Remove the foam, lift out the handled box, open and you’ll find a large one-sheet with basic instructions. Open the big box and you’re greeted by an opaque black inner box cradled in black foam. It comes in two boxes, one containing the base and accessories, the other the platter and arm with pre-mounted Ortofon 2M Blue moving magnet cartridge (until Shinola’s own design has been completed).
You can find other specs on the company’s website.Īttractive, even elegant packaging is part of the Shinola experience and the Runwell’s presentation meets expectations. Jumpers on the phono board permit switching to MM to MC, which adds approximately 20dBs of gain. Signal-to-noise ratio (unweighted) is spec’d at 82dB, while RIAA accuracy is said to be “less than” (do they mean “greater than”, which would be better?) ± 0.25dB, 20Hz-20kHz (exclusive of the 13Hz infrasonic filter-a good idea). MM gain loading is specified at a somewhat low-ish 35.4dB (40dB is more typical). However, because the design is modular, Shinola says it will at some point soon offer a variety of optional plug in cards that will include a non-line level output and perhaps an ADC or even Bluetooth. The output via a pair of gold plated RCA jacks is fixed, meaning that at this time you cannot use an outboard phono preamplifier. While arranging the wire in a neat loop is important on both kinds of arms, its positioning is somewhat less critical on a gimbaled bearing arm where wire back-force can’t affect azimuth as it can on a unipivot, it’s nonetheless important to carefully loop it to minimize friction.Īnti-skating is not included here, but side force compensation is less needed on this arm because there’s somewhat more horizontal friction due to the large diameter horizontal bearing (more about this later).Ī Shinola-designed and built in America modular MM/MC phono preamplifier is onboard and accessible via a rear-mounted slot load tray. VPI owners are well-familiar with this wiring arrangement, which is also found on all VPI arms, both gimbaled and uni-pivoted. The arm wire, terminated in a LIMO-type connector, exits atop the arm slightly forward of the vertical bearings and plugs into a socket mounted to the top of the Runwell’s thick, massive aluminum top plate. The bearing assembly, borrowed from arms found on lower cost VPI ‘tables, consists of a traditional gimbaled vertical one and for the horizontal, what appears to be an unusually large-diameter (for a tone arm) platter type bearing-an idea VPI founder Harry Weisfeld showed me during a visit last year or perhaps two years ago. Both are particularly “beefy” as well as being attractively machined parts of what appears to be a three-piece press-fit assembly.
‘table, but featuring a head shell and counterweight unique to the Runwell and a more cosmetically pleasing finish. The approximately nine and a quarter inch effective length damped aluminum tone arm (or pick up arm, choose your favorite) is a custom version of the one VPI uses on its Scout, Jr. The handsomely designed, generously-sized base (18.5” W x 13.5” Dx4.3” H) of wood damped with a heavy aluminum top-plate weighs, including the platter, a hefty forty pounds. You will find more, including a video here. A few cosmetic parts are sourced overseas. The American-made motor is from Hurst, driven by a Shinola-initiated electronic controller. The Runwell’s key machined components are manufactured to Shinola’s specs at the same machining facility used by VPI. On the other hand some of the Runwell’s component parts and/or design concepts will look familiar to VPI customers, including its stocky pre-lubricated inverted ball-topped bearing and pleasingly massive and damped full-sized aluminum alloy platter.
Have you ever seen a VPI turntable driven by a crowned pulley and a flat belt? No.
However, it would be incorrect to call the new $2500 ready-to-play Shinola Runwell turntable a re-badged VPI or a VPI clone. That made complete sense because of VPI’s many decades of experience manufacturing at a wide variety of price points, American-made turntables. It’s no secret that when Shinola decided to add a turntable to its product roster, the Detroit, Michigan based manufacturer chose to consult for the design with New Jersey based VPI Industries.
0 kommentar(er)
