Mas-sive attack

AVID’s philosophy of high mass platter, suspended sub-chassis and torquey motor continues, and MFC is mightily impressed

Back in 1977 a 16-year-old Conrad Mas was wowed when his friend showed him a turntable that he had built himself from a kit. Suitably impressed, Mas promptly purchased the vinyl spinner from his mate and set about improving it. And so began a lifetime obsession with creating the ultimate record player, culminating in the creation of AVID HiFi in 1995 and the introduction of the company’s first deck – the Acutus – four years later.

The Acutus set in motion a series of principles that have been religiously adhered to on every AVID vinyl spinner since – all the way up to the Volvere SP before you. Chief among these is that the company’s ‘Very Interesting Designs’ (from which it takes its name) have always employed a high-mass suspended sub-chassis. The original Volvere was in fact Conrad Mas’ third turntable release back in 2000 (followed by the Volvere Sequel in 2003) and this new SP iteration is so named because of the fine speed control provided by the DSP-governed PSU (pictured overleaf), more of which later.

The cast alloy sub-chassis employs carefully machined ridges in order to minimise unwanted vibrations. It has three legs, each of which is positioned on a spring in the lower base. The result is a much more stable platform than that offered by compressed springs and, better still, one that requires less tweaking. Lateral movement is provided by the inclusion of three robust O-rings positioned around each suspension turret onto pegs on the sub-chassis.