Groove's in the heart

Based on Vertere's flagship RG-1 Reference Groove turntable, there's a host of innovation in the brand's new SG-1 Super Groove

Anyone who has followed Vertere's founder Touraj Moghaddam, all the way back to the early days of Roksan, cannot fail to have been impressed with his iconoclasm. A lifetime later, he's still making cutting-edge turntables from out of left field. We knew that he hadn't mellowed as soon as he dissuaded us from using a clamp or a weight on the LP, before removing the spindle with a flourish. This is our introduction to the SG-1 Super Groove, one model below the flagship RG-1 Reference Groove.

In its Clear finish, seen here, the SG-1 retails for £16,000, while £18,250 pays for Black, Pearlescent, or Champagne. All are elegant, the two levels of 30mm-thick cast acrylic for top and bottom strata of the plinth, with a 15mm intermediate level of acrylic, creating a futuristic see-through look. To the deck are added the SG-1 PTA HB tonearm (£3,500), the middle of three models, with Verum tonearm cable (£2,700), and Motor Drive Imperium PSU (£7,950), also the middle of three, along with Redline Mains and Motor Link cables, for a heady package price of £30,150.

DETAILS

PRODUCT Vertere SG-1/SG-1 PTA HB ORIGIN UK TYPE Belt-driven turntable/arm with electronic speed control WEIGHT 20kg (turntable) DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 490 x 240 x 400mm FEATURES 33 and 45rpm •SG-1 PTA HB carbon fibre tonearm • Motor Drive Imperium PSU DISTRIBUTOR Vertere Ltd WEBSITE vertereacoustics.com

Break with convention

With most high-end vinyl spinners being massive, often of all-metal construction and fearsome weight, the use of cast acrylic is another of those clues that Touraj marches to the beat of a very different drum, the deck weighing a 'manageable' 20kg. As he explains, cast - rather than machined - acrylic was chosen for its inherent damping properties, while the three-tier design offers isolation from both airborne and structural interference.