Audio Video News

Earlier this year Holland-based Miniot raised $50,000 on Kickstarter to fund the Wheel, a unique minimalist turntable that works horizontally or vertically (as in hung on a wall).

In puzzling how-the-heck-does-this-thing-work fashion, the mechanical guts of the table, including its unusual laminated-mahogany tonearm, are concealed under the belt-driven aluminum platter in a “vibration-isolated block.” The outer ring of the platter secures the record, while eliminating resonance.

A set of RCA inputs (switchable between line and phono) are hidden along the edge of the circular base supporting the platter and the tall-than-usual spindle doubles as a multifunction controller. There’s also a dedicated headphone minijack input. Unfortunately, there’s no escaping wires: The table runs on AC power—even though none of the photos on Miniot’s Kickstarter page show a power cord or any wires, for that matter.

Apart from the sheer cool factor, Miniot says the upside-down design protects the innards from dust and damage and notes that each tonearm is fine-tuned for damping, resonance, and weight distribution. One downside: You can replace the stylus when it wears out but you can’t replace the AudioTechnica AT95E cartridge because it is manually adjusted for each turntable.

“I've always admired the technical marvel of gramophone records,” said co-founder Peter Kolkman. “And for years, I wondered why the ritual of record playing wasn’t more elegant. The CD made this even worse, and streaming music definitely anesthetized the experience. Thank God the record got a second chance. With Wheel, we aim to honor vinyl and bring Emile Berliner’s creation full circle.”

Miniot is offering the Wheel for $850 and delivery is slated to start in October.

See the Wheel in action here.

See how it works here.

For more information and to pre-order, visit kickstarter.com.