Munich 2024

We’ve still got plenty to report about what we saw and heard at High End Munich 2024, so let’s continue on that tract. My esteemed colleague Ken Micallef was charged with shooting video footage of as many new and interesting turntables as he could find at the show, and once he returns from his other current assignment across the Pond, we’ll see the fruit of his video labors here on AP.

In the meantime, something Ken saw and heard in action in Munich is what we’re going to delve further into today — and it’s the TechDAS Air Force V Premium turntable. Ken got a demo of this impressive table while he was visiting Swedish amplifier designer Engstrom. The Air Force V Premium table was deployed in a demo system that also included an Engstrom M-Phono MM/MC phono preamp, various Engstrom amps and preamps, and Marten Coltrane Quintet loudspeakers. The Air Force V Premium turntable was also fitted with an Acoustical Systems Aquilar Anniversary tonearm that had been mated with a TechDAS TDC01 Ti MC cartridge.

Now let’s see what this table is all about. The Air Force V Premium was designed by Hideaki Nishikawa. Its chassis is as compact in size as one of its predecessors, the Air Force III Premium. According to TechDAS — the house brand of Stella Inc., distributor of high-end audio gear in Japan — by “elaborately reducing motor vibration, we have achieved a successful integration of the motor in the plinth,” resulting in an “even more compact” turntable without a separate motor unit that can be fitted with up to four tonearms.

The table’s 2-phase 4-pole AC synchronous motor is integrated into the main unit with an anti-vibration mechanism, and it also sports a polished, polyurethane rubber drive belt. The chassis sits on four feet that are based on the air-damping approach that’s also used in the Air Force III table.

The Air Force V Premium table has been precision-machined from solid aluminum. Instead of an assembled chassis consisting of aluminum panels — as was done in the original Air Force V — the Air Force V Premium instead employs a massive chassis CNC-machined from solid aluminum alloy, which is said to result in a “significantly improved dynamic range delivered with the much heavier weight chassis.”

The Air Force V Premium employs a sub-platter system consisting of an inner-sub and an outer platter both precision-machined from solid aluminum alloy A5056, with a total weight of 7kg. The outer platter surface is black anodized with a gloss hairline finish that matches with the silver aluminum plinth. It features a tapered spindle and a “very thin” pad of anti-vibration material applied on top.

The table also offers a 2-channel torque switching circuit that adjusts torque until the rated speed has been achieved. Once the rotation speed is achieved, torque is decreased in order to reduce vibration. A DDS (Direct Digital Synthesizer) serves to digitally synthesize any waveform or any value of frequencies according to the output from the crystal oscillator.

Additional features and specs for the Air Force V Premium table include playback speeds of 33⅓ and 45rpm; a power supply unit that contains circuits for the motor, air pump and air condenser; wow and flutter below 0.03%; dimensions of 312 x 168 x 368mm (w/h/d); and total weight of 26.0kg.

Finally, the SRP for the TechDAS Air Force V Premium turntable is €20,000.

For more about TechDAS, go here.
To find an authorized TechDAS distributor, go here.