The new NOKTable from Nokturne Audio
Posted: 2016-09-20 20:21
Well, it looks like that mention had the desired effect. ;-)
The new NOKTable Turntable Stand from Nokturne Audio will be shown to the public for the first time at the RMAF October 7th through the 9th, 2016 in Denver, Colorado. It will be displayed along with the Lejonklou electronics, including the new Boazu, cosmetically "upgraded" JBL 3677s and two well configured LP12s.
Among users of the Linn Sondek LP12, and other turntables that work best on a lightweight stand, there were three stands that were most commonly used: the Sound Organisation, the Audiotech and the Archidee. Most who tried them all felt that they ranked in that order with the Archidee being the most musical. Indeed the owner of the store where I work and I have used the Archidee for many years. The problem was that none of the three have been made for some time and they are very hard to find. With the resurgence in vinyl sales and availability and turntable sales I felt it was time for this shortage to be addressed. Hence the NOKTable.
The NOKTable is a reincarnation of the Archidee turntable stand. A reincarnation because it is the same basic soul but in a new body. Since I was going to bring this design back I wanted to eliminate its flaws and improve the appearance. The Archidee (and the Audiotech) were known for bad fitting spikes and fittings that sometimes broke loose and the Archidee often had parallel posts that weren't really parallel.
The NOKTable is the same basic size and shape as the Archidee but it more precise and better finished. The spikes are correctly threaded with long ones for the bottom that can pierce any carpet and shorter ones for the top. These thread directly into the metal of the stand which is easily strong enough. The posts are parallel and are finished in a black crackle finish, not dissimilar to Lejonklou electronics. This finish is tough, hard-wearing and resists fingerprints and dust (or at least makes it less noticeable). The black laminated mdf board top is the same exact size as the top of an LP12 plinth. Overall the look is clean and understated.
But all of that makes little difference if it doesn't provide a musical performance from your turntable. My goal was to improve precision and appearance yet equal the performance of the Archidee. I feel that I have exceeded that goal. In my listening tests the two are very similar but the NOKTable gives more insight into the music and flows a little better. Interestingly the NOKTable with the Archidee top was more musical than the Archidee with the same top and the NOKTable top was also a touch more musical than the Archidee top when used on the NOKTable. This made me quite happy!
Then there is the question of the Harmoni racks that I distribute in the US. Well, the answer here is more uncertain. In my system, with a Harmoni rack consisting of a Reference bottom, two Tors and an updated Mimer K top, all using Sitka Spruce, positioned optimally from the back wall, I find the NOKTable to give me a touch more insight to the music and get me a bit more involved. The two are quite close and I don't rule out the possibility of setup or system changing these results. Plus I only tried a couple of A/Bs on it. So I'm not willing to state that one is categorically better at this point. Plus one is my own product so I think others should really make this kind of judgement. But I will say it is competitive musically.
The NOKTable Turntable Stand will be available early October for a price of $599 US. This is a firm intro timeframe as I have the components now and am just waiting for some packing materials and to create the instruction sheet. There will definitely be one or two production units at RMAF to see and hear.
Music Lover wrote:NOKTable?
What have I missed...
So here is the requested thread, and more importantly the product announcement:Charlie1 wrote:Look forward to a pic of Boazu and NOKTable.
We Need a dedicated thread for NOKTable. Don't know what it is but a small LP12 table that's much cheaper than Harmoni and yet better than Archidee/AudioTech would be well received I think/hope.
The new NOKTable Turntable Stand from Nokturne Audio will be shown to the public for the first time at the RMAF October 7th through the 9th, 2016 in Denver, Colorado. It will be displayed along with the Lejonklou electronics, including the new Boazu, cosmetically "upgraded" JBL 3677s and two well configured LP12s.
Among users of the Linn Sondek LP12, and other turntables that work best on a lightweight stand, there were three stands that were most commonly used: the Sound Organisation, the Audiotech and the Archidee. Most who tried them all felt that they ranked in that order with the Archidee being the most musical. Indeed the owner of the store where I work and I have used the Archidee for many years. The problem was that none of the three have been made for some time and they are very hard to find. With the resurgence in vinyl sales and availability and turntable sales I felt it was time for this shortage to be addressed. Hence the NOKTable.
The NOKTable is a reincarnation of the Archidee turntable stand. A reincarnation because it is the same basic soul but in a new body. Since I was going to bring this design back I wanted to eliminate its flaws and improve the appearance. The Archidee (and the Audiotech) were known for bad fitting spikes and fittings that sometimes broke loose and the Archidee often had parallel posts that weren't really parallel.
The NOKTable is the same basic size and shape as the Archidee but it more precise and better finished. The spikes are correctly threaded with long ones for the bottom that can pierce any carpet and shorter ones for the top. These thread directly into the metal of the stand which is easily strong enough. The posts are parallel and are finished in a black crackle finish, not dissimilar to Lejonklou electronics. This finish is tough, hard-wearing and resists fingerprints and dust (or at least makes it less noticeable). The black laminated mdf board top is the same exact size as the top of an LP12 plinth. Overall the look is clean and understated.
But all of that makes little difference if it doesn't provide a musical performance from your turntable. My goal was to improve precision and appearance yet equal the performance of the Archidee. I feel that I have exceeded that goal. In my listening tests the two are very similar but the NOKTable gives more insight into the music and flows a little better. Interestingly the NOKTable with the Archidee top was more musical than the Archidee with the same top and the NOKTable top was also a touch more musical than the Archidee top when used on the NOKTable. This made me quite happy!
Then there is the question of the Harmoni racks that I distribute in the US. Well, the answer here is more uncertain. In my system, with a Harmoni rack consisting of a Reference bottom, two Tors and an updated Mimer K top, all using Sitka Spruce, positioned optimally from the back wall, I find the NOKTable to give me a touch more insight to the music and get me a bit more involved. The two are quite close and I don't rule out the possibility of setup or system changing these results. Plus I only tried a couple of A/Bs on it. So I'm not willing to state that one is categorically better at this point. Plus one is my own product so I think others should really make this kind of judgement. But I will say it is competitive musically.
Funny you should mention this. The NOKTable stands approximately 475mm high on top of a set of Skeets. Now I don't want to steal any of Linnofil's thunder here - his speaker stands sound great, are very, very well constructed and researched and are basically works of art. I want to make it clear that I do not have the facilities nor the time that he has to create a stand like his speaker stand and I have no plan to try to make my own. For the NOKTable Turntable Stand I did not research a bunch of different materials or sizes and shapes. I just took the best working design I knew of, paid attention to things other people had tried and found lacking, and attempted to construct it better. The actual construction is done under contract to my design in the US by people who specialize in this type of work. That I succeeded in making it musically superior is a welcome addition and one I didn't honestly expect.matthias wrote: I must confess that I do not like racks, I am stacking my gear horizontally, so stands of around 46cm height placed in a row would be perfect.
The NOKTable Turntable Stand will be available early October for a price of $599 US. This is a firm intro timeframe as I have the components now and am just waiting for some packing materials and to create the instruction sheet. There will definitely be one or two production units at RMAF to see and hear.