AudioSalon - scotlands first and foremost hi-fi dealer since 1979

GRAND PRIX AUDIO Monaco Turntable

You can obtain the specification on GPA’s website; this is a personal critique for my customers, the announcement of a product which, like the Ayre MX-R amplifier, breaks the mould after years of incremental improvements. It is not a review. In a few months I may append detailed notes of how the Monaco sounds with different arm/cartridge/ systems and types of music.

IN A NUTSHELL: If you think the world doesn’t need another turntable you haven’t made allowance for the advances in microprocessing, materials, and motors which weren’t available – or were extremely expensive -- only two years ago. The big leap forward here is to take speed to a new level of precision. No longer is RMS measure used, which conveniently hides micro variations, but Grand Prix Audio measured existing turntables using belt drive to expose tiny variations of speeds which significantly smear the delicate audio signal. The only way to avoid this is a light platter, a frictionless bearing, a new type of microprocessor independent of mains 50/60Hz, and a new technology of direct drive motor. Proof of the designer’s success can be measured objectively or auditioned very easily, for example transients I don’t think you’ve previously heard. A cartridge that sounds pleasantly warm now also sounds very fast.

INTRODUCTION

Critics are people who cannot do making judgement over those who have done ... so I come to write on a revolutionary product (pun intended) starting with long experience of turntables … a mis-spent youth. I started with a Dansette in 1962 and by the end of the decade had owned an Acoustic Research (I respect Edgar Villachur as a true genius and pioneer of our high art), a Garrard 401, then two Thorens sprung models.

Then came “the Glasgow turntable wars” which I witnessed at close hand. I even joined in, but only for one year, as a 50% partner in Source-Odyssey Ltd. This was a Scottish company formed to manufacture the turntable designed by the late Mike Moore and the tonearm of John Gordon (contact me if you are reading this, John!). I learned how very easy it is to make turntables; that is, unless you want them to sound like music … and to sound consistent. I promise that some of the most respected turntables vary in sonic presentation from one sample to another. I once spoke to Jacques Riendrau about his care and his costs to achieve consistency; he did not say it, but it was a major contributor to his financial problems. His greatness was a personal guarantee of quality. I know Alvin Lloyd well enough to trust him similarly, and regard this as a vital element in such a product. It is what you invest in when you buy a true high-end or crafted product.

Reverting to the business of retailing after my year manufacturing turntables (and failing), I got to calibrate, comprehend and personally own some landmark products which I recall with special pleasure and respect: the Oracle, the Dais (predecessor of today’s Nottingham Analogue) and the Goldmund Reference upon which I tried the TriPlanar, the Air Tangent, but found the essential synergy with its own T3F; this was the arm which Harry Pearson famously wrote “had a mind of its own.” In other words, it decided which day it would work and how much of the record you should hear. The Goldmund showed me what was engraved on vinyl discs.

PREAMBLE

IN 1983 THERE WAS A SMALL DUTCH FIRM CALLED PHILIPS who had other ideas of progress. And in this, Glasgow also shares the blame. Many Scots cling to the belief that we have invented and engineered more than our fair share but the Dutch heir, Anton Philips, served his engineering apprenticeship as a shipbuilder on the Clyde. In those days our city was second only to London in the British Empire and the young man saw the first electrical street lighting. Philips was then in the gas appliance business. The rest is history. Unfortunately their great idea, launched in 1983, was to digitise music. It caught on and paved the way down to MP3, download, and iPods.

Low resolution is, of course, the enemy of Hi-Fi.

As amps and speakers progress, they are handicapped by this leap backwards. Let’s not exaggerate. CD is not awful, but most of it is. Even from the early days a few pioneering designs like CAL Tempest SE and Cambridge Audio CD1 proved that 16-bit could be made to work well, and today the leading CD players are very effective time vaults of great musical events. And CDs are much better mastered.

