The famous French company , known for Verdier la Platine and La Nouvelle Platine, is back.
Bought by the owner of Project.
Lichtenegger says that one product in particular, the “PLATINE VERDIER turntable from Jean Constant Verdier (J.C. Verdier) is for sure one of the highlights in my personal audio life. I met Mr. Verdier in the 1980s and his products are still my personal reference.”
Audio Tuning says it will start to produce the original reference turntables and tube amplifiers in Europe, starting with La Platine Verdier, La Nouvelle Platine, 300B amplifier, Control B Evolution + PSU, and the MC Pre Pre. Some products are said to already be in stock, with turntables shipping from Q1 in 2025.
Thanks to the son of J.C. Verdier, Mr. Eric Verdier, we now have nearly all original technical drawings, circuit diagrams and lots of new and old parts. Later on, we will work on integrated tube amplifiers like the “220” and “210” as well as the famous product: “L’AMPLIFICATEUR”. We promise to keep the products as close to the original design as possible.
Audio Tuning also [acquired Musical Fidelity back in 2018], a move that has seen many great advancements for the brand - we look forward to the results of this new lease of life for iconic brand J.C. Verdier. Audio Tuning says it is in the process of interviewing distribution partners and welcomes enquiries.
I’ve always rather fancied the idea of a Platine Verdier. It seemed the ideal vehicle for playing my large collection of old Golden Age LPs (Decca SXL, Columbia SAX, Living Stereo, Living Presence etc…) Some years back I got quite serious about getting one and starting piecing together the other parts I would need. I bought an SPU Royal G but couldn’t decide whether an SME 3012R or a Thomas Schick (or something else) would go best. I still have the SPU, but not gone further than that. One day, maybe…
Maybe this is just a boom in the top end pricewise, as the super rich become hyper rich, while possibly the more affordable end of hi-fi recedes. (That said, I have no idea of the state of the market at either high or low end, but certainly in recent times prices of relatively up-market hi-fi gear seems to have been moving further up market at a rate considerably above inflation .)
I bought my Platine Verdier with the heavy Granito base as a demo in 2000 with a 12” Moerch DP6 “Transcriptor” arm and a Lyra Helikon cartridge. Upgraded to a Lyra KleosSL a few years ago. My friend Tom Rothermel at Big Ear Stereo (was Vinyl Valet in his Naim days) in Tempe sold it to me and we redid the factory springs with Herbie’s footers and a Herbie’s Way Excellent turntable mat. It uses linen thread that I have upgraded to non-Kevlar kite string and I have the Galibier pulley to upgrade to VHS tape but I have never done the upgrade. It sounds great. It is the King of PRaT. It sits on the top of two adjacent Fraim racks.
The motor is too heavy for the kite string to move it and the string does not have to be that tight in any event. They say that there is benefit to the slippage. The platter runs on opposing ring magnets and the center axle spins in a bath of “proprietary” Verdier oil. It just goes and goes. Whatever you do, avoid the Kevlar kite string. It will mar the shiny edge of the platter. It does not hurt the performance but it is unsightly.
