Clearaudio Signature Turntable with Tracer Black Carbon Fiber Tonearm

Striving for perfection is one of the guiding principles at Clearaudio. All products from the high-end manufacturer in Erlangen embody this DNA. This includes the Concept, which was introduced in 2009 and has since been very successful with over 20,000 units sold.

As an entry-level package, the Concept already created a revolutionary sound package with an undisputed price, design, and performance ratio, featuring a specially developed tonearm and cartridge. After more than 10 years of consistency, the best gets even better, and the Concept undergoes several updates under the new name Concept Signature.

The fundamental idea behind Concept Signature remains as purposeful and user-friendly as its predecessor, as all parameters of the individual components are already perfectly set at the factory.

The core of the turntable body is made of medium-density fiberboard or, optionally, solid wood layers bonded under high pressure. The top layer of the turntable is made of specially satin-finished plastic. This composition minimizes resonances and ensures a perfect visual appearance.

The platter is driven by a polished flat belt from a completely decoupled direct current motor to minimize the transmission of interference noise. A generously dimensioned, highly stable, and outsourced power supply takes care of the voltage supply.

The new control technology with integrated auto-calibration, new adjustment options, and additional Tacho-Speed-Control ("TSC") achieve even better measurements in terms of uniformity and impulse stability. The entirely newly developed Tacho-Speed-Control constantly monitors the speed and provides real-time feedback to the control electronics. This allows it to immediately respond to changing influences such as decreasing belt tension, friction of the platter bearing, or temperature fluctuations. Additionally, TSC performs an automatic calibration at every restart. With the new concept Signature, manual recalibration is also possible at the push of a button on the back of the turntable.

Several O-rings ("IMS") improve the motor suspension decoupled from the chassis, which is adopted in a modified form from the Reference Jubilee. Simultaneously, the new encoder forms the basis for even more features of future generations and expansion stages.

In terms of design, the Concept Signature stands out. The redesigned surface with an illuminated touch controller allows for intuitive operation of the turntable and sets new design accents.

The wide selection of Clearaudio tonearms and cartridges leaves nothing to be desired in terms of modularity. Perfect combinations for the Concept Signature turntable include all MM cartridges, all MC cartridges from Concept MC to Talisman V2 Gold, as well as all tonearms from Concept to Profiler. Additionally, the Concept clamp, a specially designed acrylic cover, and the nano phono V2 / smart phono V2 phono preamplifier or one of the two upgrade power supplies, Professional Power 12V / smart power 12V, from Clearaudio are recommended.

The Signature, like its Clearaudio brethren, is a tactile delight to use. Its matte-finish, dark gray surface is practically a Clearaudio standard. Every detail, from the smooth finished plinth to the precision of the user controls, is a testament to craftsmanship. Purely as a user experience, it's an indulgence, a small audiophile luxury in a world of mass-produced mediocrity... Clearaudio has achieved something special with the Signature/Tracer package, a system that held my rapt attention throughout the dozens of records I played on it, using different cartridges, phono stages, and speakers, not all of which I had the space to report on here. The Signature is one of the few turntables I could live with long-term (along with my vintage Thorens TD 124), its clean precision, sensuous refinement, and sleek sense of drive making it a high-value component, one that created high art with every record it encountered.