Michael Fremer

Here's the poop directly from Rega:
"The Planar 8 was inspired by the ultimate Rega turntable, the 'Naiad'. We decided early on that instead of an evolution of the previous RP8, the new Planar 8 was to be developed and engineered to encapsulate the essence of 'Naiad' at an affordable price. Our aim was to deliver a level of performance far beyond what has been achieved at this price point before.

Ortofon celebrated its 100th anniversary September 28th and 29th, inviting approximately 60 of its sales and technology partners from around the world to a hotel in Maribo, Denmark and to its factory in nearby Nakskov.

AnalogPlanet editor Michael Fremer was invited to observe the celebration and to participate by presenting to the guests and company executives a ½ hour PowerPoint presentation outlining where the vinyl record and analog playback gear market has been for the past 30 or so years, and to where he thought it was headed in the future.

When I came upon Giuseppe Viola's handiwork at the 2000 Top Audio Show in Milan, Italy, I said to myself, "Here's a guy with a fabulous machine shop and too much time on his hands." Most designers are satisfied to introduce a turntable. Not Viola. At Top Audio, under the V.Y.G.E.R. name, he introduced a whole line of hand-built, air-bearing tonearms and turntables. When I met the gregarious Giuseppe (aka "Pino") later that day, he came across as a most enthusiastic, gnome-like character, eager to demonstrate his gleaming creations and explain their workings.

Viola had much to be proud of: He'd developed a massive, true air-bearing platter—one that "floated," both radially and axially, on a thin film of air . . .

Whether it's to offer a "relaxed fit" to make life easier for analog lovers, or because both Scan-Tech and Immutable Music believe that they've found a way to offer better performance with higher output, the Lyra Titan ($5000) and Transfiguration Temper W ($4000) offer considerably higher output than the "statement' models they replace.