A.J. Conti Transcendence
The Most Precise Turntable In The World
“Discovering rich new meaning in well-worn LPs is perhaps the most profound testament to the Transcendence’s preeminence. I consider the Transcendence one of the greatest achievements of high-end audio, not just in turntables and tonearms, but across all product categories.” – Robert Harley, The Absolute Sound, Issue 295
Read The Absolute Sound review of the A.J. Conti Transcendence and SuperArm 12.5 by Robert Harley
Read Overall Product of the Year – The Absolute Sound
“The A.J. Conti Transcendence is an invaluable tool for me, in addition to being supremely pleasurable to listen to! To put it simply, it tells me the truth about the vinyl I have on…I spend a lot of time in studios and the only thing I can compare it to is a perfectly maintained Studer tape deck.” – Joe Harley, Record Producer
The A.J. Conti Transcendence turntable is A.J.’s tribute to the science and art of vinyl music reproduction, an expression of the pinnacle of record playback. It is the result of the same “Basis Systems Approach” of product development as used in other Basis products, where each individual subsystem contributing to the performance of the product is identified. Specific goals for the performance of each subsystem are developed based on their function. Each system is designed, based on fundamental principles of physics, and then tested and optimized to perform its function to the highest level. Only after each system has demonstrated superior performance at its defined function is it approved for use in the final product.
The Transcendence turntable performs at an astounding level, validating the “Basis Systems Approach” as well as proving the validity of the specific design features. The Transcendence exudes total confidence in playback and displays a mastery over the music, showing superior competence in dynamics, naturalness, harmonics, image size and specificity. Coupled with the SuperArm tonearm, the Transcendence brings vinyl reproduction closer than it has ever been to that natural, effortless, powerful sound of high-speed analog master tapes.
Versality
The A.J. Conti Transcendence turntable provides state of the art performance with total flexibility. When A.J. was building his personal reference turntable, one of the design goals was to create a forever platform versatile enough to accommodate multiple tonearms of different lengths. This flexibility was accomplished through the use of a massive, solid alloy base on which tonearms can be placed anywhere on their respective spindle-to-pivot arcs.
Today, audiophiles have the opportunity to benefit from this supremely capable design. Purchasing a Transcendence with a large base enables one to use a tonearm of any length and offers the possibility of placing it at a desired location rather than a fixed mount, provided that the location is the correct distance away from the platter spindle. Additionally, upgrades are stress-free, since components can be swapped without the need for disassembly.
The Isolation System
The Transcendence turntable is isolated from the listening environment through a constrained layer damping system. Using a visco-elastic material, a material which exhibits both a Hookean (spring-like) and a viscous response to vibration, the four suspension pods perform linearly and, as pure components with no hysteresis effects, conform to and satisfy the conditions of the ideal engineering models of these devices. The unique component configuration has refined the isolation system to such a high degree that an extreme level of isolation is achieved over a range greater than the ten octave audio range. Thus the Transcendence suspension takes the suspension to a higher level, providing by far the most stable, complete isolation available in the record player industry.
For the ultimate in neutral sound, the support structure which constrains the viscoelastic elements must be extremely rigid with any resonant frequency falling outside the audio range. The Transcendence suspension pods in each corner are massive, precisely machined from solid billet. The results are supports that are rigid with a randomized resonant response well above the audio range.
The beneficiary of this superior energy-conversion isolation system is the listener. Musical details unfold with effortless certainty, conveying the emotion of the music with profoundly convincing realism by combining delicacy, immediacy, listenability, and explosive dynamics.
The Motor
The Transcendence utilizes the most speed-stable type of motor available, the AC synchronous instrument motor. Basis modifies this motor with a custom magnet assembly to further smooth the power delivery and to assure a totally balanced rotating system. The motor coils are direct driven in a dual-phase manner to maintain coil-to-coil balance and achieve an optimal phase shift condition. This represents the ideal configuration with which to operate an AC motor, yielding a standard-setting combination of fluidity of transmitted power and stability of speed.
The custom motor is mounted in a massive, extremely rigid housing machined from a billet of stainless steel. The supremely inert, high-mass motor housing in conjunction with compliant elastomeric feet result in a low resonant frequency of the entire motor system. This low frequency system effectively damps any higher frequency motor vibrations.
