KRONOS Pro ... finally

[redandgold]

In this thread I want to tell you about my new top turntable KRONOS Pro Limited Edition. Because I write seldom due to lack of time and limited skills in English, I start shortly with my former analog front ends:

After long time without turntable (I got crazy when LPs were noisy and clicking/popping like hell) I discovered again my passion for analog playback eight years ago. Due to a relative limited budget after some research and hearing I decided to purchase the Simon Yorke S9. I loved the sound which I found very natural and transparent. The soundstage was fine too.



But after a while I realized more and more the speed instability. And after you are sensible to something disturbing you, it starts to itch you. So I asked the dealer for a solution. Hearing sensible instruments like piano was a pain. And tracking wasn’t great. At dynamic music the system was distorting. The dealer sent the record player system to the distributor, where it stayed for over half a year. By friendly support of the dealer I had a Brinkmann, which was O.K. for the time. After I insisted the distributor sent the Simon Yorke back. After work of the machine shop, the stability of the player was better, but not really good. And the motor had oil spots. Not great. Arrrg…

 

[redandgold]

So the S9 once again went to the distributor. For a long, long time. After a while I got impatient, but they don’t had a real plan how to improve the sound. They asked for more time. This time the dealer gave me a loan of a Transrotor Massimo turntable. Long time I had prejudices against the company. The way the optical execution is outstanding, I feared the players are only bling. But comparing to the Simon Yorke I felt transparency is similar to the S9, the bass performance is better and speed is accurate. The performance is great. Of course, not absolute, but in this price class.



So after ¾ year waiting without result I exchanged the Simon Yorke to the Transrotor Massimo with 2 motors and SME V tonearm. Cartridge is the TR Figaro. With this turntable I lived happily knowing that I can hear analog music at a high level.

 

[redandgold]

Of course, I was aware there are other levels of sound you can reach, if you open your pocket wide, wide open. But at this time, I was not willing to spend so much money for vinyl playback. Living in Germany has the advantage, travelling to Munich HighEnd is relatively easy, so every may I travel south to the Bavarian capital not for beer and culture. The wide range of turntables at this fair (beside other nice electronics) (I suppose near to all exhibitors are there) gives you the perfect overview.

I learn every time a lot about the characteristics of each turntable system. Whatever price class, no system is perfect. My personal learning: With higher budget the performance is mostly better, but shows also more of his character.

So I learned there are several 6 figure turntable system, where I realize the performance, but don’t like the sound signature. Not so with the KRONOS system:

Even with the premiere of the KRONOS Pro system several years ago I liked everything what I heard. The harmonic expression, the musical flow/PRAT, the micro dynamics and transparency, the musical headroom… You will say that’s the system performance, how can you divide the part of the KRONOS? What I realized was all systems with KRONOS were performing well, so the turntable should not limit anyhow. And I got a good impression about the performance. Over the years visiting KRONOS was a must and the KRONOS is my personal favourite. Once (I guess 2017 KRONOS performed with VAC, Zensati, Esoteric and Van Schweickert. I was blown away, this was my top performer over all years. Couldn’t leave the booth, so deep catched by the music that I stayed over one hour. Wow.

Reading several reviews e.g. The positive feedback, the reviewer confirmed me in my great impression. But long time the Pro stayed out of reach. I even watched some second hand adverts, but the condition was not so nice.

 

[redandgold]

Last autumn season I saw an ad for a KRONOS Pro in really perfect condition and at the latest version. It was used for test evaluation to develop electronics. I contacted the dealer and it became obvious that he had a profound knowledge about KRONOS because he is Aristomenis Giorgiadis, the head of True Life Audio. He is the developer of the KRONOS phone stage, therefore he had a lot of practice with this KRONOS turntable and he works deeply together with Louis Desjardins, the head and inventor of the KRONOS. The turntable is the base of his development of the phono pre. So I can say in Europe Aristomenis is the most knowledgeable person for KRONOS.

Because I love this turntable since it came out some years before, it was now an occasion of purchase. Despite my plans were the purchase of new loudspeakers. So this stretches my pocket but I decided to do it not to miss the opportunity.

After discussing some details time passed to winter. We finished the deal, so Aristomenis felt to give me perfect service as he could organize his schedule to pass by from Greece to Germany for set up.

After date for set up was fixed I felt I should do some homework. I needed a base for the outstanding turntable system as it prefers a wooden base contrary to the Transrotor where the company proposes slate. I built a base with two boards of plywood and an african wood, double spiked:

 

[redandgold]

Reading regularly WBF, of course I was aware about the outstanding experience with the Etsuro Urushis, especially the top performer Gold. Seems to be the perfect match between transparency, harmonics and musicality at highest level.

Longtime ago I got an opportunity to purchase an Etsuro Urushi Gold cartridge form Shakti, which is very active at WBF and had used it only for 20 hours. The cartridge is in perfect shape and condition, nothing to complain. The way this cartridge is crazy expensive, but well regarded from Mike Lavigne and some other members, it is the wanna have cartridge. It was time to activate my purchase, paid the rest and passed by Shakti, who lives west of Cologne and only 40 miles from my home.

