Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

It started with an album that seems to have slipped past too many, when it is, indeed, an historic musical event and something to be treasured. Stills & Collins' Everybody Knows [Cleopatra/Sony 19075801061] finds the former lovers reunited after a half-century, performing a mix of classic rock and folk-rock numbers. Aside from the momentousness of the occasion – I suppose you have to be over 65 to appreciate it – the pairing is a delight to match the Lou Rawls/Dianne Reeves duet of At Last for contrasting voices.

Stills' voice, always distinguished by a minor rasp, is showing the years, and he has acquired a slight impediment. It is still rich and characterful, while Collins' remains the model of distaff vocal clarity. At the risk of delving into the sort of pretence best left to Spinal Tap bassists – you won't wrest from me any 'fire and ice' analogies – the two singers manage to juxtapose textures so disparate that only an audiophile would consciously listen to them as a measure of a sound system's capabilities. For the B-Sharp, with either Ortofon 2M Red or EAT Jo No5, both were conveyed with every nuance intact.

What proved so marvellous about the experience was hearing how they blended and complemented each other. They shared a clearly defined, if studio-devised space, while the sound was coherent regardless of the accompaniment. Notable was the acoustic guitar work on their magnificent interpretation of Tim Hardin's 'Reason To Believe', delicate, airy and just 'woody' enough to bely the mid-fi price sticker. This turntable oozes with authority.

Turning to something more raucous, and far removed from the gentility of Stills & Collins, was the Tina Turner album Simply The Best [Parlophone 0190295378134]. Her remake of 'Nutbush City Limits', while not a patch on the original, still exudes power and the woman is incapable of whispering even when performing a love song. This track, as well as the revamped 'River Deep, Mountain High', is a cornucopia of sounds, the kind of recording which suits a quickie demo in a hi-fi store on a Saturday afternoon because it lacks only the kitchen sink.

Attack could be assessed through powerful percussion and ferocious guitar transients, while the bottom-end was full and responsible for impressive weight, even through small two-way speakers.

Miracle Maker
Another attribute of the B-Sharp is its scale and openness, Tina's most deliberately epic cut – 'We Don't Need Another Hero' – was positively majestic in its presentation, and the live version of 'Addicted To Love' had all of the touches one needs to recreate a concert atmosphere.

Ultimately, I turned to the Yes album Fragile [Mobile Fidelity UD1S 2-012] because 1) 'Roundabout' is one of those all-time great audiophile demo tracks with near-universal approval, 2) One-Step pressings are unfailingly quiet and 3) I had to hear how the B-Sharp handled an LP that cost 10% of the deck itself. I wasn't merely impressed: I was overwhelmed, as the previous play of this LP was on the TechDAS Air Force III Premium [HFN Jun '19], and – as expected via that source – it bordered on the life-changing. (I only say that because I am old enough to recall the first time I ever heard Fragile in late '71.)

The EAT B-Sharp managed to capture what I will define, through an admittedly, wholly arbitrary measure, around 85% of what the TechDAS front-end delivered. The latter comes in at a price of over £60,000 for deck, arm and cartridge. Even if you fully accept the Law of Diminishing Returns, the B-Sharp's delivery is thus nothing short of miraculous.

Above everything, 'Roundabout' features exceptional details that listeners love to focus on, all the while marvelling at what is a succession of heart-stopping transients. The opening swell, the delicate guitar work – the build-up promises a musical 'happening' rich with ornate keyboard figuring, robust percussion, lush harmonies and just about every sonic trope that would help define prog-rock.

This track, however, eschews the pomposity that would render the genre a self-parody. And if there's a reason that the B-Sharp turntable does so well with the complexity of 'Roundabout', especially Rick Wakeman's virtuoso work at the organ, it must be Jozefina Lichtenegger's overriding passion for classical music – her gauge for everything. It shows.

Hi-Fi News Verdict
When one lives with costly gear while reviewing something affordable, it takes self-discipline to judge the latter in context. The EAT B-Sharp, however, is so musical, user-friendly and resistant to obsolescence that I had to keep reminding myself of its price. For novices, it is an elevated place to start. For veterans on a budget, it's free of compromise and I'll now use one as my sub-£2500 reference.