The result of these extreme measures is a totally speed stable, quiet, cog-free drive system. Musical notes are unwaveringly solid, as expected; additionally, such exceptional levels of speed stability lend a coherence to the music and soundfield that must be heard to be believed.
The Super Platter and Bearing System
The Super Platter is composed of a precision machined record mat and a proprietary alloy body. The large mass of the Super Platter serves to minimize resonance while maintaining superior speed stability and track precision when combined with the Basis Vacuum System. This is evidenced in the incredible 0.01% wow and flutter and 0.012% speed drift, which are both industry leading numbers.
The material used in the record mat closely matches the mechanical impedance of a vinyl record, thus dissipating the record’s vibrational energy through platter.
The oil-well bearing which supports this massive platter is a proven design that has seen use in many Basis turntables and has been modified to keep the center of gravity of the platter directly between the top and bottom bushings to bring lateral forces to a minimum.
Increased length between bushings, enhanced rigidity, vanishingly low friction and noise, and extreme performance coating technology assure the finest, quietest, most durable bearing possible. Double grinding and diamond lapping assure a shaft that is so straight, true, and perfectly round that bushing clearances can be adjusted in ten-thousandth of an inch increments to achieve the perfect match of the bearing parts.
The bearing and platter are matched early in the platter machining process, guaranteeing a rotational roundness approaching perfection on every unit. Deviations from absolute roundness are nearly undetectable with standard precision machining instruments, falling into the low ten-thousandths of an inch range.
The Vacuum System
The Basis Vacuum record hold down system applies a controlled level of negative pressure to the underside of the record guaranteeing a perfectly flat record which is so tightly coupled to the platter that record resonance is eliminated. The true musical tonality and texture captured on the record are revealed, without any added coloration of vinyl resonance. The vacuum system restores even the most warped record to exact flatness, eliminating speaker damaging and power robbing “woofer pumping” due to record warps. Dynamics, imaging, musicality, bass power, and tracking ability are all brought to levels unreachable without the Basis Vacuum system.
The Basis conceived HFLV (high flow, limited vacuum) system combines rapid record pull-down with the gentlest possible handling of records. The laboratory-grade vacuum regulator and the precision indicator assure the user of consistent, gentle vacuum application while allowing total adjustability. The remote pump allows flexibility in placement and assures silent operation of the system.
Products
The A.J. Conti Transcendence Package includes single or multiples of SuperArm 9, 12.5 or 16, depending on the model, Vacuum System, Synchro-Wave Power Supply, and Microthin Belt.
Technical Specification
Wow and flutter: .01%
We have measured Wow and Flutter of nearly every belt drive and direct drive turntable on the market. Nothing meets the .01% that almost all manufacturers specify. The best speed stability of any turntable other than Basis turntable is .025%, very fine performance, but this is 150% worse than the incredible speed stability of the A.J. Conti Transcendence.
• Speed drift: .012%
• Again, the best measured ever for this spec.
• Rumble: -90db, the limit of the test equipment!
• Isolation at 60 hertz: 50 db.
• Isolation at 1000 hertz: 72 db. This is an industry leading number.
Specifications for the A.J. Conti Transcendence with a single SuperArm 9
• Total weight of turntable assembly: 158 pounds including Vacuum system and Synchro-Wave Power Supply.
• Weight of turntable only: 127 pounds excluding Synchro-Wave and Vacuum system.
• Dimensions of single-arm turntable, L x W x H, inches: 19.675″ x 14.5″ x 11″ to the top of the tonearm.
• Height to the top of the tonearm wire loop: 14″.
Specifications for the A.J. Conti Transcendence with a single SuperArm 12.5
• Total weight of turntable assembly: 158 pounds including Vacuum system and Synchro-Wave Power Supply.
• Weight of turntable only: 127 pounds excluding Synchro-Wave and Vacuum system.
• Dimensions of single-arm turntable, L x W x H, inches: 19.675″ x 14.5″ x 11″ to the top of the tonearm.
• Height to the top of the tonearm wire loop: 14″.
A Transcendence model with two, three and four SuperArms is available as a special order.
The turntable base on all Transcendence models is currently available with a brushed and anodized finish.
