Anti-Lenco heaven

The king and queen of turntables. Anti-Lenco by anTiTon.






Concept and builder: Paulo Marcelo
Design: Pierre Faissat
Copyright of the photos in this post by Paulo Marcelo.

Details





Copyright of the photos in this post by Paulo Marcelo.

So, finally it is in your hands.

Nice pictures, now we need a full report.

Preparation for shipping.



Copyright of the photos in this post by Paulo Marcelo.

mannitheear escreveu:

Shure M75-6S / Jico SAS

Beauty

Not renegading its ancestries!! ...


My reformulation of an everlasting concept...

In its full glory of an heavy plinth and proudly displaying a MAGNEPAN arm (an OEM badged Wharfedale L78...)

Listening

For the first time…

These 4 words sum up the essence of my experience with the Anti-Lenco since it arrived 3 weeks ago.

For the first time...

… I have the impression of getting all of the sound engraved in the tiny grooves. The sound is so dynamic, open and detailed as I never had before at home. This includes a unheard rendering of spatial information in all three dimensions. Every sound event has its clear space on the imaginary sound stage.

… I can listen to the essence of music of virtually any LP! It’s so easy and a great joy to follow the complex interaction of musicians in any type of music. Surprisingly this is not only the case with good sounding LPs but also with normal recordings or modest pressings.

… I can understand why Paulo isn’t interested very much in record cleaning machines. The Anti-Lenco seems to suppress any artifical noise like clicks and pops much more successful than any other turntable I had. The remaining unwanted and unavoidable noise as well as recording artefacts like tape hiss are well separated from the music.

So far, the Anti-Lenco is a essential neutral turntable in every single aspect. It tracks superbly well and seems completely unimpressed by loud and/or complexe passages. While it has great attack and is capable of explosive dynamics, at the same time quiet instruments and subtle details are clearly rendered in a unheard way. Tonal colours are very distinct and clear. While it sounds all in all fresh and plays i.e. brass and saxophone with realistic bite, I never could hear any artificial harshness with string instruments, which sound exceptional differenciated and seductive.

My ultimate proof for the musicality of a component is the famous recording „Waltz for Debby“. I have 2 pressings, one is the Analogue Productions, which sounds good on any turntable, the other is a cheap „Mikulski“ pressing which doesn’t only sound much worse but, much severe, couldn’t transport for me the magic of this music on any turntable I played it. The musicians seem to play each for himself , while the audience seems quite uninterested. It’s difficult for me to listen. Not with the Anti-Lenco. The sound is so-so, but could be worse. But with the Anti-Lenco suddenly I could hear the interplay between the musicians and feel the groove. “With the Anti-Lenco even this record sings!!!! Terrific.“ I wrote to Paulo.

tbc

That sounds absolute terrific, and I'm very happy for you. One thing is very interesting, your description matches the same findings I encountered when I started listening to my Rui Borges in every aspect. Especially in the aspect of spatiality, separation and the, to me, not understandable noise reduction of clics and pops. Its almost unbelievable.
But obviously, I still wash every record I own.

Congrats on your new Turntable.

Just one more thought. All that characteristics (and all in the same turntable) that you are experiencing with your new Anti-Lenco, are normally to be found in very expensive stuff, and that makes it a absolute bargain.

Good job Paulo.

mannitheear escreveu:

Listening

For the first time…

These 4 words sum up the essence of my experience with the Anti-Lenco since it arrived 3 weeks ago. ...

Hi Man, I'm really very happy with your words which mean that you have a lot of fun with the TT, and she was made to that. I'm also glad by your sonic description (feelings), cos they proof that your TT doesn't sound as a Lenco and in fact is (almost) the opposite, so the name Anti-Lenco is well found indeed...

... While it has great attack and is capable of explosive dynamics, at the same time quiet instruments and subtle details are clearly rendered in a unheard way. Tonal colours are very distinct and clear. While it sounds all in all fresh and plays i.e. brass and saxophone with realistic bite, I never could hear any artificial harshness with string instruments, which sound exceptional differenciated and seductive. ...

Maybe the TT isn't well tuned or the tonearm/cartridge... cos, I'm allergic to "seductive sound !"

António José da Silva escreveu:

... But obviously, I still wash every record I own.
... I've not washed a single vinyl in my own life... but I clean the tip and tune the tonearm weekly ...

António José da Silva escreveu:

... Good job Paulo.
Thank's Antonio, but rather than thank's i'll prefer some beers (you pay!) shortly in Portugal...

Man, you've here a photo of a poster made by Pierre for a show with your TT...

