Art Audiophile Reference Standard
"A front end that leaves nothing to be desired. The solid construction with precise manufacturing quality creates the conditions for perfect smoothness and finest resolution. The result: music reproduction at the highest level, music comes alive - to be experienced". this is how the "drive" Art Audiophile Reference Standard is described in the brochure for the 1991 radio exhibition.
It is a further development of the pl 1. In 1993, the turntable is available for 3,700 marks (without system), with the 3-legged table already available in 1991, 3,900 marks are charged.
"Low resonance multiplex base with triple decoupled motor plate for absorbing mechanical resonances of the synchronous motor, belt drive. Heavy acrylic platter for very high rated speed accuracy. A conical center pin centers the record by finger pressure. When the pin is released, it is pushed up by an internal spring and releases the record by its taper at the lower end. This construction keeps away from the stylus all disturbing factors such as bearing noise or the mechanical residual energy of the motor. The ALU magnesium tonearm contains low inductance internal wiring and a counterweight optimized for dynamic mass response. The spike decoupling table minimizes the sound wave impact area on the drive."
According to the manufacturer, the turntable was a device in which the motor, bearing and tonearm had been obtained from the Rega company, but whose base, hood, platter and redesign of the bearing axle were their own developments. In addition, the internal wiring of the RB200 arm was also replaced with its own, and a baseplate was calculated to go with the drive motor originally developed by Philips to help dampen its resonances.
The idea of the detachable center pin had been used before in a comparable way by Michael Eckweiler (ME Solist); the original design of the table with spike coupling was also by Michael Eckweiler, but was further developed: thus the Art Audiophile table has a double footplate and is not made of MDF, but of a particularly strong birch multiplex material.
The record player was developed empirically, mainly with the help of the ears and a stethoscope. The development goal was to be more accurate than the LINN LP 12 with ITTOK tonearm and also than the ME turntable. This should be realized with a ground drive without sub-chassis.