Three components assembled in Erlangen, Bavaria, make up the Concept Kardan Pack. It includes the Concept turntable in a black finish, the Satisfy Kardan aluminum tonearm, and the Artist V2 cartridge with an ebony body. The set is factory pre‑adjusted, allowing immediate use with no additional azimuth or anti‑skating settings required.
A chassis designed for silence
The Concept turntable is built on a medium-density fiberboard (MDF) construction, a material chosen for its natural damping properties. The top layer incorporates a high‑tech satin plastic compound that helps dissipate unwanted resonances. The whole unit weighs 7.5 kg with tonearm and cartridge fitted, heavy enough to ensure good stability without requiring a dedicated stand.
The DC motor, powered by an external voltage‑stabilized supply, operates completely decoupled from the chassis. This mechanical separation limits the transmission of micro‑vibrations to the platter and, by extension, to the groove. Power consumption remains modest: 0.5 W in operation, 1.5 W at maximum. All three playback speeds are available (33, 45, and 78 rpm) with an accuracy of ±0.04% according to the manufacturer’s measurements.
POM platter and bronze bearing
The 30 mm‑thick platter is machined from polyoxymethylene (POM), a dense engineering thermoplastic that Clearaudio also uses on its high‑end models such as the Innovation. This material has acoustic characteristics close to those of vinyl itself, promoting a homogeneous coupling with the record. Under this main platter, a CNC‑machined aluminum sub‑platter provides the link to the spindle.
The bearing combines a polished, hardened steel spindle rotating in a sintered bronze sleeve, with a Teflon thrust pad to reduce friction. The platter shaft is made of bronze, a classic choice for its ability to absorb vibrations while providing smooth, silent rotation.
The Satisfy Kardan tonearm: gimbals and direct wiring
The Satisfy Kardan tonearm stands out for its gimbal design (hence the name), more conventional than the magnetic Verify arm supplied as standard with the Concept. This dual‑pivot architecture offers more intuitive handling when changing cartridges and simplifies setting tracking force or azimuth.
The vertical bearing uses a polished tungsten axle housed in a sapphire bearing, a technology borrowed from Swiss watchmaking for its precision and longevity. The two horizontal bearings are ceramic, a material known for its hardness and low wear over time. Magnetic anti‑skating is adjusted without mechanical contact, then locked with a screw accessible near the arm base.
One of this arm’s major strengths lies in its continuous Direct Wire Plus wiring. The signal flows uninterrupted from the cartridge pins to the RCA connectors, eliminating intermediate solder joints that can introduce micro‑breaks or impedance variations. The 1.1 m cable terminates in MPC RCA plugs (Clearaudio proprietary connectors).
The black aluminum arm tube accepts cartridges weighing from 2.5 g to 17 g, covering virtually all MM and MC models on the market. Tracking force is set by a graduated micrometric dial, allowing fine adjustment around the recommended value.
Artist V2 cartridge: ebony and elliptical diamond
The Artist V2 cartridge belongs to Clearaudio’s Moving Magnet V2 range. Its hand‑polished ebony body is not just an aesthetic choice: this very dense wood helps reduce unwanted resonances while keeping the mass down to 8.4 g.
The elliptical stylus mounted on an aluminum cantilever offers a good compromise between resolution and ease of setup. The recommended tracking force of 2.2 g (±0.3 g) lies within a classic range for this type of cartridge. The frequency response covers the audible spectrum from 20 Hz to 20 kHz, with an output voltage of around 3.6 mV that allows direct connection to any standard MM phono preamplifier (load impedance: 47 kΩ, capacitance: 100 pF).
Channel separation of 24 dB and a 0.8 dB balance between left and right channels reflect careful selection of the generators at the factory. Clearaudio ranks its MM V2 cartridges into four performance levels after individual measurement, with the Artist V2 placed at the third tier of this hierarchy.
