Nagra Reference 70th Anniversary turntable
The Nagra Reference Anniversary Turntable is intended to be a landmark instrument and to summarize 70 years of the company’s activity. The developers said it was the result of “hundreds and hundreds of hours of work followed by exhaustive listening tests”. The result is significant – the entire Nagra Reference Anniversary turntable weighs about 80kg.
A large proportion of this mass will be made in Switzerland, double high-precision brushless DC motors – there are two of them in the turntable. Such a motor weighs 11.2kg and operates in a belt-driven circuit. Rotation is provided by a double system with a “parasitic” roller that provides constant tension.
The motionlessness of the floating landing gear is monitored using an accelerometer. Exceeding its readings will not allow starting the process of calibrating the rotation speed, which lasts 20 seconds, and at this time the needle of the cartridge must be on the plate. The speed is compared to a high-precision quartz reference. Speed control is disabled while listening.
To prevent sound coloration from metal parts of the body, the fixed and floating chassis are made on CNC machines from a sandwich in which layers of phenolic resin are interspersed with layers of aircraft-grade aluminum.
The vibration isolation system is a continuation of the proprietary HD Preamp and HD DAC X designs, combining hydraulic damping principles with mechanical spring suspension elements. The power supply circuitry was borrowed from the same models.
The rotating platter is made of the non-ferrous alloy Exium AM, developed in France for space technology with the participation of Ecole des Mines de Paris. It is 60% heavier than titanium and has very high damping properties. Its weight was only 6.3kg.
The bearing uses steel and bronze with precisely calibrated balls – all made using Swiss watchmaking technology, as evidenced by the inscription “Swiss Made”. The top of the rotation system is covered with a 22 mm thick antistatic transparent methacrylate disc. Through it you can see how it all works.
The Reference Anniversary tonearm with a 10.5-inch wood/CFRP arm was developed in conjunction with the Nagra Reference Anniversary. The tonearm received a bearing with a cone made of stainless steel in polyethylene with silicone damping. The anti-skating system is magnetic.
The adjustment allows a vertical offset of 10mm. The azimuth is adjusted using an eccentric – for accuracy, the mechanism is equipped with a scale. Internal wiring is made of monocrystalline silver, custom made by Crystal Cable.
In total, it is planned to release 70 copies of the player, and each of them will be installed, configured and connected by the specialists of the Nagra factory. Also included is an invitation to a VIP tour of the Nagra factory and exclusive accessories.
In Europe, the Nagra Reference Anniversary turntable will cost €169,500.