ANTI-T escreveu:

Thank's Antonio, but rather than thank's i'll prefer some beers (you pay!) shortly in Portugal...   

Vai ser um enorme prazer.

ANTI-T escreveu:

...weekly ...

You dirty man....

António José da Silva escreveu:

Good job Paulo.  

Good job? Paulo takes a 40 years old low cost chassis, a tonearm with excellent genes (but poorly executed in some details) and a 60's MM system which no one in the audiophile world really takes serious and the outcome is a incredible good sounding turntable by any standard!

 

That's much more than a good job, that's a lot of intuition, an incredible amount of experience, months of analytic work and some exceptional ideas which have been led by wisdom and mastership to a very unique turntable concept!

 

Dear Antònio, you're right I'm really happy with the Anti-Lenco, the turntable question is answered for me.



Cheers
Manfred

mannitheear escreveu:

Shure M75-6S / Jico SAS

Congratualations Manfred with your new toy    
But now you have a problem - you can't ear your beloved Brutus - you have got to ear the Brutus MM - mines a beauty  

anibalpmm escreveu:

... ... ...
Congratualations Manfred with your new toy    
But now you have a problem - you can't ear your beloved Brutus - you have got to ear the Brutus MM - mines a beauty  

Yes!? ...

He can!!!

With an exquisite MM cart from the old Picckering's trunk, like mine ....

XLZ-7500-S

With its modests 0,33mV output level!? ...

anibalpmm escreveu:

mannitheear escreveu:

Shure M75-6S / Jico SAS

Congratualations Manfred with your new toy    
But now you have a problem - you can't ear your beloved Brutus - you have got to ear the Brutus MM - mines a beauty  

Dear anibalpmm,

thanks for the congratulations!

Joaquim has kindly sent me a Brutus MM for the Shure experiments and because it sounds as good as the Brutus MC I'll keep it.

There is place for a second arm on the Anti-Lenco...

Cheers
Manfred

reirato escreveu:

anibalpmm escreveu:

... ... ...
Congratualations Manfred with your new toy    
But now you have a problem - you can't ear your beloved Brutus - you have got to ear the Brutus MM - mines a beauty  

Yes!? ...

He can!!!

With an exquisite MM cart from the old Picckering's trunk, like mine ....

XLZ-7500-S

With its modests 0,33mV output level!? ...

Hey reirato,

you must have a real Hifi museum!
Didn't even know that there are low output MM.

Cheers
Manfred

mannitheear escreveu:

... ... ...
Hey reirato,

you must have a real Hifi museum!
Didn't even know that there are low output MM.

Cheers
Manfred

Really nothing deserving mention...

At least in comparison with CNeves Ali Baba's cave...
That is really awesoming!!!

mannitheear escreveu:

anibalpmm escreveu:

mannitheear escreveu:

Shure M75-6S / Jico SAS

Congratualations Manfred with your new toy    
But now you have a problem - you can't ear your beloved Brutus - you have got to ear the Brutus MM - mines a beauty  

Dear anibalpmm,

thanks for the congratulations!

Joaquim has kindly sent me a Brutus MM for the Shure experiments and because it sounds as good as the Brutus MC I'll keep it.

There is place for a second arm on the Anti-Lenco...

Cheers
Manfred

Your a lucky man, the brutus MM it's wonderful

Parabéns Manfred !!
São 3 belas interpretações que aí tens, a do Lenco , a da M75 e a do braço Thorens !
O Paulo não brinca em serviço !!

Caro Milton, muito obrigado!

mannitheear escreveu:

Caro Milton, muito obrigado!

Ele acorda bem cedo para poder ter tempo de ouvir o Anti-Lenco.

mannitheear escreveu:

... Paulo takes a 40 years old low cost chassis, a tonearm with excellent genes (but poorly executed in some details) and a 60's MM system which no one in the audiophile world really takes serious ...

... that's a lot of intuition, ...      

And the result of this provocation and irreverent way of thinking is the Anti-Lenco...

Hi Paulo,

ANTI-T escreveu:

mannitheear escreveu:

... Paulo takes a 40 years old low cost chassis, a tonearm with excellent genes (but poorly executed in some details) and a 60's MM system which no one in the audiophile world really takes serious ...

... that's a lot of intuition, ...      

I wouldn't say intuition but rather an "healthy provocation", which finds is pinpoint on the name Anti-Lenco!... cos at the opposite of the mainstream, the Anti-Lenco doesn't have a heavy and rigid plinth, neither a new bearing made of "unobtanium" or an idler made by the virgins of the Fujiyama mountain among other secrets hidden on the ancient Buddhist rolls...   in fact she is the opposite of all that:

Her plinth is elastic and vibrates (a crime some say !!!)...  and all the pieces inside are the originals but some of them are slightly modified. Its a homeopathic work, only made at the week points and in a light way only to solve the problems without changing the original concept...

