Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

Ready, Set, Go
Atop the sub-platter is a 30mm-thick, 2.3kg main platter made from a high-density synthetic material. The 12V DC motor, meanwhile, is mounted into the plinth using Clearaudio’s IMS (Innovative Motor Suspension) configuration – essentially six O-rings. A standard 12V plug-top PSU is supplied, but upgrade options are available.

Operating the Concept Signature is simplicity itself. The rotary switch of the older deck is gone, now replaced by a press button of similar size complete with vivid blue LED illumination. Consecutive presses cycle through standby, 33rpm, 45rpm and back to standby again – there is no longer a 78rpm speed option.

Clearaudio’s Profiler tonearm (£1900 when bought on its own) is a relatively recent addition to the brand’s stable. Described as an ideal link between the Satisfy Kardan and Tracer models, the arm is available in both black and silver finishes, and combines a horizontal sapphire bearing with a vertical ball bearing in an ‘anti-resonance’ housing. Aluminium alloy is used for the main armtube, damped at selected points along its length. The headshell is a basic support platform that bolts onto a slotted mount on the end of the arm – this mount may be rotated for optimum azimuth setup after loosening a screw under the armtube.

Vertical tracking force is applied by a simple threaded counterweight and bias by a rotary control, but neither is calibrated in any way. A stylus balance is therefore necessary and, while the manual gives a guide to ‘minimal, medium and maximum’ anti-skating, there will be an element of trial and error involved.

The final element of our test deck is the evergreen Clearaudio Concept V2 MM cartridge. Further options available include a dedicated cover for £200, the £130 Concept clamp, and 12V variants of the Smart Power battery PSU (£790) or the transformer-based Professional Power linear PSU (£550). Given the dramatic effect the 24V version of the latter had on the Reference Jubilee turntable when last reviewed, the Professional Power PSU would place high on my ‘must consider’ list.

Deck Of Delights
Once in action the Concept Signature, Profiler and Concept V2 MM prove to be a superb turntable set-up. The combo has a reassuringly confident yet relaxed nature to its presentation, and was therefore one of those ‘tricky’ review items – it occasionally became difficult to remember I was trying to assess it, because I was enjoying listening too much.

Furthermore, the Concept Signature is a ‘Clearaudio’ through and through. To my ears, the company’s designs have never sought to provide the sort of impressive but short-term sonic fireworks that can become wearing. Rather, they offer an understated but inherently solid performance that seems more and more gratifying as different material is played.

Silent Partner
Key to this platform is the well-designed drive system that results in reassuringly low levels of noise when in operation. The Concept Signature is almost entirely silent and groove noise conspicuous by its near-absence. I was also impressed by the deck’s speed stability, and the new TCS set-up for monitoring and regulating platter speed.

With these bases covered, it became easy to just concentrate on the music, which Clearaudio’s set-up delivered with aplomb. The sound was well focused in the space between the loudspeakers, the organisation of the soundstage beyond reproach even if I would have liked it to have spread its wings a little further past those lateral boundaries. Vocalists were placed centre-stage with an excellent sense of depth relative to their accompanying musical performers, making the Concept Signature instantly revealing of whether a recording had come from a grand studio or concert hall, or somewhere rather more intimate.

Firmly in the latter camp is Kari Bremnes’ ‘A Lover In Berlin’, taken from her Norwegian Mood album [Kirkelig Kulturverksted ARS FXPL 221], where her vocals appeared to float between and slightly in front of my speakers. The level of emotion that this Clearaudio combo pulled from this seductively simple recording was a joy to behold.