Anybody heard the new EAR turntable?

Yes, I heard it at the London Show last October. It retails at £7700, which is a very high price tag. It was fitted with an Ortofon Kontrapunkt B, iirc and sounded pleasant enough but I didn't sense magic. It's a nice piece of watch maker's sculpture however I think that there's probably better sonic value to be had elsewhere. I would go looking in Colorado for the best analog solutions.

I heard it at CES with the Helius arm. It sounded very good. Harry Pearson is reviewing it right now. A formal review should be forthcoming soon.

HP has reviewed it in the TAS. Rave review. I wonder whether other listeners have other opinions? How would it compare with say VPI HRX or Brinkmann Balance, or other top models in the same price range?

Alectiong, yours is my question also, especially as HP refers to a more expensive turntable from Germany. I also heard the Australian turntable at CES and you could clearly hear how good it was.

I presently have a Shindo Labs/Garrard 301 system and know how good it is. I know no one will ever do a comparison between it and the EAR.

Tbg, I think the Australian turntable is extremely expensive.
I am getting a bit cautious with magazine rave reviews. Even from lengends like HP, I learn to use a pinch of salt. Absolutely no disrespect to HP, a few years back, I bought a combo of Maggie 3.6R + Sunfire sig subwoofer based on his recommendation. It turned out to be a disaster in my room. His rave reviews of Hurricane amp, Gamut stuff, Lector CD player all kind of flip-flopped subsequently.

Alectiong, I had similar experiences with HP's recommendations but years earlier. Nevertheless, his reviews are the only ones that I read thoroughly, even though I seldom follow them.

As you say where the EAR falls among the best tables is of interest to me.