Turntables have certainly come a long way since your high-school hi-fi. Aaudio Imports just announced plans to bring the Sleipner Airbearing Turntable with Airbearing Tonearm to audio aficionados in the U.S.
However, this isn’t just new technology inside an older concept. Designed by Bergmann Audio of Denmark, the Sleipner is truly something special. In Denmark, “Sleipner” means smooth or gliding. That’s sort of the idea here. That airbearing technology and the airbearing tonearm delivers frictionless playback as well as a simple design.
The end result is a reference-level turntable, with a digital motor-controlled air supply, and a vacuum clamp to stabilize records. The base of the unit, also known as a plinth, is comprised of three layers of powdered granite/epoxy binding material, two of aluminum, and one of bitumen, all covered in a 12-mm thick coat of hand-painted and polished polyvinyl. All of that sits on adjustable Ceraball feet, which feature vibration-controlling ceramic ball bearings.
Featuring settings for 33 and 45 rpm, the Sleipner Airbearing Turntable with Airbearing Tonearm is available now for your listening pleasure. Aaudio Imports has this unit at an MSRP of $48,000.