Turntables

• Funk's Vector has been winning awards since it was launched back in 2005.
  
  Ongoing development and refinement has resulted in Vector 3. Its radical appearance immediately captures the attention.
  Leaving aside all else that serves no purpose other than merely to fill space, Funk Vector's shape is organic and minimal, encompassing all that is necessary in a turntable.
  Attention to detail extends even to the dual speed control knob. Tactile to hold, it complements the flowing lines of the plinth.
  
  Housed within Vector III 's slim form are all that you need to have a truly superbly performing front end:
  - Funk "Vector" the very name gives away the first feature: Funk's famous three pulley Vector Drive system.
  - For Vector 3, the motor and power supply are now derived from K-Drive.
  - Achromat has won HiFi Choice's Gold award for a disc support. It this is now used here in Achroplat II with a new smooth silky finish and greater inertia to match the new drive.
  - To support Achroplat is a fine jewelled bearing. Found in all the highest end turntables, the optically polished surface provides truly smooth bearing which will comfortably outlive the life of our turntable (and you!).
  - To complement Vector 3, the standard recommended arm comes from our range of highly modified Rega 301 arms - VR or for the ultimate arm, FXR II (pat pend). You can start with VR and when funds permit, upgrade to FXR II.
  For those who wish to mount different arms, arm plates are available.
  - Isolation and a dustcover will be available soon in the form of Kinetic Kradle.
  
  Feature laden, it is easy to see that Funk Vector 3 really is serious about fun.
  Features:
  Vector drive: (Vector: to redirect thrust) Simply, this is "State of the Art" for any turntable.
  Bearings need a gap between the spindle and the sleeve to be free to rotate. This gap is much bigger than the size of a groove. As the motor pulls at the platter, belt tension tilts it towards the motor. The tilted platter rotates away from the motor, while the belt continues to pull towards the motor. This conflict of pulling causes bearing judder, low frequency resolution is degraded and rumble and wear increase.
  Vector Drive uses a triple pulley arrangement about the platter. The bearing is no longer pulled hard in just one direction, the drive is balanced and linearised. This produces less work for the motor the current delivery is smoother - a more even turning of the platter. When you listen to a Funk Vector 3, there is a delightful sense of "rightness" and ease to the music as compared to a deck without Vector Drive. Funk Vector 3 is clearly a superbly engineered Giant Killer of a design.
  Achroplat II(pat pend): Improving on acrylic, it is the perfect Achromatic (non-resonant) support. Now mk II, its inertia is optimised to the new motor and servo.
  Inverted Sapphire Bearing. Very hard, very highly polished. Seen in the highest performance decks.
  DC Motor drive. It is optimally matched to the platter's inertia for smooth, consistent drive.
  
  Funk Vector 3 is available in metallic brown, black and white.
  

• Pink Triangle's Anniversary heralded a milestone in turntable development.
  20 years on, its legendary performance has people regularly fighting over it on Ebay, willing to pay double its original retail price, thereby underlining a real demand for a replacement.
  
  That is some pedigree to live up to.
  
  Funk's answer is Saffire II...HiFi World has just given it a 5 Globe review.
  
  Starting with a very kind and unexpected editorial, David Price continues, complimenting and describing it as: "...so fleet of foot, supple and subtle"
  And from Adam Smith who carried out the review: "An organic sense of purity is Saffire's trademark. It really shows vinyl at its best". "...at its best"
  
  No gut thumping, leaden behemoth of a performer.
  We wouldn't have asked for a better descriptive recommendation.
  
  Saffire II is precision sculpted from solid acrylic and meticulously finished by hand.
  Inert and stable this provides an ideal platform to hold arm and record in precise relationship.
  
  For the metal parts, chrome, so often used, would be hard on the eye.
  Instead, the softness of nickel is visually more luxurious and sympathetic.
  
  Funk's new ultra-stiff FXR II arm transmits more energy than any other arm we know.
  The only way to handle this is and prevent reflections back to the cartridge, which would be heard, is to dissipate it at the turntable interface.
  Saffire II's elegant arm-plate hides a complex construction:
  Carbon fibre with a constrained damping layer of specific compliance harmlessly loses energy as heat.
  
  The Platter:
  Enterprise-esque, Saffire's new platter perfectly complements the plinth's smooth lines.
  This shape, unique to Funk, has never been used in the history of turntables.
  
  Solus: Extrapolating from Saffire II's lines and finish, Solus is a refinement of the system first seen in Anniversary.
  
  The output operates as a single ended, class A stage - again unique to Funk in turntable drive.
  Sophistication extends to monitoring of both current and voltage feedback.
  The principle of operation automatically provides for a high level of mains isolation.
  
  Large, weighty, tactile, Solus' control knob has a smooth, easy feel.
  
  The Power Source and Belt Drive: On the face of it, Direct Drive might seem the ideal when turning a platter, outperforming all other systems.
  Further investigation, however, yields a surprising alternative conclusion: that the humble Belt drive holds advantages over Direct Drive!
  The faster rotor speed of a belt driven motor generates more error pulses for the servo to act on. With more pulses, any correction necessary can be applied more delicately and hence less invasively.
  
  With just a single pulley, all other decks yank the platter round and audibly smear delicate signals.
  Funk's 3-pulley Vector Drive system is arguably one of the best ways to rotate a platter via a belt and blurs the boundary between DD and belt drive.
  
  Saffire II is thus Direct Drive in all but name and certainly enjoys the best advantages of both belt and DD.
  
  No one else can lay similar claim.
  
  The Bearing: Anniversary's bearing design not only returned absolute state of the art rumble measurement, it has stood the test of time.
  Refined for Saffire II, it was the natural choice.
  Precision ground surgical stainless steel holds the sapphire thrust plate.
  This supports a very hard, very small precision ball which atop the bearing housing.
  The bearing housing itself has to maintain no less than five centres of concentricity.
  A complex design worthy of its role here.
  
  Lubrication: For Saffire II, a new thixotropic lubricant has been developed. Its very low coefficient of friction stays in place upside down permitting longer intervals between maintenance. The Record ...Support: A solid balanced acrylic main platter provides the inertial load for the motor.
  Achromat, inset and bonded provides the best in impedance matching termination for your records.
  ...and Record Care: Achromat's surface is smooth and easy to clean. With no foreign matter getting into your precious grooves, either to cause damage or intrude into your listening pleasure, your music is sweeter and your records last longer.
  
  So there you have it:
  A work of art
  A jewel
  Above all, a state of the art, consummate, musical performer