Final price drop to $2500 - after this I'm just going to keep it. Also - please make sure you can spend the money BEFORE you make a commitment to purchase this turntable.I used to live in Phoenix, Arizona in the late 1990's. Through my interest in DIY hifi I became good friends with Peter Clark, back before he ever built a turntable. In 2002 or 2003 I bought this Testa Rossa from Peter, it was, in his words, the very first one I've sold. If he were to have placed serial numbers on his TT's this one would be #001. I have written a lot about this turntable over the years on Audio Asylum - if you wish you can go there and read everything, my Here's the hard facts about this TT. The finish was originally mirror polished and looked beautiful. But every time you touched it the oil on your skin would leave a print. Every time we had to move for the ARMY everything would get scuffed, no matter how carefully we tried to be. So about 13 years ago I used a green pad on an RO sander to apply a dull finish. This fixed the scuffing problems and also gave better traction for the belt IMO. There are scuffs and marks on the finish of all components. That's a fact. This is not a high strung show dog that you have to approach in fear of leaving a fingerprint. The arm pod is built for the SME 3012. The tonearm I remember purchasing from Peter at the same time as I bought the table. I am not sure about the vintage, but it is truthfully in need of a good rehab. The rubber grommet is saggy, one of the spring pins is missing on a counterweight, there is a little bit of rust on the underside steel collar. I replaced the OEM bearing with a bronze unit. Same for the base plate spacer (I got that part from Peter, he made a few as an experiment and gave me one with the 3012). I purchased and installed an SME fluid damper kit, but never filled it up with silicone. I also lost the silicone. I do not have the box, I do not have any of the replaced parts. I am including two head shells, one is SME. I do not have the original wiring harness - we always directly soldered to the pins anyway. The only cartridge I ever loved so much that I sold all of my others is this Ortofon Reference GM. I used it for about 8 months before I was deployed and the TT was packed up to be moved later. It's been stored in it's box for all 13 years. There is oxidation on the shell near the finger lift, there is oxidation marks on all of the gold plating. I never abused this cart - it was put away in its box after every time I used it. I have included the best closeup I could with my cell phone. If I were to guess at an hours rating it would be 60-70hrs. The Redpoint Anvil record weight is the original style and made out of solid brass. The insert is threaded and has a rubber gasket - it is filled with fine lead shot and mineral oil. I struggled to keep this polished and shiny all of the time, but as it started to patina I enjoyed using it more. I could just pick it up and use it - never obsessing over whether or not there are spinning fingerprints. It has no dents or damage - just lots and lots of years of storage. The base is solid and holds the business end of the bearing. The platter is drilled with chambers filled with lead shot and oil - then permanently capped in PVC. The platter is simply beautiful to the ears. I've listened to probably 20 different platters of Peters and found this one to be my personal favorite. Though at the time it was not his most exotic or expansive. It just grabbed me. Spins perfect - the bearing is dead quiet. A note here: Peter changed the bearing dimensions shortly after I bought this TT. So this bearing will only work with platters that will fit it. I do not know that dimension though. It is really is needed I can get out a caliper and make a measurement. There is a moving coil input transformer pod Peter traded to me for something (I forget what). I recall him telling me they were stuffed with Lundahl trannys. I opened it up today to insipid them for a model number but they are unmarked. The wiring is teflon jackets and appears to be silver wire - I only suspect this because everything else in this assembly is silver wire - we all loved the sound of silver so he used it wherever he could. But, alas, these are not marked, so I cannot confirm their manufacture. They are silver metal, not painted, potted inside of a sealed double metal casing. The wires come out of one end in the middle and are long and flexible, each is black and has a paper number marker attached to one end. The ground is a red wire. The pod has faceted sides - it was a component of his first RedPoint Testa Rossa XS model. It still has its original mirrored finish, but it is scuffed up all over. The motor pod is reliable and easy to use. There are test points where you adjust the DC voltage to adjust speed. There is a toggle for selecting between two speeds. Power comes from a solid state P/S recommended to me by some kind forum members. I am including a selection of about 4-5 belts of different make. Peter gave them to me inside of an empty check box. Also - I have a Western Electric DC voltmeter that I was going to use for monitoring and adjusting the motor speed, but never finished it. I live 45 miles South of Washington, DC in Fredericksburg, VA. I invite you to come see and inspect everything. Shipping: If you absolutely want this shipped I can take it to a professional shipper and let you take care of the packaging and shipping costs. It weighs about 150lbs in all. It will have to go in at least 4 or maybe 5 boxes to protect everything.
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