Unpacking this beauty was like christmas. The cartridge is in a nice wooden box and looks in realty better than at the photos. Only cleaning the stylus is not easy the way cantilever and tip are diamond and near to transparent. And set up of this caliber of cartridge is stress. I was happy Aristomenis Giorgiadis promised to come the way he is highly trained. (He told me right this time he is developing an own line of cartridges.) So big bang time should come. Not only a KRONOS Pro will be in the house. The Etsuro will be the same level…

 

[redandgold]

Once you can call me crazy, Aristomenis pleaded me to upgrade the tonearm to one of the new RS series. The way the standard tonearm Black Beauty is not really a standard, better you call it a top tonearm, the newly developed Resonance Suppression tonearms Kronoscope RS and Discovery RS is a huge step above. Louis Desjardins had spent huge amounts of time to invent the new series. Aristomenis had heard Black Beauty and RS arms several times and found it is much better. The tonality is more accurate, the soundstage much more differentiated, the control of bass better and transparency and micro dynamics are a class better.

So he proposed I better leave the SCPS, which should be part of the package. The way, this power supply is clearly a step forward, the tonearm upgrade is a bigger one forward. Deciding between both is really hard, but my piggy bank was getting dry like the Sahara. After some hard days of thinking about these two options, I did not want to miss any of them. But it should be the Kronoscope RS which is much, much closer to the Discovery RS than to the Black Beauty. Yes, I did it….

X-Mas time was close and my special present this year coming.

 

[mtemur]

Congratulations. You told the story of your voyage in a very exciting way.

 

[redandgold]

Congratulations. You told the story of your voyage in a very exciting way.

Thank you, mtemur. I will continue soon...

 

[redandgold]

Carrying the whole equipment by flight was not possible. So I got a huge pallet in advance. One box with turntable, one box with SCPS power supply and one box with the tonearm. Hell, how can a turntable be so heavy! Due to lack of time the parcel came to company and in the evening I had to put the boxes into the back of my car. Not sure there was enough space, the main problem was the weight. My back survived. Probably only because of excitement…

 

[redandgold]

At home once again this torture of carrying.

 

[exupgh12]

Congratulations on your purchases, and thank you for sharing your story.
looking forward to reading the end result.

 

[redandgold]

Congratulations on your purchases, and thank you for sharing your story.
looking forward to reading the end result.

It is a pleasure and honor for me to know, that you like to follow the story...

 

[redandgold]

Unpacking the boxes was a celebration. The single parts in the boxes were well thought sorted. And seeing the shiny nice parts let my heart beat. After years of waiting finally here they were… Stone could, but the execution of the case working is excellent.

 

[redandgold]

The front plates look even greater in reality.

 

[redandgold]

Two days later Aristomenis Giorgiadis arrived by plane. Picking him up, he is a gentle, friendly, well educated person with passion and knowledge. You can talk with him hours about a lot of topics, also non-audio related. After bringing him to the hotel, I picked him up in the morning to start freshly into the day the way he is the early morning guy.

 

[redandgold]

 

[Salectric]

@redandgold
What kind of stand and/or platform are you using for the new table?

 

[redandgold]

I did the rack and the platform DIY. The rack was inspired by Finite Elemente and the platform I created in my mind by some ideas about coupling and de-coupling. I have to look in my archive to find some photos to show you the ideas I had.

 

[Salectric]

I did the rack and the platform DIY. The rack was inspired by Finite Elemente and the platform I created in my mind by some ideas about coupling and de-coupling. I have to look in my archive to find some photos to show you the ideas I had.

Thank you. I just sent you a pm.

 

[redandgold]

@redandgold
What kind of stand and/or platform are you using for the new table?

Dear Salectric,

I made the whole rack system myself and with help of a friend who owns a machine shop. The general idea came into my mind watching constructions like professional companies use. Actually I do not want to spend ten thousands of EUR/USD for a top level rack system it would costs at CMS/SRA/HRS. Concrete, actually I spend it for other parts of my system. So I had to be creative and think how to find a balanced system with de-coupling and coupling, damping and rigidness. It is by shure not perfect and nothing develeped for years. But the way I hear few flaws, it should not be too bad.

Let me shortly explain the principles as a intermission of my presentation of the KRONOS.

I use as base for the whole rack the CeraBase from Finite Elemente. They contain 3 ceramic balls as bridge between upper and downer part. At the sides I use solid frames of massive aluminium as a rigid base, which could stand itself. They are in a T-form, I suppose this is more stable and less vibration.



The core of the rack are again massive boards of aluminium. A friend of mine who master of painting sand blasted all aluminium profile and oiled them with WD40.

The trick is to use only a slim screw binding inner and outer part. By cosmetic reasons the screw is hidden by a metal hull (also sand blasted). Important is not to tighten the parts as they work then as a units vibrating as a massive aluminium block whith its resonance frequency.