If we pick an ancient Lancia Stratos and we put inside a BMW Motor...  this new vehicle wouldn't be anymore neither a Lancia or a BMW but a bastard or a new one, depending of the view point ...   and is the case of many Lenco's that are sold today and not deserve the name anymore cos they have become another thing...

My target, was to proof that the Lenco is the most inventive and conceptually intelligent TT of the idler world, so I wanted her unmodified in his concept and with the original pieces. The same idea and target have been applied to the tonearm and cartridge...

And the result of this provocation and irreverent way of thinking is the Anti-Lenco...

Hi Paulo,

the "intuition" begins very early at the point recognizing the potential of the Lenco, the TP-11 and the M75! These are not the usual suspects!

I remember very well: when I entered the "High End" world at the early 80's, for some buddies the "Lenco" was a synonyme for a crappy turntable...

An then, you did not mention yet the techno-plinth.  I'm sure, it has a large part of the great sound.

Cheers
Manfred

For me, the Anti-Lenco isn't only about the great pleasure of listening to music in exceptional quality, but also a connection to the great people which made it and a refreshing antagonism to the all-present over-engineering in the Audio industry of today which often culminates in totally absurd products such as turntables that look like a chrome plated oil-rig.

Sem Palavras...!

Um conjunto fabuloso!

Por curiosidade o que levou à escolha do braço?

Alexandre Vieira escreveu:

Sem Palavras...!

Um conjunto fabuloso!

Por curiosidade o que levou à escolha do braço?

É o braço ideal para aquela agulha
Tens q ler o tópico sobre a M75

anibalpmm escreveu:

Alexandre Vieira escreveu:

Sem Palavras...!

Um conjunto fabuloso!

Por curiosidade o que levou à escolha do braço?

É o braço ideal para aquela agulha
Tens q ler o tópico sobre a M75

Obrigado pela tua resposta!

Eu por acaso gosto muito do conjunto, tenho-o em casa, soa muitíssimo bem, mas penso que o braço com a AT - 110 torna o casamento bem mais informativo.

Para peças mais complexas penso que o conjunto é melhor com a AT. Se bem que o som produzido pela Shure é bem "redondinho".

Se calhar tenho é que mudar agulha à Shure!!!

Alexandre Vieira escreveu:

Obrigado pela tua resposta!

Eu por acaso gosto muito do conjunto, tenho-o em casa, soa muitíssimo bem, mas penso que o braço com a AT - 110 torna o casamento bem mais informativo.

Para peças mais complexas penso que o conjunto é melhor com a AT. Se bem que o som produzido pela Shure é bem "redondinho".

Se calhar tenho é que mudar agulha à Shure!!!

Dear Alexandre,

I tried the Shure M75 in other arms (Dual 1229 arm, Mission Mechanic and Pioneer PL-630 arm) with elliptic needles from Jico, Ed Saunders and Naber. But the results were mixed, quite nice but not outstanding.
The Anti-Lenco is a total different beast, excellent at complexest passages. I have listened to the beginning of Richard Wagner / Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg / Karajan where after the ouverture the big orchestra meets the choir of the churchgoers and it was so well resolved as I never heard before.


edit:
The TP-11 arm is modified (arm base, armtube, counterweight) and has a reduced mass compared to original.
As far as I know the Shure wants a tonearm with effective mass considerably lower than 10 g.

Cheers
Manfred

Dear Manfred
Thank you for sharing the knowledge acquired with this development.

We hope all see more developments like this

Genius and beautiful.

Congratulations Paulo on the outcome of your project and a big salute to your test driver not so far away anymore from me, since now I am leaving close to Aachen.

Having been away from AAP for the last 2 months (I will also be for the next 3 ) I see this topic has a very nice story in the making.

I hope Manfred stays happy with his new turntable and that you sell this fine piece of jewelry like croissants...

ANTI-T escreveu:

mannitheear escreveu:

Hi Paulo,    ...

An then, you did not mention yet the technoplinth.  I'm sure, it has a large part of the great sound.   ...

Yes, in fact we can see the technoplinth as the heart of the Anti-Lenco concept and also as the most original part of the TT...

A plinth for an idler or other broadcast TT have two goals essencially. The first one is to permit the placement of the TT on a normal audio shelf and the other is to reduce the rumble and/or improve the sound. There are a lot of theory's about the plinth construction, but one emerges and represents the mainstream: A plinth should be rigid to avoid mechanical torsion,...  and should have a high mass to absorb the rumble and all the micromechanical vibrations or resonances...

