 
OPUS 3
Continuo Analog Turntable
The
OPUS 3 Continuo is the result of a lifetime's dedication to research
and development in recording and reproducing the sound and atmosphere
of natural, acoustic music and instruments. It has become widely
accepted that the construction of a turntable greatly affects the
reproduction quality of the HiFi system and even with the advent of
CD, it is apparent that more of the original performance can be
redeemed from an analogue recording. At Opus3 we have the unique
combination of experience in being present at the recording venue,
transfering the master tape to the disc, amplifying and reproducing it
through the loudspeakers, and recreating the image in the listening
room.
We
know that at any split moment in a recording there is a plethora of
microsounds which make up the timbre, dynamics and the three
dimensional presentation of the original sound. This information not
only holds the obvious differences between the sax and the clarinet,
but the spirit and the life - the emotion of the artists.
Unfortunately, microbyte technology has not yet managed to represent
these analogue sounds, but the Continuo, coupled with it's partner the
Cantus parallel tracking arm. We have created a material which is a
compound of crushed marble and poly- urethane that is incredibly dense
and hence almost resonace free. The size and weight of the turntable
combined with it's 3-rubber/air suspension mountings decouple the unit
from airbourne and floor/wall vibrations feeding back from the
listening environment. The isolation is further enhanced by the
mineral compound used in the platter and the special felt-like mat
supporting the record. This latter item is essential to cope with the
standard crosssectonal shape of the LP disc (which continually varies
from hole to edge) and the tremendously high forces and vibrations
injected into the disc by the stylus, in it's attempt to follow the
modulations of the groove.
MODEL
ABOVE IS CONTINUO REFERENCE GRANITE
Our
experience has shown that the materials used in supporting a record
are audibly imposed over the reproduced image. Hence we have aimed to
choose a dry or dead soundstage to attain the largest contrast between
it and and the tonal colour of the music. To drive the platter we are
ulitizing a simple 24vac motor coupled via a rubber belt of 3 mm dia.
Two grooves in the motor pulley allow for 45 and 33 1/3 RPM simply
adjusted by finger tip pressure. The motor is driven by a separate
mains adaptor and is suspended within the chassis by three vibration
dampers. Power is controlled by a push button switch located below the
chassis on the left hand side and the whole unit is finished with a
very practical perspex dust cover.
The
main aim of the the Opus3-Continuo is to provide the highest possible
retrieval from the disc whilst using simple construction techniques
and aestetic, thus maintaining a low cost to the decerning customer -
we hope that you will enjoy the experience.
MODEL
ABOVE IS CONTINUO REFERENCE GRANITE
For
Opus3 by Peter Sheehan of Pentacone, England.
Technical
data: Weight 25 kg Including Cantus tonearm (4 kgs platter alone)
Dimensions (bhd) 450x460x415 with dust cover open Arm hole 30 mm dia,
210 mm from platter spindle.
the
models available: blue, red, granite and wooden
There is of course lot of
different ways to make a tonearm. My goal for Cantus is in short: The
cartridge tip shall read the information in the trac, on the same spot
as it was cutted, This is not possible with a pivoted tonearm. The
cartridge shall have a stable reference and not be able to
"swing" i.e. there shalll not be a fundamental resonance in
the system. This is not possible with a pivoted arm. To solve this
there is two contact points, which makes the carriage, hold the
cartridge to can move sideway but not get in resonance. There shall
not be resonators coupled to the cartridge, such as the "organpipe"
resonance that is common on most existing tonearms. I mean that when
you have a tube almost one feet long coupled to the cartridge, the
tube itself resonates on two feet and four feet tones approximately
300Hz and 600 Hz and overtones on this. By making the tonearmtubes
very short, the resonace is forced up to higher frequencies, and by
using a very small diameter on the tubes the resonance is reduced
significantley. You can easely hear the tonearm resonance when you put
down the cartridge in a quite trac on the record. When you compare the
sound from Cantus with most of other tonearms you will find Cantus
playing teh empty track, much quiter than other. There shall not be
any other kind of energi storing in the system, flexible materials.
All mechanical energi shall be converted to electric output from the
cartridge. The vertical movement from the record, shall be damped. In
Cantus it's solved by using ballbearing with a little sideway play.
This means the contact point in the bearing is changed when the
tonearm moves up and down. As the contact point is changed there is
automaticly a damping, because it's not a resonant point. This is
perhaps difficult to understand, so please give it some time and
thoughts. The Cantus shall be possible to mount on most of
recordplayers/turntables on the market, having a affordible price for
musiclovers who is more intrested in the music than equipment, and be
easy to repair if accidents appears. The tonearm tubes is made of hard
nonmagnetic stainless steel. "Music shall swing - not tonearms"
:o)! Sincerely Bo Hansson
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