Continuum Audio Labs CRITERION turntable installed. Bliss!! A few pictures..

As some of you know, in order for me to do the best job I can in evaluating new vinyl test pressings of my various projects I need some world class vinyl playback gear. I'm fortunately contracted to use the amazing Continuum Audio Labs Criterion turntable + Copperhead tonearm (on a custom Stillpoints ESS rack with the Einstein Audio MC Phono stage and MC cartridge) for the next few years. This setup will be a great help to me in my work and make some damn good sound as well.

The install was performed by the Continuum expert Rich O'Neil. Some of you have expressed an interest in seeing some snaps of the setup so I'll post a few snaps in this thread.

The reason I chose Continuum? I saw the table at CES and was impressed. Also, Michael Fremer (who's ears I trust) spoke highly of them). Final reason (and it's an important one to me), when I walked in the Continuum room at the show, they knew who I was, had my work playing in the room and instantly understood what I was trying to accomplish with my vinyl masterings without my having to drone on and one about why I need the loan of a quality table. They instantly understood how a Continuum machine could be a great tool for my mastering work. Also, they would fly out to me, bring the machine, a beautiful rack, the phono section, wire and MC cartridge and set it all up for me. That was perfect for me. So, it is all set up and blasting great music.

To say that I am grateful to the Continuum, Stillpoints and Einstein people would be an understatement.

http://www.continuumaudiolabs.com/

http://www.stillpoints.us/Main Menu.html

http://www.einstein-audio.de/english/index_eng.html

Chris Sommovigo, the US distributor of the Continuum products wrote me this morning:

"Hi Steve,

Thanks for the heads up, and I'm happy you're digging the Continuum.
I think these guys rewrote the book and accomplished something
astonishing.

Chris"

I agree; they really did.

 

When Rich O'Neil (the Technical Services Manager of CONTINUUM arrived on Friday he had a room full of crates, boxes, tools and various mysterious things to create my table. The Stillpoints ESS rack had arrived the day before in three separate crates so that made for a bunch of stuff. Made me gulp a bit. Our buddy Mike Slaminski of Precision Audio/Video, the US distributor of my Venture speakers came over to watch, learn and (as it turns out) help with the building of the rack and moving stuff around.

I won't bore you with the description of the hours of building everything but I can say that it was like watching a skyscraper going up. Everything from the rack up is overbuilt nicely. I love quality gear (even the stuff I can't afford without having to get a divorce), love watching it being assembled, tested and I have great respect for engineers who can design stuff like this and actually have it work in real life.

As some of you know, the Criterion is the "baby" turntable system from Continuum, still costing as much as a BMW but twice as musical.. Below are a few points about the Criterion turntable and Copperhead arm cribbed right off the Continuum website:
-------------------------

A new reference


The success of the Caliburn Playback System meant that the greater audiophile community was keen to see Continuum Audio Labs trickle down the technology from the Caliburn into a more accessible solution.

The original team was again assembled to discuss materials choices, functional specifications, and new design opportunities to simplify the mechanisms involved in building a quality turntable system and maintaining the signature Continuum sound of effortless musicality.

The "Dream Team" went back to the drawing board - literally. No aspect of the system was left unquestioned.

Design Choices
Do we need a chassis? Do we need Vacuum holdown? Do we need a nested platter? What motion control technology can we use to effectively drive the platter and reduce the complexity? What other materials are capable of getting the desired result?

The methods and powerful software suites employed to design the Caliburn system were once again employed.
The team was given the opportunity to start from a clean slate whilst benefiting from the immense body of knowledge that had been gathered during the design and production of the Caliburn-Cobra System.

Our goal was to discover how far we could push the boundaries once again. The daunting challenge issued was to try to recreate the performance of the Caliburn-Cobra System if this was possible under the constraints of the design-brief.

The Criterion system was divided into logical subsystems, where each area of expertise could be focused on the individual tasks.

At each stage all of the members of the team were able to peer-review the various concepts and early prototypes to ensure the goals we had established for the Criterion were being met.

This very concentrated engineering effort resulted in some clever new approaches to the classic problems faced by turntable designers.

One of the prime briefs was to maintain the ability of the Criterion to render piano recordings with the realism that has stunned Caliburn listeners. This dynamic capability is a challenge for most turntable and arm combinations.
We understood where this ability stems from and had built the Caliburn using very expensive techniques and materials. The new challenge was to try to reach the same standard with more affordable materials and design.
Some exciting new materials engineering was used in the development of the Criterion platter system. Again military grade materials were sourced from the world of submarine engineering and adapted to use in the Platter subsystem.
This allowed us to extend the capabilities of the platter beyond the common off-the-shelf materials used in other designs.

Designing vacuum hold down using a continuously operating pump was also an area of particular challenge: We wanted to ensure that the pulsation for of the vacuum pump was neutralized.