The tecnoplinth doesn't follow these rules and have a completely different approach. His first goal is to highly rigidify the Lenco's chassis thanks to an opposite force up/down between the central axis and the four chassis bolts. The second one is to vibrate/resonate at the same level of the TT but in a negative swing. Thank's to an opposite (but equal on level) swing, the rumble is (almost) totally eliminated and not absorbed as in the other plinth's. Thanks to the pression geometry screws, the user can tune the system for the sound of his preference like dynamical, neutral, seductive, mellow etc...  in a subtle but precise way. This plinth is opened like an ark and not boxclosed like the others... cos the big synchronous motors create a very low resonance amplified by the box which rises rumble, an open box doesn't absorb this unheard but harmful sound. Last but not least, a second tonearm can be placed to create an opposite or complementary sound by the choice of different cartridges/tonearm couples...

So, the tecnoplinth, is really a different way to solve old problems...  and when coupled, with all the Lenco/tonearm/cartridge modifications, it forms something that acts as a single and in a very reactive way !...

And the tecnoplinth obviously works very well!

It's not easy to reproduce the subtle, delicate and physical present sound of ppp strings. This is a thing the Anti-Lenco does exceptional good, better than any other source I had. This, and the absence of any rumble was very apparent on the second movement of the Karelia Suite on this Reissue of Sibelius/LSO, which is well made and has very low noise.


Then I discovered new the magic and mighty impact of this classic recording:


And for the first time I got really into this very special music. My pressing isn't very good and the Anti-Lenco is the first TT which gets the tonal colors of the music and the space of the recording place (10 km from the place I was born and grew up).


And like Rui I wish Paulo a great success!

Milton escreveu:

...   O Paulo não brinca em serviço !!    ...

Rui Mendes escreveu:

... Congratulations Paulo ... and that you sell this fine piece of jewelry like croissants...  

Thanks' Milton and Rui for your kind words that I appreciate a lot!!!... and before thinking about a worldwide success, I want simply that the rest of the anTiTon range be so good as the Anti-Lenco !!!... and i'll definitely be a very happy designer...

mannitheear escreveu:

...
Then I discovered new the magic and mighty impact of this classic recording:
...

The Köln had been used a lot of times during the maturation of the Anti-Lenco project, and its true that today is a great pleasure to heard the opposition between the virile & dynamic moments against the sweet and contemplative ones...   which creates sometimes the impression of listen this record for the first time...

Indeed a lovely audio gear!  

I've had the chance to listen to it (though MKI ?) a couple of times and it definitely not lags behind other reference turntables. Either with the M75 or with a MC cart (Technics MC303 or 305, I guess) it always had a flawless performance.

Congratulations to both Paulo and Manfred.

Dear Mister W,

although I yet was aware of your posts that showed a profound knowledge (of course, much more than that) of music, especially Jazz, it's a shame that it took until today that I discovered your amazing jazzspot project on tumblr.

It's for sure a place where I will go regularly to get much valuable information and inspiration for my future explorations of the jazz universe!

Thanks for sharing

But who or what is MKI ?

Manfred

Manfred,
That's very kind of you. That's where I usually delve into some of my favourite jazz titles...

With regard to the alleged "MK1", I was referring to the model Paulo sent on for exhibition over the last Portugáudio. It seems (to me) an earlier version of your Anti-Lenco but that's something Paulo can clarify.

All the best

The last days I found that the Anti-Lenco’s capabilities of rendering subtle details even increased, likely due to the break-in of the SAS needle. But – what I heard also was a increasing immanent distortion of certain frequencies in the right channel. Should my analogue dream end so fast? Or was a tube in the phonopre dying? No - an inspection with the magnifying glass showed a dirty needle with even fibers attached. Neither a fibre glass brush nor the normal soft brush I use to clean the needle could remove that. And I hesitated to use cleaning fluids as they may be aggressive to the suspension rubber. Fortunately I had a “dirt eraser” sponge at hand and – viola, the dirt has gone and the distortion with it!!!

What I heard now brought almost tears in my eyes! Now the needle seems to be fully broken in as any slight trace of hardness, which appeared at the beginning very occasional and only audible on certain passages, has gone away completely. The sound is now ultra-smooth while the unbelivable dynamics at least remained. It’s so fascinating how natural and energetic the Anti-Lenco plays any kind of music. The warm and full-bodied sound of Manuel Galban’s und Ry Cooders electric guitars on “Mambo Sinuendo” merge perfectly with the associated noise and hum of their amplifiers, which I could almost “see” standing in the room. The Anti-Lenco lifts the presentation of good LP’s well over the magical line most audiophiles know: the line which seperates a holographic projection by the speakers from the illusion that the sound emerges itself out of the empty space, as if no system was involved. Amazing!

