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Holbo air-bearing turntable

TimF

TimF

pfm Member
There is a review of this new table in the on-line magazine, High Fidelity. It has kind of perked up my curiosity a bit, as I have always found air-bearing tables interesting, and a couple that I have listened to, although quite a few years back, have sounded quite good. This one "seems" a bit simpler and cleaner in looks/parts, would like to hear it myself. Not much chatter yet about it on the net, nor is there any appointed distribution in the US as of yet, but one I am keeping more of an eye on.

http://www.holbo.si/ A lot of interesting gear these days coming out of Slovenia, Poland etc.

Tim

I probably should add the usual disclaimer that I have no financial involvement yadda-yadda with said table, it just looked like another interesting alternative, FWIW.
 
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Yes, the Bergmann is a very nice table. I have heard it and also a table with the Eminent Technology ET2 arm on it.

The Bergmann as well as the Holbo just have nice and simple lines to them, more so the Bergmann. I would love to try either of these for awhile at home. Been awhile since I have set any table up with cartridge, but it seems these would be a bit simpler, then again, maybe not!
 
Are modern air-bearing arms any less susceptible to dust etc? I love the idea or parallel tracking arms but was never prepared to have either a noisy air-pump in the room or have to keep everything to a surgical clean-room level of no dust.

PS I hoover about three times a year whether the room needs it or not!
 
Tony L said:
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PS I hoover about three times a year whether the room needs it or not!
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The middle name wouldn't be Quentin, would it? :)

On a more serious note, the problem with dust is presumably it getting into the system via the pump? If so, maybe at modest cost, and modest eyesore value too, but there'd be more than plenty of ways to fix that.
 
Vinny said:
On a more serious note, the problem with dust is presumably it getting into the system via the pump?
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In the early days of air-bearings there were many reports/complaints that if the arm mechanism wasn’t kept at an all but surgical grade of cleanness then there was a good chance it would stick mid way across a record. In practice that meant spending quite a while cleaning/dusting the arm before each use. I can’t remember the arms in question, but I’m thinking back to the ‘80s here.

The other common complaint was noise from the air compressor, for some listeners necessitating keeping it in another room and running a long hose. Think aquarium aur-pump here.
 
It would be a question of how much space and inclination anyone had.
Even quiet air pumps are noisy when compared to quiet music, but dropping an acoustic cover over the pump should sort that if you didn't want yards of pipe around - I have worked alongside very noisy compressors with an acoustically lined box over them and you can hear very little.
Dust settling on the arm - a good quality cover should sort that, perhaps purged with a very low flow, filtered air supply.
 
Holbo.jpg


like the simple lines
5000 Euros mixing with the Big Names in TTs
 
Regarding pump noise, I think with the few pumps I have seen, most were very quiet, one a bit noisier but didn’t really have good isolation. A lot of the aquarium style pumps these days are very quiet. Generally the noise is way below any level music would be played at, but still, certainly a valid concern.

The guy I know that had the table with the Eminent ET2arm said that his never gave him a moments trouble for the five plus years he had it, and he didn’t have his under a cover.

I do like the idea of the parallel tracking, and have to admit the Holbo looks very nice. I hope more comes out soon about build quality/parts etc. Good picture of it there Daytona, thanks.
 
^^^ Graham, it must be a much better position these days to not be in the "source" making business side of things, especially turntables, and not to mention digital. Well, there are enough problems there to go around as well...;)
 
TimF said:
^^^ Graham, it must be a much better position these days to not be in the "source" making business side of things, especially turntables, and not to mention digital. Well, there are enough problems there to go around as well...;)
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Yes, I would agree with that. :)
 
I (briefly) owned a Forsell for a while in the 1990's. Was utterly sublime, still the best deck I have ever heard. Circumstances (moving countries) forced a sale but it was a remarkable device, giving clarity like I have never heard before or since. Yes, they can be a pain in the backside to setup and use but that memory lingers on. Still hanker after an air bearing design!
 
I have to comment, I did purchase the Holbo air-bearing turntable, and while I am still waiting on getting my phono stage situation sorted, I have listened to it. Using my entry level Nag. MP110 MM cartridge and a borrowed Croft RIAA stage, the Holbo is very promising. The air pump used here is very quiet, low air flow type of setup. The table itself is very quiet running. I initially had a slight bit of motor noise that quickly went away after about an hour of run in.

So far very pleased with the sound all across the spectrum, midrange in particular very nice, maybe that is just more up to the cartridge and phono stage match? Bass end was also a decent surprise, very solid and dynamic. All in all, the best deck I have owned, and there certainly seems to be a lot more left to get out of it I am sure! More to come.
 
TimF said:
I have to comment, I did purchase the Holbo air-bearing turntable, and while I am still waiting on getting my phono stage situation sorted, I have listened to it. Using my entry level Nag. MP110 MM cartridge and a borrowed Croft RIAA stage, the Holbo is very promising. The air pump used here is very quiet, low air flow type of setup. The table itself is very quiet running. I initially had a slight bit of motor noise that quickly went away after about an hour of run in.

So far very pleased with the sound all across the spectrum, midrange in particular very nice, maybe that is just more up to the cartridge and phono stage match? Bass end was also a decent surprise, very solid and dynamic. All in all, the best deck I have owned, and there certainly seems to be a lot more left to get out of it I am sure! More to come.
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Out of interest, what were you upgrading from?
 
wires-actually "upgrading" from nothing. I haven't had a turntable for about 15 years or so. My previous tables being Well Tempered and a couple of LP12's, Rega Planar 3 and many moons ago, Harman Kardon T65.

It almost makes little sense for me to even have done it, but I kept waffling over analog source for a few years. I bought the table direct from Holbo prior to a US distribution, so got a nice price on it. I really like the table a lot, very pleased.
 
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