Verdict
With more message to back up its expressive style than you might have been anticipating , the EAT C - Dur Concrete / Jo No.8 combination is a seriously talented pairing in almost every respect .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
European Audio Team ( or EAT , for transience ’s sake ) has a striking proposition for you – one of its C - Dur turntables , but with a plinth made from cast concrete .
There ’s no denying the visual drama of the C - Dur Concrete – but does it have the substantial carrying out to complement its substantial eubstance ? By test it with its urge pickup sequester , which is useable at a discount if purchased at the same time as the turntable , I stand for to find out …
Availability
( UK ) £ 6499 plus £ 1999 for Jo No.8 magazine unless purchased together – £ 8098 packet price(US ) $ 7499 plus £ 2499 for Jo No.8 Cartridge – no bundle price usable at time of writing(EU ) € 7499 plus € 2299 for Jo No.8 Cartridge – no bundle damage available at time of writing(AU ) AU$12999 ( estimated ) plus AU$3999 ( estimated ) for Jo No.8 cartridge(CA ) Not yet confirmed
Design
The hint ’s in the name – the most remarkable thing about the design of the C - Dur Concrete is in the textile it use to form its plinth . generally verbalise this is a pattern like any other turntable : it ’s a rectangle with a lot on it . But the use of concrete delivers some ocular drama , a serving of tactility , and the variety of kerb - free weight that could spell wrecking for wooden shelves .
The EAT is , at 170 x 496 x 396 mm ( HWD ) , a little larger than your regular turntable – but it ’s still able to fit well onto an equipment rack . The fact that it weighs 32 kg once its goodish ( 5.2 kg ) platter is in position , though , twin with the fact that it stands on three pointy aluminium feet , means that the equipment stand in question had easily be able to support all that weight when it ’s saturated in three tiny little areas .
The chestnut body of the Jo No.8 cartridge only bestow further visual interest , and the inevitable little flaws in the concrete casting only total to ( rather than detract from ) the overall esthetic . The tonearm ’s combination of extremely dressed aluminium and carbon fibre does n’t do any trauma in this respect , either . And in every section , the EAT is built and finish to the sorting of stock the asking cost demand .
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
Specification
Do n’t go cogitate that EAT decide to ramp up a concrete lazy Susan and left it at that . The C - Dur Concrete ( plus the Jo No.8 high - output move coil pickup ) may be expensive , but it ’s specified in a mode that justifies the request price .
The crusade system , for good example , comprise of a motor that ’s isolated in a sword halo sunk into the concrete chassis itself – this ups the platter ’s chances of turning in a stable and undifferentiated way . This arrangement also further reduces a rapport transfer number that ’s already very low ( thanks , in no small part , to all that concrete ) .
The motor has two tip for connection to either of the two anti - unchanging , polished driving belts that are supplied – one is quite broad and monotonous , and sits on the upper part of the motor where it facilitates 33.3 and 45rpm , while the other is the more common ‘ string ’ chassis and fits over the motor ’s dispirited component .
This is the belt you fit if you want the record to turn at 78rpm . Two of the three buttons on the bottom of the surface of the pedestal are for f number control ( the other is a standby control condition ) – with the broad belt correspond they give 33.3 or 45 revolutions per minute , but if you fit the narrower knock then the 45 control throw you 78rpm .
The platter is internally damped with TPE ( thermoplastic elastomer ) to total yet more concentration in an effort to give up maximum rotational stability . An aluminium hoagy - disc weighing 900 g isolates the platter even further from the motor . A bearing engine block with a polished untainted sword arbor corroborate a primary carriage dwell of an inverted ceramic ball sum another 1.8 kilo to the overall weightiness – it pairs with a Teflon photographic plate , again specified to attend with rotational stableness .
At 254 mm , the pre - fit out C - Note tonearm is longer than the norm – but once you get an eyeful of the Jo No.8 high - outturn proceed coil cartridge it needs support , you ’ll understand why that ’s a good affair . prominent is too small a Scripture to describe its 9.2 x 25.1 x 28.3 mm ( HWD ) property – but its high - end Cu windings , atomic number 5 cantilever and nude Shibata stylus go a long way to explaining its price .
The tonearm ’s aluminium - and - C - fibre expression is designed for optimum rigidness , and it ’s internally damped with silicon filth for maximum resonance rejection . Its unipivot designing is intend to ensure its cardan bearing is never overloaded , and the bearing itself is arranged for low resistance and eminent constancy .
The output of the cartridge is carried by a semi - balanced 5 - pin DIN cable that terminates in a twosome of RCA connections . EAT will happily sell you an upgraded variation ( £ 175 for a in full balanced alternative or £ 499 for a silver - plated version ) – and there ’s another opportunity for further outgo if you decide to swap the bundled power supplying for the company ’s linear option .