LPs are far from uniformly perfect. At one extreme you have a high quality of sound; often modern and always produced by a skilled tonmeister. And there are audiophile recordings made with amateur musicians. At the other extreme (and mutually exclusive, according to the Murphy type of Law first identified by J. Gordon Holt) we have timeless moments of musical charisma in which the performance communicates the peak human experience, poorly recorded by mundane engineers.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The manufacture of turntables is a multi-disciplinary effort requiring great vision of a chief designer selecting, inspiring, and co-ordinating specialists in many fields, each manifesting in electrical and mechanical elements of the final product. Alvin Lloyd is uniquely gifted and well-placed with his experience in automotive sports engineering and his success with audio support racks. These have become, for obvious reasons, chosen by the most serious designers of high-end Hi-Fi. (Tour any exhibition for proof).

Digression, although you must place the subject of this critique upon it: the Grand Prix Monaco modular supports will transform any Hi-Fi system way beyond your expectations. You can read about it, you can believe it, but the day you get round to install your own system on it is the day that you will grasp the phenomenon. So, we in the audio world know that what Mr Lloyd doesn’t know about vibrations probably hasn’t been discovered. About two years ago I heard though the grapevine that he had turned his attentions to making a better turntable, and my reaction was to think that his perfectionism will defeat him. He can’t compromise and so building a turntable will kill him. Poor man.

I can now report that he persevered and I was wrong. I now have a Monaco turntable. The synergistic system is completed by a TriPlanar tonearm, MkII Sumiko Pearwood Celebration and a Monaco modular support for obvious reasons of synergy, photogenics, politics … and excellence. I chose the cartridge as excellent value partly because I have found that too much of a good thing often doesn’t work. An excellent turntable just doesn’t need an exotic cartridge. (It now seems a good choice but doesn’t preclude experimentation.)

THE TRIPLANAR

Alvin Lloyd appears to use this and the Dynavector. I go back a long time with TriPlanar and my Mk II was made by original designer, the late Herb Papier. The company is now owned by Mr Tri Mai. He is a craftsman, a genius and a gentleman. He doesn’t make a great marketing fuss, but his reputation assures a full order book.

The listening report also relates to the tonearm. I can report that with the Mark VII, the best just got better incrementally in every way. Arguably it is the best sounding arm in the world. At $4000 it is a bargain. Its rivals are very expensive and fiddly parallel trackers which drive you crackers. Ease of set-up and use are a legend and this is essential to get the best from vinyl. I mounted mine and set it up in about fifteen minutes and I’m sure it is well-calibrated. Astonishing. Now back to the Monaco motor.

EASE OF SET UP

Today’s world no longer has patient customers nor a network of dealers experienced in set-up so it must be made easy. The online article about Lloyd setting one up makes it look complicated, but it is not. I was lucky enough to sit back and watch my distributor do it but it didn’t take him long. The one exception is the oil-filling procedure and I’m going to play a part in persuading the manufacturer to simplify it or explain it. You know the thing about handbooks: engineers writing for engineers, not idiots.

EASE OF USE

Today audiophiles like to jump from one album to another and CD has spoiled us. I am very happy to report that with the Monaco turntable you can change a disc in fifteen seconds. While it is true that it needs clamping and that means turning on and off the motor, there is no problem of discs sticking to mats, of the subchassis floating around, of belts stretched by constant stop-start; and start up is very fast. The control box can be placed where most convenient and the switch is a tactile click.

Where the TriPlanar is mounted at the 12 o’clock position, as recommended, it actually looks right because the bearing is offset from the mount, and it feels right because you can rest your arm as you swing the arm onto the disc. The headshell is in the conventional and visible position. Trei-Mai has refined the cue device with a pretty and elongated lever which you just flick with a nonchalant motion and return to your seat. On a solid motor like the Monaco the TriPlanar’s versatility really becomes a pleasure to use; in its early days springs were the fad and I think this tonearm was designed with the Oracle in mind.

ITS LOOKS WILL KILL

The Monaco is made of contrasting textures of black substances and photographs do not get close to capturing its magnificence. I think the TriPlanar looks a million dollars on it. I tried and failed to manipulate the lighting.

