Premiere Design

According to Purevox, the company is "a new brand, a new guy in the hi-fi industry." If so, it's initial offerings are mighty impressive, at least in terms of design and price. Take, for example, the PV-Flagship turntable, which employs magnetic suspension to levitate the belt-driven main platter 2 centimeters above the subplatter, eliminating any friction between them.

The upper part of the turntable is dynamically balanced—the company claims that a 20-ton truck can pass by without disturbing playback—and an automatic leveling system with a 172-pound pendulum compensates for placement on any surface with up to 5 degrees of grade. The microprocessor-controlled synchronous motor can be set to rotate at precisely the desired speed from 33.21 to 33.41 or 44.90 to 45.10 RPM with an error of less than 0.2 percent, and it will even play at 78 RPM, though why you'd subject your precious cartridge to those old records is beyond me.

Of course, it wouldn't be ultimate gear without an ultimate price tag—$100,000 in this case. But that includes two tonearms measuring 9 and 11 inches in your choice of carbon fiber or metal alloy. If I was an extremely well-heeled vinyl lover, I'd certainly want to take this beauty for a spin.