slightest deviations by adjusting the motor’s voltage via an operational amplifier.

The Reference Jubilee’s brand new air-core (non-magnetic) 24-volt DC motor, which runs unbelievably quietly, ensures that the listener remains blissfully unaware of the whole process.