Including the packing crate etc, the fit and finish of this product is way beyond criticism. Nothing is ignored, compromised, or less than impressive as you would hope from a product at this price. I am sure that every Monaco, barring the most unlikely outcome of manufacturing defect, punishment in transit, is going to approach or achieve 100% reliability in the field. To achieve this, the handbook warns the owner about things like running the machine without oil, etc. Barring accidents or negligence, then, Alvin’s exceptional generosity and high standards are well-known in this industry along with his perfectionism. His signature is your peace of mind. In personal discussions he has talked about how he has set out to ensure many decades, not only of useful life and reliability, but how the mechanical device should stay within a very narrow performance specification. Modern materials and techniques make this easier.

VALUE

The Monaco is a wise investment in music as well as in technology by reason of the longevity discussed in the above paragraph. The two perceived rivals to this product in the USA cost five times and ten times the price of the Monaco. And the Monaco was originally aimed at $15,000 so Alvin was trying to keep costs down. In the design process better parts became available and the price was reluctantly allowed to escalate to $19,500. This is a lot of money for a disc-spinner. Adding arm, cartridge, and support takes the price well above ordinary mortals and I confess that prior to its arrival at the Audio Salon I was nervous at my commitment.

THE GRYPHON POSEIDON SYSTEM

I chose to order a Monaco turntable because I had acquired a lot of respect for Grand Prix Audio and frankly it seemed to fit the Gryphon system for three reasons: 1) they don’t make a turntable but they make the best phono stage I have ever heard, the Legato; 2) the looks match perfectly; and 3) the Poseidon loudspeaker system possesses extreme resolution in terms of dynamics, timbral contrasts, detail, transparency, etc, and even their magnificent upsampling Mikado CD player, head and shoulders above most others, is way below the resolution of the Grand Prix Monaco.

SONIC PERFORMANCE

If you skipped here, go back to the start: you’re impatient and so the Monaco is for you! It’s quick to set up and ease of use is very high.

OK! Nothing prepares you for the shock of natural music coming from your loudspeakers. Certainly not any turntable I’ve ever heard. A mastertape? Not in my experience of studios because they have horrible amplifiers, hard-sounding speakers and play them far too loud.

In a word, what is new and unprecedented here is “neutrality” which seems unexciting until you hear it. You pay twenty grand and in return, you get NOTHING. Nothing added or subtracted. No sound of belt-drive/ Mass-damped/ Metal/ Mechanics. You can’t really talk about solid imaging, layering, etc, because the Monaco transcends it. It’s like a motoring journalist reporting that a Ferrari holds the road well. Thanks, but we take it for granted.

The Monaco is rock solid in stability, beyond mechanical turning of a disc. You can observe the stylus is locked in the groove. No wobble. With most turntables the interaction of motion and mass weakens stylus contact. In very extreme cases some combinations of arm and cartridge mistrack, jump grooves, or even throw the cartridge upwards.

Sonically, the Monaco ticks all the boxes; maybe I was able to find one crack (heh-heh) and that’s it! Cracks. Some turntables dissipate out-of-phase noise well so that clicks and pops are suppressed. Not the Monaco, in my opinion. It just has far too much presence and honesty of per-formance, whose etymology implies throughput of information.

On audiophile recordings the Monaco expands the Poseidon system to the extent that the equipment psychically communicated to me, “Ah, now you are getting serious, just like our designer!” You see, Flemming Rasmussen uses Decca’s golden era, studio first-generation mastertapes to develop his state-of-the art products. Many other designers are floundering, based on source limitations. The combination of GrandPrix and Gryphon is thus far ahead of the happy match of their complementary looks.

As the Linn philosophy established in the 70’s it makes a lot of sense to invest heavily in the source and I am sure that a Monaco turntable with a modest system will convey the utter purity, dynamics, presence, and all the words that add up to chilling your mind, making your hair stand on the back. Gryphon’s philosophy is, however, to invest heavily in the loudspeaker because it needs to be physically large and yet highly accurate.

