Review : Kronos Sparta

Kronos Sparta Turntable review in The Absolute Sound by Greg Weaver.

Read the full review here : http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/kronos-sparta-turntable/

Conclusion :
I’ve been playing with turntables since my childhood, and I’ve been setting them up and modifying them since the early 1970s. While I’ve heard the Kronos PRO at shows since its introduction, it has mostly been in systems with many other components (including stands, cables, and conditioners) with which I was unfamiliar. Though it has always presented very well, given the conditions, I could never be exactly sure that I could ascribe the performance I heard to the Kronos PRO only. Such is the nature of show reporting.

However, now that I’ve had the Sparta on hand for some months, and have had time to really get to appreciate its remarkable contributions, I have been supremely impressed. Not to minimize any of the other optimizations and enhancements that Louis Desjardin has integrated into the Kronos ’tables—the high-performance motors, the precise bearings, the compound composite construction of both the plinths and platters, and the patented suspension system—but I believe that it is the implementation of the dual-platter, contra-rotational concept that has the most substantive effect in the Kronos design, and as such, is the single most significant development in turntable design in decades.

Honestly, once seeing and understanding it, as forthright and fundamentally simple as the idea is, it seems almost shocking that someone didn’t think of and apply this principle sooner. It is a game-changer. After living with my Redpoint Model D for seven years, and having steadfastly held off all other comers in its price range and above, I have traded in my Redpoint and now own the Kronos Sparta and Helena tonearm as my reference analog system. And I’ve never before been treated to vinyl playback from any system I’ve owned that is as clearly and profoundly moving as what I am now hearing.