Michael Fremer

Franc Kuzma's new Stabi M turntable, shown with his 4 Point tonearm, continues the designer's descent into blackness, physically and, it's assumed sonically. With the exception of his handsome Stabi XL and perhaps the smaller "pipe bomb" Stabi S turntable, both of which are finished in brass, the Slovenia-based designer has kept things dark and pebbly.

Basis Audio's A.J. Conti introduced at CES his new, impressive-looking Superarm 9 tonearm. The massive, sleek tonearm is a dual pivot design too clever to describe with words here.

VTL's new 2.5 phono preamp is chock full of good parts and built beautifully within a solid chassis. It's a hybrid design with a J-FET solid state MC input and a tubed MM section.

A step down from Pro-Ject's most expensive and ambitious turntable, the Signature 10 features a massive aluminum platter, built-in electronic speed control and the company's best unipivot tonearm with vernier-dial VTA adjuster.