By designing a "Stealth Mode" pump (which in itself set new benchmarks for silent operation) with a new filtration system that cut out pulsing, we could then design a more compact inverted-bearing solution.

Delivering high torque with low or zero cogging to drive the massive platter assembly was the next challenge.
Using new software-driven DSP solutions for motion control enabled us to use a more cost-effective drive solution and tune it close to the performance of the unique Caliburn True Zero Cogging solution.

Again optical high-count encoding feedback solutions were utilized to deliver peerless speed accuracy.

Special Features
Nested Platter Design using our new proprietary formula for Magnesium Alloy. 30kg Mass of platter assembly 330mm Diameter.

New MILSPEC Alloy used for highly damped platter ballast.

New Fully Sealed Self Lubricating Highly Damped Rigid Bearing Design with Inverted 30mm Bearing shaft of special alloy running in ultra hard steel bushings.

Vacuum Rotary Feedthrough for main bearing with low friction polymer seal.

Massive Highly damped Magnesium Alloy Chassis with internal ribbing Shape Optimised for new bearing platter assembly using www.advea.com Reshape(tm) software.

New Motor Technology Linear 3Phase AC - 24Volt DC Brushless design with integral optical encoder for motion control. Proprietary DSP software designed for ultra-low cogging and torque ripple with speed stability of 0.006%. High Torque 600 oz/inch capability continuous.

33, 45, 78 with wide range adjustment and absolute lock.

Motor is Belt Drive using Pyrathane precision oring.
New Vacuum Pump design with Stealth Mode Operation. Designed for continuous operation but quiet enough to house in room and in rack.

New proprietary design Pulse Removal and Echo Filter System (PREFS) to remove platter to record vibration signature of continuous vacuum pump systems.

New Decoupled Armboard design using Magnetic Stabilisation System (new lower cost derivative of the Caliburn Armboard System)

Continuum Copperhead tonearm

Unique Design
Named after a rare, highly venomous Australian snake, the Copperhead's design is musical and remains uncoloured by spurious resonances.

The Copperhead's shape is refined and sleek, maintaining the signature free sound inherent in the Cobra design. The wand is eggshell thin with special contours and compound curves to "shape" the resonant behaviour of the arm, only visible with specialized software tools, but clearly audible to experienced listeners.

Technical Specifications
Copperhead Wand - Reshape TM Shape Optimised Resonance Tuned Compound Curve Wand from proprietary woven fibre technology pioneered by Continuum Audio Laboratories.

Wands are interchangeable allowing you to rapidly interchange arm wands for quick cartridge changeovers (i.e Stereo to Mono)

Unique Azimuth Stabilised Bearing system (also found in the Cobra tonearm system).

The Sapphire Ring Swash plate rides on damped ABEC9 miniature precision bearings to stabilize the arm azimuth.
Primary Radial and Vertical Pivot is on a primary Sapphire Vee Jewel bearing with hardened stainless pivot.

Adjustable Azimuth: Azumth is adjustable and repeatable.
Adjustable VTA: Copperhead uses a 25mm central tower with a 40TPI Microscope Thread for ultra fine VTA adjustment. VTA is adjustable on the fly.

Low Mass Pivot design: No additional mass is placed over the pivot to improve the responsiveness of the bearing system.

The Copperhead is free of the inertial energy storage found in high mass bearing systems.

Ultra Rigid Central Tower: Located in a precision machined mounting collar with integrated locking collar.

This locking collar spreads the clamping load on the adjustable VTA shaft and prevents movement when locked. No point loads.

Precision Graduated Radial VTA Vernier Gauge: Allows for repeat VTA setting accurate to 1 arc minute (360 degree graduation).

4 mm adjustment at rear pivot equals 1 degree of Stylus Rake Angle adjustment. A complimentary VTA Vertical Scale Vernier allows for broad range calibration.

Large Scale Cartridge Weight Adjustment: By a simple addition/subtraction method with supplied washer kit this maintains the designed optimum effective mass relationship with a broad range of cartridges.

Small Scale Cartridge Weight Adjustment: By a precision set screw at the rear of the arm the ultra fine adjustment allows for +- 0.5 Grams in 0.001gram increments
Effective Length: (from stylus to pivot point) 239mm
Overhang: (from Stylus to spindle Centre) 17.3mm
Offset: (Headshell Offset in degrees) 23 Degrees
Cartridge Fixing Centres: 12.7mm for standard M2.5 socket head cap screws
Mounting Distance: (from pivot to spindle centre) 221.7mm
Arm Mount Hole Pitch: 76mm by 4 equidistant cardinal points for 4mm metric socket head cap screws.
Depth Below mounting surface: 40-50mm.
Radial Clearance for Counterweight: 90mm
Clearance from plinth surface to top of arm mount: 150mm preferred for arm wire training.
Cartridge Weight Range: 0-20Grams - Adjusted by Mass Addition Subtraction of Supplied Weight Adjustment Kit. Fine tuned by 8 Gram sliding set screw for 0.001 Gram adjustment increments.
VTA Adjust: - Yes
Azimuth Adjust: - Yes
Horizontal Natural Frequency: 8-10Hz depending on cartridges
Vertical Natural Frequency: 8-10Hz depending on cartridges
NULL POINTS: 66.0mm Inner 120.8mm Outer
Audio Lead: Supplied with Copper Litz as 1.5 meter standard in our preferred configuration of single RCA Termination from Cartridge Clip to RCA Male Connector.
Other Arm leads are available and can be supplied on request. Other arm wires on request.
DIN Plugs: can be fitted as an optional extra.
Complete Arm Weight: 0.5Kg Nominal

