Funk Firm HOUDINI de-coupler A (for thru-hole cartridges)

Heresy, or, Is this actually The Next Step in Analog?

Funk introduces Houdini. Derived from AK1, Arthur Khoubesserian's statement arm, Houdini is a decoupler with high dynamic stability.

A decoupler? Three years of analysis and modelling showed that "best practise" of firmly bolting cartridge-to-arm is completely wrong. With arm and cartridge "as-one", each time you change the arm, the sound changes. Thus, all arms influence the cartridge. Nobody can ever win...and certainly to date nobody has. (That being the case, then using 3 bolts is even worse)

If only you could remove the arm's effects and support the cartridge correctly, that would leave only the sound of the cartridge. How? Enter Houdini. In its tiny volume just 6mm deep is a patented suspension system plus a "torsion-tether". The result? Unparalleled isolation. With Houdini "The problem you never knew you had" disappears. Houdini has actually freed the genie.

But in ditching so-called "Best-practice-wisdom" this means that every single, un-isolated deck in the world is compromised. Houdini crystallizes Funk is all about progress. Say what they will, the industry Behemoths can't stop progress. You only need listen. The reward is more information, better fidelity, better sound. The differences are immediate and they're not subtle. In Hi-Fi speak they can say, "More Pace / Better Mid clarity / Blacker space / Greater Dynamics / Bass attack...yada..." Or, simply, it just sounds "Right". You'll find you're pulling out record after record. Why is Funk Firm so confident? Because they're still pulling their records out ourselves! "Bad" records, are no longer "bad", just produced differently. This makes more sense, after all producers were happy with the sound they created. Why and how did it go wrong? It can only be at the replay end.

Cross-referencing on Linns, Projects, Reed, Rega P1- P10, Schroeder, SL1200s, SME 30, Thorens, VPI, etc., the results were consistent. These benefits couldn't be recreated any other way. The improvement is at a fundamental level. Houdini delivers all, not just high-end. Hear what it does to P1 or Debut, it's revelatory.

Houdini brings the master tape closer, hence why Funk Firm calls it "The next step in analogue"

By itself, the Houdini has to be one of the most interesting and important additions I've added to any turntable. It really is something else. It isn't an illusionist, it's a revealist and a revivalist. That is, you will find yourself revisiting your collection more than ever and enjoying it more than ever.