Wave Kinetics NVS Turntable - Stereophile Review

Well I hope this post doesn't put the kiss of death on it but I have a Final Audio Parthenon VTT1 turntable built in the 1970's before the big Micro's & Melco's even existed. It weighs 70kg+, with defined energy paths using copper, aluminium, gunmetal and SPZ ( no spongy rubbers or plastics exist in this deck ), platter mass 20kg, inverted bearing, thread drive and has an oscillator preamp to generate precise sine and cosine waves and power amplifier to drive the AC motor. It has never broken down in the 40 years it has been running, apart from replacing the drive thread. The oscillator preamplifier has never needed servicing and still has all the original components including electrolytic caps. The main bearing has negligible wear - according to an engineer friend the design of the bearing is such that wear does not affect the performance. It also passed the dreaded Sutherland Timeline test that has failed so many high end decks.
The cost of this deck in the 70's was about the same as a Toyota Corolla, so given the proliferation of CNC machinery etc there should be no barrier to producing something similar for $20-25k. I note that the Kondo Ginga which is the Final Audio in drag is around $60k.
I find it hard not to be cynical when super expensive components break down on review. The hapless customer certainly doesn't have the podium of a magazine and its readership for leverage on product failure.

....the kiss of death....

In Analog we will find everything but in my opinion, lots of those units became
a Boutique Character (expensive bottle, cheap fluid inside). All those expensive
units have one in common (when we look back):
GREAT Reviews, lots of Hype
and at the end of Day it was more or less nothing to write home about
(sonically). Some examples?

Goldmund Reference
The Mother of Hype, but the moving Arm changes Azimuth in every groove, the
table itself has a good soundstage, but details are all smeared AND it destroys
every cantilever after some time.

Rockport Sirius III
The American Altar, but the Arm wire inside is so stiff that the Arm can not
track the inner 3 tracks properly, it skips, the only way out is to use a very
heavy cartridge, but the cantilever will be destroyed very soon. And the sound is
ultra thin, completely lifeless without any body. Great engineering, missing the
sonic target by a mile.

Montegiro
A super expensive German Turntable 30k+, endless rave and hype and during
its demo at the High End Show the bearing broke. A typical example for
Boutique. Now they are available for 1/5th price, company is out of business.

Continuum
Framers Finest. I listened to it 3 times, professionally set up from the Importer.
2x it was defect and the 3 time the connected Phonostage had a problem (or
the Arm wire, Phonamp, Cartridge). I always said "Mono IS interesting"
Anyway, that Company is also more or less out of Business what
Australians wrote me. Buy replacement Parts NOW.

Airtangent
The Mother of of all Airliners. Super, super expensive at that time, Hype
endless, bloody knees from Audiophiles - from kneeling in front of it - was
normal, even more expensive with optional remote VTA....but it never worked
properly. The Airflow in some areas was not constant, so..well, you can
imagine...

NVS
The Mother of a "Game-Changer" Product, defect bearing while RMAF but some
wrote, even with that defect bearing it sounded fantastic (great or?) and in some
discussions in Seattle area some buyers wrote how happy they are now
"being a member of the Club."
A pity that the thread about was deleted :-)
No knowledge (from the whole Chain Manufacturer-Distributor-User) about
shipping, no knowledge about platter mechanism, no damping was a result of
that damage and honestly, buying a product from "Engineers" who
have absolutely no idea about technical connections ...well, good luck.

Thorens Reference
The Audiophile Answer from Germany to Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Heavy and it will show every visitor "Hey, I am something serious"
In real life you can get the identical sonic quality from every 2-3k$ turntable
today. But the motor management is good.

Wood Arms
Well, let's face the truth, a piece of wood at a string or 'in long' for 16K$ has to
be touched from God AND made from some ultra secret, mystic material, stolen
from the NASA...Energy transfer? What is THAT, we want Emotion... well,
Boutique,...Geometry? Pardon, WHAT? The best bearing is no bearing...
blubber...
Of course you need a 12k+++ Cartridge to get the full sonic impact the Arm is
able to deliver

Linn
Well, even after 30 years they find revolutionary 'improvements'...in a way the
ARC Company in analog. To catch the same customer again and again, that's
brilliant. Sonically? When you want a different sound, all you have to do is to
open the window...

Of course, all owners, no matter from what expensive product, will write that
their unit is an exception and is working like a charm etc. But let's face the
facts: It is the money what counts.
The wealthy Audiophile likes to show others how clever he is and what
expensive units he owns, he wants the Respect to be accepted as an
"Experienced Audiophile" but at the end of day, he also wants
money when he sells that Sonic Wonder. Who writes "Yes, I have that T3F,
Rockport, ...and it is really inferior, but I like it?"
No one.

Is there a way out?
Of course.
Let's visit Dover and steal his Turntable :-)

Can I mention the flaw in the review of the Clearaudio Ovation turntable in this same issue of Stereophile? The use of a preamp that turns analog into digital at 192kHz and 18 bits, while seemingly logical to the reviewer, and possibly an answer to the question about digital versus analog(although I doubt it), renders the review of the turntable almost useless. I have heard digital copies of turntables that I think I could live with, but, at the least, there is a drying up, almost mechanical aspect, to the sound, I believe. Certainly, this is flawed logic, as assumptions are made that aren't backed up by evidence. I'm not as worked up as I was initially, as the supplier pointed out this defect in methodology.

I want to point out that it might be possible with the Linn lp12 to get really close to the best, for a lot less money, with their Radikal DC motor. Yes, a lot of their upgrades are expensive, and might not be needed as much. Unfortunately, I've not taken the plunge yet, but in comparison to those other expensive alternatives listed by Syntax, this may be a way to approach the best with a reasonable cost alternative(especially if you already own a Lp12). I'm not advocating a purchase here, just an audition.

My experience with the NVS has been nothing short of amazing. The shipping crate was built like a brick #$!& house! No issues with the bearing damage or damage to any other part of the TT.

Setup was a piece of cake! As MF mentions.... Get everything level, plug in the power supply unit and the table is done. They remaining parts (tonearm and cartridge) are the typical challenges for most any tables right? My Talea II came with great instructions and I was able to mount and dial it in within an hour or so. Further tweaking ALWAYS occurs with my setups as I'm a "check, check and re-check" kinda guy.

Performance has been mind blowing. This table can and will convey a very "tape like" presentation. My frame of reference is a Studer A80 Preview Machine along with an AMPEX ATR-102.

Bass has great authority, sound staging is wide and deep. Quiet? As Fremer mentions "...It didn’t take long to hear that the NVS produced dead-quiet backgrounds similar to the blacknesses produced by the Caliburn and Onedof. Only the best ’tables I’ve heard (which are not necessarily the most expensive, the VPI Classic 3 being a case in point) can manage this level of deep, satisfying nothingness, out of which the music seems to leap. Only the best belt drives and the Rockport Technologies System III Sirius, another direct-drive model, have managed this kind of background blackness."

My NVS is a world class table IMHO and that's all that matters to me. I never heard a table that engages me the way the NVS does. I'm about enjoying the music.... not picking nits with what I'm listening to. If I can get a TT at a approx. 1/3 of what a Caliburn goes for. Throw in the fact that MF might not be able to identify either TT in a blind listening test then I did good! All I know is what I like and the NVS fits that bill!