Transparent Turntable

As CES 2024 continues ever onward, we wanted to take a moment to highlight quite the cool turntable that perfectly reflects the M.O. and core identity of the company that makes it. Meet the Transparent Turntable from the same-named Swedish company initially known for making (you guessed it) Transparent Speakers.

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A bit of history first. Transparent was founded about a decade ago in Stockholm, Sweden by Per Brickstad, Magnus Wiberg, and Martin Willers, all of whom share a design philosophy that reflects the name they chose for their company. According to Transparent, “Design is often used to put a fancy surface onto something. We want to do the exact opposite. We want to show products as they really are.”

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Transparent further posits that their products are designed for a “circular economy” that is reflected in a “modular design that can be repaired and upgraded over time with technology constantly evolving.” What that means is, instead of having their customers replace entire product units moving forward, Transparent looks to offer users integral parts as upgrade solutions, with one of their intended purposes being “removing electronic waste from the world.” (It will indeed be quite interesting to see what kind of upgrade options Transparent will proffer for future generations/iterations of their Turntable.)

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With all that in mind, you can clearly (pun intended) see how the company’s modular design philosophy has been put into action with the Transparent Turntable that’s shown here from various angles. As you can tell, the Turntable is comprised of aluminium and tempered glass.

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It’s a belt-driven ’table with a built-in phono stage (with on/off switch), elliptical diamond stylus, standard SME headshell mount, and a pre-mounted Ortofon OM 5E moving-magnet (MM) cartridge (with standard 0.5in cartridge mount), gold plating, and a wireless Bluetooth 5.0 module.

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Get a taste of the full Transparent experience via the YouTube clip below.

Finally, the Transparent turntable — which is available in either white or black — has an SRP of $1,300.

For more about Transparent, go here.
To order any/all Transparent gear, go here.

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TRANSPARENT TURNTABLE
($1,300)

Features & Specs
Nominal speeds: 33 1/3rpm, 45rpm
Speed variance: 33 1/3rpm: ±0.70%; 45rpm: ±0.60%
Wow and flutter: 33 1/3rpm: ±0.25%; 45rpm: ±0.25%
S/N ratio: ≥70dB at 1kHz, 0dB A-weighted
Frequency range: 20-25.000Hz ±3dB
Stylus tip radius: r/R 8/18 µm
Tracking force range: 1.5-2.0g (15-20mN)
Tracking force, recommended: 1.75g (17.5mN)
Tracking angle: 20°
Replacement stylus unit: Ortofon Stylus 5E
Effective tonearm mass: 13.5g
Effective tonearm length: 220mm / 8.7in
Overhang: 19.5mm / 0.77in

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Max power consumption: 15W
Dimensions: 410 x 125 x 320mm (w/h/d) / 16 x 5 x 13in (w/h/d)
Weight: 6.5kg / 14lb
Dimensions including packaging: 580 x 240 x 460mm (w/h/d) / 23 x 10 x 19in (w/h/d)
Weight including packaging: 7.0kg / 15lb
Rated input voltage: 100~240Vac, @ 50/60Hz
Bluetooth version: 5.0
Stereo pairing: Normal or true wireless
Ports: 3.5mm (for digital optical and analog signals); µUSB (for 5V power)
Data switch: RX and TX mode
Chip: Qualcomm CSR8670C
Codec: aptX LL / SBC / MP3 / AAC
Low latency: <40ms

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COMMENTS
Anton D's picture

;-D

It's pretty.

Ortofon does make some white cartridges, if someone were to really wanna go the "full blanco."

funambulistic's picture

It seems Ortofon does have white cartridges (Your post piqued my interest so I had a look-see) but it seems they use white as a code for mono... As for the black belt, it looks to be tucked away and not really visible unless one is taking product shots from underneath. Another all white turntable that looks quite snazzy was the "White Album" limited edition from Pro-Ject. That one has an Ortofon 2M in white that was made for that unit and the belt is indeed white!

camberethics's picture

It's sound nice like Geometry Dash Meltdown

Glotz's picture

The hinging is very different. Dig it.

I fear one bad move to new digs and that table is a mess of pieces all over the place with zero hope of saving much.

I'd like to hear from staff here to see if the product is worth $1300 or close to it. I see lifestyle fans shying away from this price point.

JACK L's picture

Hi

Glass used as platter deck & dust cover ?

Thanks but no thanks. Glass gets audible resonance frequency that would mess up the music at very volume levels (say over 100dB).

Hopefully the glass dust cover is removable while spinning a vinyl record.
The spinning motor also send the dust cover, glass or vinyl, vibrating pretty severely when in an open-up position. Such vibration will be picked up by the cartridge, & mess up the music signals picked up by the cartridge.

I did a vibration test with & without the dust cover attached to the TT platter deck with the platter spinning & the tonearm/cartridge still rested on the arm support as observed on the screen of an oscilloscope. With the dust cover open up on the TT & platter spinning, large vibration spikes were seen on the scope screen. With the dust cover completely removed from the TT, no more vibration spikes seen on the scope screen.

Beautiful looking TT does not warrant beautiful music listening.

JACK L

Tom L's picture

Just that.

Knewhervel's picture

This is very interesting post! @fnaf plus

frontdraconian's picture

When it comes to the black belt, it appears to be concealed tunnel rush and is not really noticeable until one is shooting product pictures from beneath.

sandracharden's picture

Transparent Turntable is a nice post with the best product and there are a lot of people who are using it. When I used the pressure wash driveway I saw a lot of people who are using these products and sharing their experiences.

EmmaAlva's picture

Transparent states that design is frequently utilized to create an attractive facade for something, but their aim tiny fishing is to do the opposite by presenting products as they truly are, without any embellishments.

Julie Boyd's picture

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fixedobvious's picture

That sounds really innovative! I love the idea of products designed for a circular economy, especially with a level devil modular design that allows for repairs and upgrades over time. It’s great to see a company like Transparent focusing on reducing electronic waste. I’m curious to see what kind of upgrade options they’ll offer for their future turntables. This approach could really set a new standard in the industry!

assistalandlord's picture

Wow what an innovation!!! and very well explained piece of writing.
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