It ’s a punchy £ 1349 if purchased on its own , and a slightly more toothsome £ 1079 if you buy it at the same time as the lazy Susan . EAT is satisfied the C - Dur Concrete ’s AC author ( which uses the DC stream from the power supply ) supply an almost entirely clean AC signal for the motor – but if noiseless is what you ’re after then the analogue mightiness provision is what you need .
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
Performance
If there ’s a more telltale , more detailed , more forensically insightful lazy Susan around at anything like this sorting of money , I ’ve yet to hear it . If a record player can be said to have a political party - piece , the C - Dur Concrete ’s is extracting every shred of information from the vallecula in your vinyl group and handing it over in full . Every fourth dimension .
There are alternative plan costing similar money , such as the Rega Planar 10 RB3000 / Alpheta 3 and Technics’SP-10R , that do n’t scrimp when it number to item retrieval – but this EAT is more than a peer for them .
No matter if it ’s the queasy electronica of Thom Yorke ’s Anima , the warmly analog and acoustical stylings of Pentangle ’s Cruel Sister or the very - hard - to - adequately - describe sound of John Glacier ’s Like a thread , the C - Dur Concrete peers into the recording to an almost microscopic level and returns with the finest , most fugacious and most minor detail . And then it contextualises them as if it was the most natural and round-eyed affair in the world . Which , I hardly need emphasise , it is not .
And , what ’s more , it keeps the silence and spaces in a recording as moody as dark can be . There are the things that bump in a transcription , and there are the gap between them – and the EAT makes the gaps as important as the occurrences . The result is a gamey - contrast listen that never lets you doubt you ’re let the complete picture – and the lazy Susan ’s power to reveal even small harmonic and tonal variations is deeply impressive too .
This attention to detail is patent throughout the frequency range , from the rich , coarse-textured and endlessly varied abject oddment to the promising , substantive triple . In between , the C - Dur Concrete communicates explicitly and articulately , so the three very dissimilar voices on the LPs mentioned above are delivered with all their grapheme and all their position entire , in with a strong flavour of their technique and motivation included for good measure . The frequency range hangs together in a lifelike and unforced manner , with no area given undue prominence and no area underplayed .
The soundstage the EAT father is well - coordinate and consistent , and the considerable dynamical dynamic headroom it display signify that big chemise in volume or intensity are tracked without any hearable stress . Its tonal remainder is nicely neutral , and its powers of rhythmical expression are impressive even by the prevailing standards of upmarket disk players .
Problems , then , are very few – but the one shortcoming the C - Dur Concrete demonstrates is far from insignificant . Despite the fact that it create a controlled , easy - to - understand soundstage , the stage itself always sounds confined and small - weighing machine – the turntable ’s introduction never escapes the infinite between the loudspeakers that are produce it . When compared to the grand , almost immersive sound that any number of price - comparable rivals are adequate to of creating , this tight and modestly proportioned choice ca n’t help but disappoint .
Should you buy it?
Some very believable turntable brand seek to make a chastity out of stripping back the visual appeal in favor of concentrating on the functioning . EAT , it seems clean to say , is not one of those brands .
The C - Dur Concrete fuck off much more right than it get untimely – but its sack - sized demonstration is at odds with its big , bold looks
Final Thoughts
I thought the C - Dur Concrete would be a victory of flair over substance , that it would be nothing more than a design recitation intend to lure in customers with more money ( and great aesthetic consideration ) than sense .
Happily , I was wrong – this is a track record player with a stack of transonic gift as long as your sleeve . Its audio issue are few – but where it ’s off the pace , it ’s off the pace quite basically . Which means it ’s arduous to find it a space on those short of shortlists …
Trusted Score
How we test
I positioned the EAT C - Dur Concrete on the top shelf of my Blok Stax 2 G equipment wheel , and connected its add 5 - pin DIN / stereo system RCA semi - balanced cable to a Chord Huei phono stage .
This , in go , was connect to aNaim Uniti Staracting as a pre - amp and which was itself link to a Cambridge Audio Edge W stereo major power amplifier . The amplifier drove a pair ofBowers & Wilkins 705 S3Signature standmounters bolted to their bespoke FS-600 S3 stands .
And this arrangement spend well over a workweek taking centre stage in my listening outer space , while I searched in vain for a slice of vinyl that hold in some minor contingent the turntable might overlook . Fat fortune .
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
FAQs
No , the C - Dur Concrete is the colour of concrete . The MDF version of the C - Dur is useable in a pair of dissimilar finishes , though .
Absolutely not , although it ’s the magazine EAT recommends ( and you get a £ 400 discount off the asking price if you bribe it at the same time as the lazy Susan ) .
Up to a point . Fit the wide drive - belt and switching between 33.3 and 45 needs just a button - printing press , but if you want to heed to seventy-eight you ’ll have to change the bang .
And hide all that lovely concrete ? Of course it does n’t .
Full Specs
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
