I am currently in Prague and came past this interesting Retailer. I appreciate this is the Naim forum but as Clearaudio was heavily involved in Naim’s deck I assume no harm done;
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Nice! Very exotic looking
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Prague is always good!
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It is. Obviously not just for Hifi but there is a good selection of retailers with a good choice of equipment.
There are also some interesting record shops.
Most importantly, great beer and bakery.
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Nice new concept of Clearaudio decks. I like the acrylic boat form
Not to forget the Eat brand, which makes turntables, phono amps and carts
EAT fortissimo reference. Made in Prague.
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I assume these are all third-party art-turntables using Clearaudio parts. Honestly, not one of them appeals to me, although I accept that my turntable is an acquired taste for many.
Don’t worry JDP, your turntable is very very much in a taste that i would like to acquire 
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It’s quite the conversation piece with people who visit.
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As is my Orbe SE as well lol. Different league’s but still draws anyone new to my house lol.
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Interesting aesthetics, would I guess sit really well in a minimalist room. Good that there are always new ideas.
I’m always very surprised when I see pics of uber exotic decks where the motor, arm, or both, are physically located separately from the main chassis with nothing connecting them (except the belts in the case of the motor unit). Surely these are a nightmare to set up right and keep in perfect alignment?
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I don’t see the problem when the motor is separated from the chassis, but the arm yes. Micro Seiki was perhaps the first to make a turntables with outside motor, already in the 70’s.
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Seems like it would be very hard to make sure the belts were exactly the right amount of distance. Not too slack, not too stretched.
I look at a lot of expensive turntables and can only imagine that the designer looked at other turntables and thought, “No no no! These are not nearly complex and fussy enough.”
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The goal is just to not transmit the motor noise into the chassis.
Techdas, VPI and others do the same.
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I think how snug or slack the belt is matters less than you think it does. Even with belt drives that have integrated motors the belts stretch over time, but the speed is still maintained accurately. That’s certainly true with all the Clearaudio tables I’ve had.
It’s unfortunately not. That’s what wow & flutter is, it causes micro variations in speed. And above a certain threshold it accelerates the wear exponentially. Of course with modern materials it will take a while to reach that point, but I would not neglect the belt. Especially on a table your level.
I’m not sure too stretched is an issue actually, but I guess if you over stretch it it can increase the wear and it will become too slack too soon.
Actually, it matters less with my turntable, because of the optical speed control (OSC) technology it uses under the subplatter. That maintains speed very accurately, so it’s less critical to replace the belt before it’s worn enough that it slips.
Here is how they describe it for my turntable, but the OSC is used in all their tables from the Ovation on up.
Incredible rotational speed stability is achieved thanks to the combination of the patented Clearaudio ceramic magnetic bearing (CMB) supplemented by an additional flywheel and a high torque DC motor. An infrared sensor sends signals to an optical speed control (OSC) mechanism to consistently maintain the perfect speed, while non-contact magnetic decoupling of the drive prevents any vibration or noise from the motor system from reaching the main turntable. Consequently, speed variations are eradicated and perfect pitch is obtained.
But any turntable that has speed stability control should work similarly.
I use my turntable 3+ hrs every most days. I replace the belt once a year as a matter of course, but I could probably stretch it to every two years without loss of performance.
What’s critical is to make sure the belt hasn’t gotten to the point where it slips.
You certainly fo not want an over stretched belt causing excess and asymmetrical wear on the main beafing and spindle/spindle housing.
I think they look really amazing - the blue ones especially! Only issue I have is with the little outriggers, which seem to be a bit of an afterthought.
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Food for thought I’ve dabbled with making platters in the past using acrylics and liquid crystals resins unfortunately the pictures are on my old pc. But I do have a couple of pictures of headphones stands that I made using a similar casting method. First I cast a solid block which is then shaped, sanded and polished to a glass like finish.
These are around ten years old since they last had a polish and have developed a slight haze over the service a rub over with some automotive paint polish would have them looking brand new and fully transparent again.
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