New Dual TT from London Drugs

From the manufacturer’s website at http://www.alfredfehrenbacher.de/Plattenspieler/Produkte/CS-440/196.html translated to English, and edited, with other info from assorted North American websites. The BP in CS-440BP I think refers to the fact that it is Black and has a built-in phono Preamp.:scratch2:

Turntable Specifications (my comments in brackets):
Speed r / min. 33/45
Wow and Flutter 0.07% (WRMS or DIN? Measuring standard not stated)
Signal to noise ratio 46dB (unweighted, presumably)
Signal to noise ratio 68dB (weighted, I assume)
Frequency response 20-22000 Hz (pretty meaningless without dB limits)
Dimensions (WxHxD) 420x130x360 mm
Weight 4.4 kg

My impressions?
The good: belt drive, wood housing (thin wood, presumably, given the lack of weight!), fully automatic, aluminium platter, anti-static mat, made in Germany, good turntable specifications, “vibration damped” floating sub-chassis, removable MM cartridge included (Dual DMS 251S, a re-branded AT-3601, conical stylus, tracking force 2g, may be upgraded with Dual DN 251E/ATN3651E elliptical stylus), “weight balanced" tonearm, little setting up required, phono preamp fitted. Replacement styli should be readily available, as the same cartridge was also supplied to Aiwa, Akai, JVC, Pioneer, Onkyo, Sharp, Sony, TEAC, Yamaha and many other manufacturers.

The bad: no downloadable user manual yet available from anyone including Dual (so some details can't be checked), incomplete specs missing measuring standards used, light weight, felt mat will need occasional cleaning to remove any dust, fixed tracking force, fixed anti-skating, fixed alignment – you may be stuck with the budget cartridge fitted, as only others with identical tracking force and dimensions will be suitable, given the lack of adjustment available. No specifications for the phono preamp seem available anywhere, so the quality of that is unknown. It’s also unclear whether it can be switched out of circuit so a better quality one can be used. Herr Fehrenbacher needs to provide better information about his products to consumers!

Conclusion - there may be few manufacturers with such good basic turntables (given the specs) underneath at that price.:thmbsp: It’s just a pity that nothing much seems adjustable on it – you’re stuck with what you get (which probably suits plenty of people).:thumbsdn: The next model up (Dual CS-455-1) seems where things start happening for hi-fi enthusiasts who may want to upgrade their sound later with better cartridges, as it has tonearm adjustability.
 
Wow and flutter is DIN - that's what they specify for all other turntables, no reason to think this is different.
 
Save your money and get a used vintage dual on eBay. There are many I've seen lately, like a 1019, 1219, 1229, or 1229Q. That is if you can find someone who will package it correctly.

I use the UPS store. I get to watch them pack it while I wait. Pricy? Yes, but I'm insured and pass the cost on to the buyer and they know they're not going to lose money.
 
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Probably fine for the casual non critical listener that has a good bit of disposable income and needs instant gratification. I wouldn't automatically assume that a brand name from days gone by now revived is going to live up to the same high level of quality/performance, Denon and Lenco for example.
 
Don: Those (+/-) 0.07 % should be DIN weighted, but in fact are just wishful thinking. Problem is that Fehrenbacher for some models still publishes the old specs of the initial versions (or even of the initial versions of related models), which the current models with their lighter platters and mats can't reach anymore, so that magazine test results also are significantly less good. For example Fehrenbacher still claims +/- 0.07 % (DIN, weighted) for the CS460 (as if it was a first generation CS450/455...), while in the review in Audio over here it only reached +/- 0.155 (also DIN, weighted) - not even half as good, and pretty lousy for a turntable for roundabout 550 Euro...

Main weakness of those thingies, besides the suboptimal motor location I've already mentioned above, is that the motor control is rather simple and has to do without a feedback generator, so that w&f performance really suffers, when the platter and mat are all too light.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini
 
I actually bought the CS-460 from Audio Scape in Canada and posted a review here on AK of it. I'm glad I took the time to acually listen to it and not let the school of, "It's not a Dual from the 60's or 70's so it's trash" influance me.

The CS-460 is a nice table...I do agree that the prices are a HIGH, but do listen to the CS-455-1 and CS-460, you will be surprised!
 
I like this one better:
http://www.londondrugs.com/Grace-USB-Record-Turntable---GDIVW00/L3841889,default,pd.html

Only $50 and it comes with spiked feet!

L3841889.JPG
 
To quote Foghorn Leghorn, "No, no, no boy you're doin it all wrong"

THIS is the Dual to end all Duals. CS5000's and 1229's blah, blah, blah...
Dual-DCCT-100-Main2.jpg


Turntable cassette encode system, WTF more could a human being ask for???
 
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