I’ve been a fan of the full-featured/full-function line of turntables from Dr Feickert for years; the clean design is mesmerizing, the integrated speed-controls are intuitive, and the motor’s native “noise dissipation” digital processing translates into exceptional speed control even on the single motor Woodpecker (and much more so on the triple-motor Firebird).
Here at High End, I got a chance to see his new Wren phono stage (€9k).
Wren is a multi-input phono with particular attention paid to phase. As Dr Feickert explains, most phonos pay attention only to levels and do not track phase during playback – a mistake as it may change. Wren includes a “discharge circuit” (my phrasing) that allows the phono stage to completely “clean” the circuit after input switching.
The entire unit is handmade, using resistors and caps that happen to all be “Made in the USA” — in order to guarantee quality control requirements. Ahem.
Also introduced was the new Silent isolation platform for use under his turntables. Also new was a Clean battery-powered power supply to drive the motors on the turntables.
On particularly obvious display were a set of custom turntables, hand-painted by an artist whose name I failed to catch (help!). The result, however, was spectacular. The prices are too — if curious, inquiries are encouraged.
The artist who did the artwork on the 2 Firebird turntables is Rene Visker from the Netherlands. He did something special with a pair of Blumenhofer loudspeakers as well…
Thank you, Marco! Wonder if this is the same guy: http://www.renevisker.com/.