2500/2800 Signature
“…Insightful Design…Exquisite Execution…”
The Absolute Sound, Issue 172
At the top of the Basis 2000 Series sits the model 2500 Signature and 2800 Signature turntable with vacuum clamping. Their 2″ thick acrylic platters sit on an ultra-close tolerance bearing which is mounted to a massive 2″, stress-relieved acrylic plinth. The combination produces breathtaking results.
Read The Absolute Sound review of the 2500/2800 Signature Turntable and Vector 4 by Robert Harley
The 2500 features the Debut Signature Series platter and bearing. The bearing is an ingenious design, unique in the history of record players. It is an oil-well design, (the smoothest, quietest bearing type) with a multi-component, two tiered structure resulting in the very desirable but seemingly impossible reality of placing the center of gravity of the platter directly between the top and bottom bushings of the bearing. Thus, the lowest possible lateral forces are achieved. The result is lower friction and lower noise, which yields the silent backgrounds, low grain, utterly transparent, and effortless sound for which the 2500 is known.
The optional Basis Vacuum Record Hold-Down System applies a controlled level of negative pressure to the underside of the record, guaranteeing a perfectly flat record that is so effectively coupled to the platter that record resonance is totally eliminated. Each record becomes theoretically equivalent to a twenty-pound record! The true musical tonality and texture captured on the record are revealed, without any added coloration of vinyl resonance. No system, other than gluing the record to the platter, can result in such perfect resonance control. Tests of record outer rings, never considered at Basis due to resonance problems of their own as well as the danger they present to the stylus, show only a twenty percent coupling compared to the Basis Vacuum System. 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.
Note: All technical details, with the exception of the Vacuum notes, are identical on both 2500 and 2800 turntables.
2500/2800 Pedigree
Before considering any details of the 2500 the prospective purchaser should realize the benefit he will receive from the fact that his 2500 was designed and manufactured by the same company that has designed and produced the incredible Basis Work of Art turntable and the legendary Debut series. The 2500 platters and bearings are identical to the Debut items. The 2500 uses the same motor as the Debut. The 2500 suspension is an adaptation of the Debut suspension. It would be impossible for the 2500 to be produced at its price without the simultaneous production of Debut parts. As for the design pedigree, it is undeniable: the same designer of the Work of Art and Debut designed the 2500.
The 2800 is identical to the 2500 while adding the Basis Vacuum Record Hold-Down System
Overview
The 2500 Signature represents the refinement of the original 2500, which has been in production since 1997. The 2500 incorporates an innovative adaptation of the Basis fluid damped suspension of the Debut model. By incorporating the suspension under the turntable platform Basis has been able to reduce the size of the subchassis, gaining an advantageous “thickness-to-length ratio” for improved resonant behavior. We have named the suspension isolators “Resonance Annihilators” as they indeed perform the function of converting vibrational energy, on each side of the Annihilator, into heat energy. The close proximity of the tonearm to the adjacent isolator is a great advantage of the 2500 over any other turntable design: tonearm energy, created as the stylus traces the record groove, is effectively and immediately eliminated by this close isolator. The result is an immediate and direct sound, the hallmark of the suspended 2000 series turntables.
The 2500 turntable is the result of the same “Basis Systems Approach” of product development as 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 the function of that system. 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 result is a totally engineered product. When looking at other products it can be obvious that the designer has “fallen in love” with a certain aspect of a product. This may be a novel shape, a supposed isolator made of many layers of materials, or an unusual material. Such shortsighted, incomplete designs are all too common in the record player field and result in one-dimensional performance. With the Basis Systems Approach the buyer is assured of a complete design, a truly refined final product that will withstand the test of time by performing at a state of the art level for decades.
The Subchassis
The subchassis forms the base that holds all of the systems (drive, suspension, bearing/platter, tonearm mount) together. Ideally the subchassis should provide a rigid, non-resonant support for the turntable system components. The massive, two-inch thick stress-relieved acrylic 2500 subchassis indeed provides such an ideal support. As stated above, the compact length and width of the 2500, coupled with the high thickness of the acrylic, provide a high “thickness-to-length ratio” for great resonant control and tightly couple the suspension to the tonearm mount area for greater vibration-quenching capabilities.
The acrylic material is cast as a solid block and stress-relieved for stability. The material itself exhibits superb low-resonance characteristics without the need for problematic damping with elastomer materials. One needs only to cue the stylus directly onto the subchassis on 2500, turn the volume up, and tap the subchassis with various light objects such as toothpicks, small hex keys, small screwdrivers, and the like. You will note that the sound from the speakers is different for each object and “sounds” like the material of that object striking acrylic. Further, the sound is immediate and short without echoes, “overhang”, or ringing. Such a simple test, performed with other subchassis materials, will show the benefits of solid, thick, cast acrylic as used for a properly designed turntable subchassis. The 2500 subchassis provides the inert structure that a true, neutral, state of the art record player requires.