Cheers
Manfred

mannitheear escreveu:

Now the needle seems to be fully broken

Cheers
Manfred

Be gentle with the sponge next time !

Milton escreveu:

mannitheear escreveu:

Now the needle seems to be fully broken

Cheers
Manfred

Be gentle with the sponge next time !

But perhaps I should ask Paulo to make a spare cartridge! There is no tonearm lift at the Anti-Lenco.

mannitheear escreveu:

The last days I found that the Anti-Lenco’s capabilities of rendering subtle details even increased, likely due to the break-in of the SAS needle. But – what I heard also was a increasing immanent distortion of certain frequencies in the right channel. Should my analogue dream end so fast? Or was a tube in the phonopre dying? No - an inspection with the magnifying glass showed a dirty needle with even fibers attached. Neither a fibre glass brush nor the normal soft brush I use to clean the needle could remove that. And I hesitated to use cleaning fluids as they may be aggressive to the suspension rubber.  Fortunately I had a “dirt eraser” sponge at hand and – viola, the dirt has gone and the distortion with it!!!

What I heard now brought almost tears in my eyes! Now the needle seems to be fully broken in as any slight trace of hardness, which appeared at the beginning very occasional and only audible on certain passages, has gone away completely. The sound is now ultra-smooth while the unbelivable dynamics at least remained. It’s so fascinating how natural and energetic the Anti-Lenco plays any kind of music. The warm and full-bodied sound of Manuel Galban’s und Ry Cooders electric guitars on “Mambo Sinuendo” merge perfectly with the associated noise and hum of their amplifiers, which I could almost “see” standing in the room. The Anti-Lenco lifts the presentation of good LP’s well over the magical line most audiophiles know: the line which seperates a holographic projection by the speakers from the illusion that the sound emerges itself out of the empty space, as if no system was involved. Amazing!

Cheers
Manfred

Isn't analogue the most beautiful format in the world? Yes, it is.


Thanks for your wonderful description of the magnificent Anti-Lenco.

António José da Silva escreveu:

Isn't analogue the most beautiful format in the world? Yes, it is.

Rick says it's only because we know only digital garbage.

Mister W escreveu:

... It seems (to me) an earlier version of your Anti-Lenco but that's something Paulo can clarify.
All the best

Hi MW, my best regards to you cos i've not saw your post ! If you're talking about the Cesar's Anti-Lenco, indeed it's the mkI version, and if we except the overall aesthetics and some tonearm modifications it's almost the same of the Manfred's one... but César doesn't have the Anti-M75 !!!... Yet !

mannitheear escreveu:

... an inspection with the magnifying glass showed a dirty needle with even fibers attached. Neither a fibre glass brush nor the normal soft brush I use to clean the needle could remove that. And I hesitated to use cleaning fluids as they may be aggressive to the suspension rubber. Fortunately I had a “dirt eraser” sponge at hand and – viola, the dirt has gone and the distortion with it!!!

What I heard now brought almost tears in my eyes! ...

You understand now why we've upgraded the overall compliance to lower and not to higher, as we've upgraded the speakers sensitivy to lower then higher... the autopsy of hifi isn't finished yet !!!

António José da Silva escreveu:

...
Isn't analogue the most beautiful format in the world? Yes, it is.

I wouldn't say that, and i don't even feel it like that... cos anyway, he isn't even the best analogue format !!!

But, when music rises above technology... who cares about material things ???...

Cheers all

TD124 escreveu:

but César doesn't have the Anti-M75 !!!...     Yet !  

The Anti-M75 is definitive a statement! I can't tell exactly what each part of the Anti-Lenco contributes to the overall performance, but the output of Anti-M75 is beyond reproach by any standard I know.

Cheers
Manfred

ANTI-T escreveu:

But, when music rises above technology...    who cares about material things ???...      

That's why it is so beautiful.

ANTI-T escreveu:

You understand now why we've upgraded the overall compliance to lower and not to higher, as we've upgraded the speakers sensitivy to lower then higher...
the autopsy of hifi isn't finished yet !!!

Today's fashion is low compliance cartridge and high speaker sensitivity.

BTW, Dual developed the ULM (ultra low mass) tonearms for high compliance cartridges at the end of the 70's but that wasn't a great success in the long run and Dual got insolvent in 1982...