 

Here is Rich unpacking. Something he did a lot of in the two days he was my guest.

Second is the newly built ESS Stillpoints rack sitting in the corner, waiting.. You can see the Escalante Fremont speaker in the foreground.

 

Here is Rick and Mike checking out the platter.

Believe it or not, the thing is SO massive and heavy that Rich could only hold it aloft for a few seconds as I snapped the second picture.

 

By the end of the first day, Rich had the machine essentially assembled. Installing the unique cartridge, tweaking, etc. was to be saved for the next day. That's my Joule-Electra LA-150 line stage in the middle of the rack under the Continuum Criterion "Control Unit"

This second shot is a closeup of the unique German built Einstein MC phono section resting on a Symposium ULTRA platform that Peter B. from Symposium built especially for this unit. Thanks, Peter!

Michael Fremer currently has the Einstein phono stage and is writing a review on it. I will be interested to hear his comments.

 

On the second day of set up, Rich spent the time working on the cart install and adjusting. Meticulous, that is Rich's middle name.

Do you see the delicate wire coming out of the tonearm? That's the lead wire to the output cables. Hope I don't sneeze around this thing. The vacuum hold down clamp is sitting on the left front of the table in the photos.

In the second picture you can see the final set up. The 'table on top, under that the control unit (speed change, vacuum turn on/off, speed up/down, console light.)

At the bottom is the power supply and actual vacuum unit. It's a quiet as a mouse. A triumph of engineering. They know what they want in Australia!

Rich told me of the horrors of getting this unit imported into the USA and past customs. The big magnets, the plinth size, etc. make custom people very nervous, especially when told that all of this massive gear is just a record player, heh.

 

So, that's it for now, I'm off to play some vinyl and get a handle on the sound of this amazing unit. Needless to say, right out of the box without any cartridge or phono stage break in it sounded amazing. Lifelike, in a word. I was very impressed.

Rich is a thorough guy. He asked if I had any other phono stages in the house so we could compare and I brought him three other quality stages. We tried them all out but in this system, the Einstein phono stage was clearly the winner. I also hooked up my other turntables just for a lark and we were not surprised that the music sort of collapsed. Still nice but the immediacy, palpability and realism of the Continuum was obvious. Ambiance retrieval was tremendous! My jaw dropped open when we put on some vinyl that I was intimately familiar with. Awe-inspiring to say the least.

That being said, it's a hell of a lot of money. For those of you who can afford it and love music and records it is a no-brainer. I get this machine for two years. I am afraid at the end of that time I will burst into tears when this baby goes away..

 

Rich put his "control" LP on, side three of the Analogue Productions 45 RPM version of the Contemporary Records album of BEN WEBSTER AT THE RENAISSANCE.

I was flattered and thought it was a setup but he didn't even realize that Kevin and I mastered it! I had to show him our names on it.

 

Chris S. asked me the following valid question:

"Steve,

I suppose the thing I'm most curious about, as a fan of your work and abilities - and only time will tell - is how you think the Criterion's performance will affect your listening and mastering."


One thing is CERTAIN; It has been confirmed to me by just listening to this setup for an hour that I have to continue to be more than careful in mastering. Most mastering engineers when they EQ music add many db of EQ in spots they feel it's needed. I always add just the bare minimum; just enough to slightly polish the areas of the sound that I feel are a bit weak or too overpowering. My goal is to get a natural sound. Listening to my work on this system brings it home to me that my approach is the correct one. Even one db of boost on a record hammers home on such a high resolution system. My goal in mastering is now reinforced: To do as LITTLE DAMAGE as possible to the original recording.

Thanks, Continuum for giving validity to my mastering approach.

 

Those are not Vibrapods. They are Stillpoints.

http://www.stillpoints.us/The Design.html

http://www.stillpoints.us/Stillpoints_Risers.html

 

It's not only amazingly beautiful (and I am sure the sound is even more beautiful) but it'll make your job easier to master the best sounding LPs in the world. Thats a huge benefit for everybody... no matter what TT they have.

When I first heard that you were getting a Continuum Criterion, I started thinking of upgrading what I already have (keeping in mind that I have a WAF to answer to... )

Thanks for the pictures and the story.

 

Steve has been mastering for a long time... I am sure this has all been long since planned.