The Isolation System
Isolating the turntable from the listening environment is crucial for you to really hear the music on your record. Any less than total isolation reduces your turntable to an expensive tone control, with the sound becoming colored by feedback and by ineffective handling of energy fed into the turntable by the tonearm.
The compact, self-contained Resonance Annihilator assemblies of the 2500 house the ultimate turntable suspension system. This system totally isolates the turntable from vibration in the listening environment. It also damps the subchassis by turning vibrational energy, which has been fed into the subchassis by the tonearm, into heat energy. No other integral turntable suspension in the world performs the first function as effectively, and no other turntable suspension performs the second function at all.
Additionally, the Basis system provides 48db greater isolation between the motor and the record-stylus system. This means that the 2500 delivers musical details with 48db greater freedom from detail-masking motor noise than any non-suspended turntable system.
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, combining delicacy, immediacy, listenability, and explosive dynamics.
See the technical paper on Basis isolation systems for further discussion of the Basis suspension.
The Motor
The 2500 Signature utilizes the most speed-stable type of motor available, the AC synchronous instrument motor. Basis modifies this motor with a custom magnet assembly (see our Signature Series Technical Paper for more details) to further smooth the power delivery and to assure a totally balanced rotating system.
The custom motor is mounted in its own housing, separated from the turntable by elastomer isolators, which are themselves isolated from the critical tonearm/platter systems by the 2500 fluid damped suspension system.
The result of these extreme measures, along with the best drive belt in the business (See our website section on belts) 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 levels of coherence to the music and the recording soundfield that must be heard to be believed.
The Bearing and Platter System
The 2500 features the Debut Signature Series platter and bearing. The bearing is unique in the history of record players. It is an oil-well design, the smoothest, quietest bearing type. A multi-component two tiered structure results in the very desirable but seemingly impossible reality of placing the center of gravity of the platter directly between the top and bottom bushings of the bearing. Thus, the lowest possible lateral forces are achieved. The result is lower friction and lower noise, which yields the silent backgrounds, low grain, utterly transparent, and effortless sound for which the 2500 is known.
A high number of parts and numerous machining and matching operations are required to achieve a bearing with the unique and outstanding characteristics of the Debut bearing. Contrasted to the inexpensive inverted bearings that most new turntable designs incorporate the Debut/2500 bearing is a great example of the Basis philosophy: quality is never compromised.
The platter support surfaces of the bearing are machined after the bearing has been otherwise finished. The platter is perfectly centered as a result of this proprietary process, giving the 2500 a solid sense of speed stability that must be heard. Matched thrust surfaces result in a life, which, with twenty years experience, is still unknown: no Debut bearings have ever worn out! With current production surfaces superior to those of the first Debuts in 1986 the new 2500 Signature owner is guaranteed a minimum of 25 years before any wear surfaces require attention.
The 2500 platter is lavished with the same attention to detail as the bearing. It is absolutely round to a precision that is finer than one quarter of the thickness of a sheet of paper! Along with the perfect centering of the matched platter, the result is rotational accuracy of five-ten thousandths of an inch. Even without a feeling for just how impressive “.0005 inches accuracy” is, any listener will immediately hear the riveting clarity and speed stability that results.
The platter is a massive, two-inch thick design machined from stress-relieved acrylic. A precision aluminum insert is integrally machined for perfect platter/bearing matching with absolutely zero clearances.
The Vacuum System
The optional Basis Vacuum Record Hold-Down System applies a controlled level of negative pressure to the underside of the record guaranteeing a perfectly flat record that is so effectively coupled to the platter that record resonance is totally eliminated. Each record becomes a twenty-pound record! The true musical tonality and texture captured on the record are revealed, without any added coloration of vinyl resonance. No system, other than gluing the record to the platter, can result in such perfect resonance control. Tests of record outer rings, never considered at Basis due to resonance problems of their own as well as the danger they present to the stylus, show only a twenty percent coupling compared to the Basis Vacuum System.
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 vacuum gauge assure the user of consistent, gentle vacuum application while allowing total adjustability and flexibility. The remote pump allows flexibility in placement and assures silent operation of the system.
Products
2500 Signature Non Vacuum
2800 Signature Vacuum
2502/2802 for two tonearms
The 2500 Turntable Package includes Vector 4 or SuperArm 9, Calibrator Base, Reflex Clamp and Revolution Belt
The 2800 Turntable Package includes Vector 4 or SuperArm 9, Vacuum System, Calibrator Base, and Revolution Belt
Recommended upgrades:
Syncro-Wave Power Supply and Microthin Belt.
Technical Specification
• Overall Dimensions: 17″ wide x 15″ deep (including motor) x 5.5″ high
• Overall weight: 54 pounds
• Finishes: Clear or Black acrylic
“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.
