Pure Fidelity Harmony II Turntable

Regular price $11,295.00

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Pure Fidelity Harmony II Turntable with Origen Live Zephyr tonearm

cartridge optional, tonearm choices available - inquiries please call Philip (604) 351-3485

Pure Fidelity “hybrid” design.

The plinth has a major impact on turntable sound. High-mass designs can have solid bass, but can sound dull. Low-mass designs can have good speed and dynamics, but often sound bright. Suspended decks can have good timing, but may lack bass. To combine the best elements of each design, Pure Fidelity’s founder, John Stratton created the ultimate “hybrid” approach, with intermediate mass based on an ultra-MDF plinth. The result is completely neutral sound. Bass is strong without being sleepy, while the highs are detailed without being bright. Fittingly, when each Pure Fidelity turntable reaches completion, John Stratton proudly signs the plinth.

Ultra MDF plinth. To realize the benefits of “hybrid” design, the Pure Fidelity plinth is built on a 50-mm core of substantially upgraded Medium Density Fibreboard called ultra MDF. Compared to standard MDF, our ultra MDF offers higher density, better fibers, and better machineability, enabling far more precise assembly. Ultra MDF also helps control resonance, as described below.

Defeating vibration and resonance. Like a microphone, a phono cartridge works by converting mechanical vibration into voltage. Crucially, the cartridge not only picks up motion from tracking the record groove, but also unwanted vibration when sound from the loudspeakers impacts the turntable and the shelf it’s sitting on. The cartridge simply cannot distinguish between the music and unwanted vibration, which can degrade playback, damaging musicality and collapsing the soundstage. That’s why the Horizon and Harmony turntables embody an uncommonly thorough program to suppress resonance. The aluminum isolation platform, GAIA™ IV isolation footers, and ultra-MDF plinth all work together to produce music of such pristine clarity, it gives added meaning to our company name, Pure Fidelity.

6061 aircraft aluminum isolation platform.

A favorite choice for aircraft and automotive structures, 6061 aluminum alloy has superb rigidity, resisting deformation with a Young’s modulus of 10 million pounds per square inch. At a thickness of 3/4 inch (19 mm), this isolation platform provides extraordinary stability. And because the platform is separated from the ultra-MDF plinth by GAIA IV isolation footers, it maintains all the advantages of Pure Fidelity’s “hybrid” design.

GAIA IV isolation footers.

Heralded by multiple industry awards, the patented IsoAcoustics GAIA™ isolation footers make a huge difference in the focus and expression of music reproduction. So it was only natural that we approached the Markham, Ontario-based IsoAcoustics to develop a lower-profile version specifically for Horizon and Harmony. The result: the extraordinary GAIA IV footers. Three of them fit into CNC-machined pockets in the aluminum isolation platform and support the plinth.

Ultra-precise CNC machining. To take full advantage of the 6061 aircraft aluminum, we apply computer numerical control (CNC) machining, using custom tools with a repeatable tolerance of 1/1000 inch – one-third the thickness of a typical human hair. We also apply CNC machining to the ultra-MDF plinth, sub-platter, Delrin® platter, and even the high-density foam packing carriers. The result is unit-to-unit consistency of the very highest order.

Ruby bearing in a low-friction bronze shaft.

By the time it gets to your ears, the output of a moving coil cartridge can be magnified by a factor of 10,000 or more. So even minuscule imperfections in the turntable drive system can become audible issues. For this reason, even though we could purchase 100 steel bearings for the price of a single ruby bearing, we’re sticking with ruby. Ruby offers incredible hardness, with a Mohs scale of 9. (Only one precious stone is harder: diamond.) For similar reasons, we chose bronze instead of the industry standard brass for the bearing shaft. Bronze offers better durability, higher strength and a lower coefficient of friction. The end result of these two materials is a dead silent, near-frictionless drive system.

Perfecting rotational speed. The time base of vinyl playback depends on the rotational speed. Of course, any large change in platter speed would cause an obvious change in musical pitch. But even minuscule, momentary speed variations can blur instrumental timbre, placing a veil between you and the music. To maintain speed with utmost precision, Pure Fidelity optimizes the Maestro speed control, AC synchronous motor, pulley, dual drive belts, aluminum/stainless steel sub-platter, and Delrin® platter. The result: an uncanny ability to faithfully render musical timbre.

Conductor quartz locked speed control.

To drive the motor with the utmost precision, we created the Conductor outboard speed control. This features quartz lock to maintain a rotational accuracy of ±0.003%. Because many classic vinyl records predate such precision, the Conductor also provides separate rear-panel pitch adjustments for 33-1/3 and 45 rpm. A robust component in its own right, the speed control isolates the motor drive voltage from the noise, spikes and distortions in your household AC mains, generating a pure sine wave of uncommon stability.
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Custom AC synchronous motor. To satisfy our stringent requirements, the motor is quiet, stable and free from “clogging” – unwanted pulses of torque. We outfit our 12-volt AC synchronous motor with our own custom modifications that reduce clogging to the vanishing point.

Stainless steel pulley and two drive belts.

After extensive listening tests of different belt styles and configurations, we selected two drive belts with round cross-sections. It’s by far the best sounding choice for our drive system.

Reviews

"KM found that the Harmony fitted with the Origin Live tonearm and Pure Fidelity's Stratos phono cartridge "took me on a joy ride, exuding all the liveliness and pace, rhythm, and timing of any well-made low-mass 'table but with a neutral tonal balance and a vice-like low-end grip." KM's conclusion: "The Pure Fidelity Harmony brings a beautiful sonic signature to vinyl but with enough transparency to reveal the unique personality of each LP . . . The Pure Fidelity Harmony is one of the finest analog playback machines I've heard, worth every penny of its $9995 asking price." (Vol.45 No.12 WWW)

"If you are in a fortunate position researching your final solution turntable, you cannot do better under 10K than the wonderful Pure Fidelity Harmony Mk2 Turntable. Very highly recommended"

read the review in Audiopilia

“For the past few weeks I have had the pleasure of evaluating a Pure Fidelity Harmony turntable. This is by far the nicest analog vinyl spinner I have ever had in my possession.”

~ Steve Huff read the review

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