Thread: Mini Review of the JC Verdier "La Platine"

Hello folks,

So I finally made it. Bought a JC Verdier La Platine.
Arms are SME M2-12R, a strong recommendation of JC himself and reading on the various forums, it appears to be better for the SPU than the Ortofon arm....
Carts are Ortofon SPU Classic GM E MKII (elliptical stylus), Denon DL103 Expert Stylus Co., and I ordered also an EMT XSD15 that I'm waiting for. The Denon ( and the EMT ) is connected to my A23 Hommage T2 SUT then to the MM of the Giscours preamp and the SPU goes straight to the MC of the Giscours.
Pro Audio Bono made me a custom rack for it and Wladek is now working on a Reference SE isolation platform for the TT and the motor.
What about the sound ?
Simply the best source I ever heard. The difference in sound between the SPU and the Denon is very large : that was my goal, having really 2 different flavors depending on the records.
What strikes me really compared to all the other TTs I had ( Rega P3, LP12, Clearaudio Champion Level II and Rega P9 which I still have) is :
-the deepness and clarity of the bass. It has a very high resolution, goes very low, and has a weight and presence I never heard before.
- Weight, presence and texture of the notes; the sound is more palpable than ever on my system. But this weight is not a chubby one. It is very natural. The music flaws and draws my attention more to the performance and the music than to the notes and details.
- this weight comes with great finesse, pace, and agility : it is both weighty and fast and able to convey very tiny signals with extreme delicatesse.
The TT seems to reunify all the flavors from the various designs of TT : heavy weight, suspended, and light weight. Plus this unique levitating platter, made by a huge precisely drawn magnetic field, with zero mechanical contact.

With the SPU, surface noise is completely absent, something already reported for the cart itself with its 4g of VTF. And the sound straight in the MC of the Giscours is ultra ultra sweet. Perfect for harsh recordings. The sound of the Ortfon is both highly resolved and ultra sweet, but of course, there are many other carts with higher resolution on the market. But the Ortofon excels at making music.
The Denon rocks as you would expect, with powerful bass and more dynamics on all the spectrum than the Ortofon but this comes surely because of the effect of the A23 SUT. I can't wait to hear the EMT for which the Hommage T2 was designed. ( It is not designed specifically for the 103 ). The 103 modified by ESCo, has not many things in common with an original 103 ( even the cantilever and the diamond are different....). It has a very tiny diamond which, according to Verdier who analyzed it on its powerful microscope, goes at the very bottom of the groove. So it is of utmost importance for it to have a very very clean record or you get some surface noise that could be annoying. But with good and clean recordings, the sound is much more involving and exciting than the much more laid back SPU.

As I said, the Verdier makes me listen more to the artistic performance than to details, while at the same time, I'm getting tons of resolution and details.
Jean Marc offered me two recordings from artists that I usually do not care for and actually never appreciated.
The Doors "LA WOMAN" and Neil Young " Rush after gold".
For both recordings, the P9 made me thinking the same thing. I do not like them. They sound boring.
Tried those on the Verdier and this happened for the first time in my 20 years of Hifi history : I ENJOYED them ! truly LOVED them. The Verdier removed a cover from the music and made me a spectator in the studio / concert for the Doors. And I discovered the beauty of both recordings. Their groove and how deep they can resonate inside.

So that is what the Verdier is about. Extremely NATURAL SOUNDING, drawing your very best attention to the music played, and making you discover the beauty hidden by most of the other sources.
Same thing as what Shindo makes compares to all the other brands I know and had in my systems.

If you're in the business for a TT at this level of price, you should imho try to listen to the Verdier before any other purchase.
And if you cannot listen to it, you can rely on me, or much better, rely on Verdier who built the very best TT in the world : the Magnum. 500 kgs and 100K euros : finally not so expensive : 200 euros per kgs of pure science.....

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Bonjour (bonsoir) Jerome; tres tres content de te voir. ...Tu sembles bien t'amuser; continue.

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OMG! Jerome. What an amazing table. Congratulations. I can only imagine how sweet it sounds. Enjoy it in great health.

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On the PAB Rack :

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Bob, Joe.....: Thank you my friends !

Jerome, Congrats on a very beautiful and unusual looking table !! I always enjoy pics of your room and gear, Just beautiful !!

Enjoy you system in good health for many years !

Superb Jerome!

Wow !!


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Holy cow!!! That table is sweet!!!! Never saw such a beast of a record clamp!! Looks huge!!
Thanks for the review, especially the spu. I got one on my short list and am probably getting the same that you wrote about or maybe the royal.
Great job!!

Beautiful Jerome. I love the SME arm with the Ortofon SPU cart.

Beautiful Jerome. So glad you are enjoying the table, especially after thinking about it for so long

Interesting that I also have the SPU gm classic 2 as well as a demon 103r with ESC upgrades in ebony body.
I have heard very good things about the emt 15 cartridge.

It is so much fun having multiple tables, arms and carts.

Enjoy my friend.

Mark, Mike, Nelson, Doug, Steve, Shane.....: thank you guys !

Steve,
The clamp is a very special one.
Made on order by a small electronics French company, it has inside a very sophisticated mechanism that controls gyroscopic LEDs. When the clamp is upside down, the LEDs light on and you can adjust very precisely the speed of the motor. So it is both a clamp and a speed indicator. The Chinese tried to copy it and I think they still sell it but JC Verdier told me that they did not understand how to build the mechanism with metal pieces and they made it of plastic. The copy is a crap.
To date, only this French company built a serious one (Lys Electronics). It is wonderful to use if you can adjust the speed rotation on your TT or even to check the speed on fixed units but it is quite expensive....( 500 euros ).

Jerome...congrats on a beautiful 'table.

Dave

Originally Posted by f1 fan

Jerome...congrats on a beautiful 'table.

Dave

Welcome back Dave!

Originally Posted by f1 fan

Jerome...congrats on a beautiful 'table.

Dave

I missed that Dave. Thanks a lot.
So when are you coming to Paris buddy ?



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Originally Posted by Jerome W

I missed that Dave. Thanks a lot.
So when are you coming to Paris buddy ?



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Ahhh, Paree, Pareee.