HIGH QUALITY RECORDINGS

This is the Monaco’s strong point, and quite simply it produces, for the first time I have heard it, something really close to live music. No kidding. Direct Cuts, Half-Speed Masters, 45-RPM just scare the hell out of the listener but what about the legacy recordings? These have many and varied shortcomings so it will take time to explore but my first tests made it very clear that this is a highly musical instrument which happens to reproduce the audiophile stuff brilliantly. I don’t know how the trick is done. Like the Monaco, Gryphon’s typically Danish approach is truthful, so perhaps the synergy works well. The only disappointment is the system does not conceal or compress analogue hiss and LP cracks and pops. It sounded as if someone had sabotaged my records since I last heard them. Clicks and pops I hadn’t noticed before.

But also layers of music I hadn’t noticed before. I’m very fond of an old DG Brahms German Requiem conducted by Karajan and it was first of my war horses dragged out to challenge the new contender. It sounded remarkably fresh and really made voices more realistic than ever heard before.

Another test disc is Decca/Britten/Simple Symphony/Playful Pizicatto which always sounds too ripe and confused. Now it was cleaned up and for the first time easy to follow all the of the divided strings.

Preliminary Conclusion. If you want the ultimate shock, experience, and insight of your audiophile journey you owe it to yourself to listen to The Grand Prix Monaco. It is the clear winner. The other contenders costing six figure sums get themselves disqualified under my Rules of artificial stimulants.

DAY TWO

Cartridge 5% run-in; system more stabilised.

Peter Qvortrup (of Audio Note UK) pointed out that the objective way to assess the performance of hi-fi, avoiding how one likes the musical sound, is to score equipment high if it differentiates between recordings. On that basis the Monaco is the best component I ever auditioned. It tells the truth; it does not flatter.

Since we all want to enjoy our music how does this leave the Monaco?

Play your best quality recordings and you will be in seventh heaven; if you have historic and poorly recorded LPs then the conclusion is more complex. The reviewer’s bottom line is that the Monaco is incredibly neutral but also detailed. On a good recording there is no contest, no doubt. If your listening and library consists mainly of warhorses, can you enjoy them by persuading yourself that you’re getting the baby with the bathwater?

I now realise that a full critique of the Monaco will be quite complex and time consuming. For example, if you keep your records casually, the classic LP12 is in the flattering category. Clicks and pops are relatively suppressed. However, play one good LP on the Monaco and it’s clear your going from a Mondeo to a Formula One racing car. There’s so much performance between them. But suppose you need a car to take the kids to school and get the groceries?

With a Monaco turntable the rest of your system will be critical to determine the presentation of sound, but character of supreme accuracy and detail will shine through. The Koetsu, SET tube amps, certain loudspeakers will flatter the sound.

For an in-depth critique of this magical machine it is necessary to try groups of “historical” records. How will it deal with early 1980s digital mastered to LP? Sixties era Mercuries/EMIs/ Deccas? 1950s mono pressings? Transfers from shellac?

Problems arise with some studio pop material because the booths and multi-miking now become obvious; bad production is exposed; even inconsistent phase shown by some voices well focussed and others diffuse; some pan-potted left and right. I begin to worry that the Monaco is the proverbial case of be careful what you wish for.

But then I play an LP which makes me fall off my seat. From my warhorse collection: a Decca/Britten LP and I promise that I have never before heard it although I’ve played it on hundreds of systems. Now I can hear that someone drops or hits something in the orchestra – but do I want to hear that? Did the producer hear it in 1961? On another Britten LP he accompanies Peter Pears and it’s a revelation. Another recording has too much bloom. This proves the turntable is accurate; it’s not the problem; it’s neutral and it is magnifying differences. Intellectually, or as an audiophile this is exciting. But occasionally disappointing because more than ever before, you’re in the hands of the record producer and the chain of mastering and pressing. Try three pressings or three masterings of the same recording and it is disconcerting rather than all pleasurable discovery. Are you ready for the truth?

If you are a record reviewer, for publication or to check pressings, the Monaco is an amazing new instrument. If you’re a music lover be prepared for one revelation following after another.

I don’t want to exaggerate the problems with poor LPs but maybe if you’re a very serious vinyl freak you may want to keep your LP12 or Oracle (which I believe flatters recordings) but if you are afraid that the Monaco is too much a good thing, try a good or an excellent recording and it will convince you that for sheer pleasure and fun, the Monaco can thrill.

Funnily enough, the analogy to a Formula One racing car may express my point. If you are a poor driver this machine is too demanding, too potent, maybe you’ll wish you never took her for a spin. Because when you go back to your family saloon, you may feel comfortable but Monaco owners are going to laugh at you.

CONCLUSION

I have a lot of exploring records to do. As I say, the thrills will outweigh the disappointments and I won’t shoot (or even blame) the Messenger. This turntable seems to anticipate the next ten or twenty years progress in its field. Make no mistake, vinyl is neither dead nor dying, just growing steadily amongst the same kind of minority who prefer gourmet food and delicatessen to supermarket processed foods.

The Monaco is an astounding source component. It has to be seen in the flesh and heard in reality to be appreciated. Its photos do not capture the black beauty of the beast and words do not prepare you for its realism (with well-recorded LPs) or the way it just reveals poorly recorded or badly mastered vinyl. It is easy to set up and use; it is built to last more than a lifetime; in two words, it is “neutral” and “honest” – much more so than any other turntable I’ve heard. It’s a big leap forward, which is why I have equated it to more than ten years of progress.
 

By far the best source component I have encountered it makes a great leap towards the sound of live music. The only caveat concerns the need to invest in new pressings of your favourite records. It communicates a sense of having arrived at the peak after (for most of us) a long struggle. Hi-Fi, at last. And who, in the days of iPods, would have thought it was dooable by dragging a small rock along a plastic revolving groove. The answer is one crazy Yank … who wasn’t so crazy at all. Hats off to him, and start saving up, or selling off your assets because – be warned -- when you hear it I think you’ll want it bad.

Details from Manufacturer site below

The Monaco Turntable is truly a 21st century design which establishes a new state-of-the-art in design and engineering. The Monaco Turntable raises the bar when it comes to speed accuracy and lack of rumble. It is the first analog device of its kind. With many features simply not possible several years ago.

Positive Feedback Editor David Robinson proclaims the new Monaco turntable as, "In my estimation, the Grand Prix Audio Monaco turntable and Monaco Modular Isolation Systems definitely belongs in the first rank of turntables and isolation stands." >> Positive Feedback Photo Essay

Features:

DSP Signal Processing / Active Feedback Loop Technology:
Our speed control features a CPU utilizing a Digital Signal Processor that interrogates and maintains the speed of the platter thousands of times each revolution and thereby ensures frequency accuracy and distortion free playback that is simply not possible with conventional types of drive systems. A highly accurate test procedure has demonstrated the speed error to be an extremely low .002%! Speed accuracy equals frequency accuracy, which means there is virtually no distortion on playback.

Floating Platter, DC Motor, Phosphor Bronze Bearing and Internal Flywheel:
The magnesium platter and phosphor bronze flywheel are supported in a fully immersed bearing system that provides a pressurized film of oil that suspends and damps in the horizontal plane. Rotation is supplied by a low voltage brushless DC motor custom made to our specifications.

Carbon Fiber Plinth:
A high pressure high temperature cured composite structure is the ultimate for a turntable plinth.This material allows design of hollow organic shapes with compound curves and varying thicknesses to give a carbon fiber structure superior to any other for rigidity and damping with unparalleled elegance in form. When you add internal polymer damping the performance of this plinth is unrivaled in its vibration management and rigidity.

No mechanical Contact Oil Suspension Bearing and DC Drive System:
Our innovative and unique bearing and drive system achieves ultra low noise levels. There is no mechanical contact in the horizontal plane as the platter is suspended in a fully immersed pressurized film of oil. Power is supplied through the magnetic field produced by the brushless DC motor maintaining the no mechanical contact principle. No seals, no belts, no gears, no contact.

Separate Isolated Thrust Bearing:
The vertical position of the platter is fixed by a uniquely designed rigid single point contact thrust bearing. This bearing is separate from the Oil Suspension platter bearing. This state of the art ceramic bearing is fully immersed in oil.