Clearaudio Concept Signature

Clearaudio Concept Signature

Sophisticated turntable in an elegant design

The Signature model of the wildly popular Concept record player from German Clearaudio has been upgraded at crucial points. Where the regular Clearaudio Concept was an entry model, albeit in very, very high quality, the Clearaudio Concept Signature very much reaches the high-end performance segment.

With more than three decades of manufacturing record players and accessories, Clearaudio is one of the most established manufacturers in the world. Their range starts in terms of price a bit higher than that of many other manufacturers, e.g. because they have chosen a very high base level and because they continue to manufacture everything in Germany. The Clearaudio Concept Signature is a top-trimmed record player that combines an insanely elegant design with advanced technical solutions that ensure vinyl playback at a very high level.

Concept Signature with advanced speed control

Compared to the classic Concept turntable, the Signature version is, as I said, upgraded in several respects. One of them, probably the most important, is Clearaudio's Techo-Speed Control, TSC, which ensures the highest possible precision of the platter's revolutions. The system constantly measures the platter’s rotation speed and transmits the information back to the control electronics. If the rotational speed changes, due to friction in the bearings, slack in the drive belt or temperature changes, the motor corrects for it. Every time you start up the Clearaudio Concept Signature, it performs a self-calibration so that it performs at its best from the start. The motor and its suspension have also been upgraded with Clearaudio's IMS (Innovative Motor Suspension) which minimizes vibrations and resonance. That technology is a scaled-down version of that found in Clearaudio's Reference Jubilee turntable, which costs approx. 5 times as much as Concept Signature.

Elegant, high performance design

The Clearaudio Concept Signature is beautiful - really beautiful, and the choice of material has been carefully made on the basis of both durability and appearance, but most importantly, because of its sound properties. The plinth is built around an aluminum frame in a sandwich construction where the core consists of wood. Top and bottom are made of a synthetic plastic. The combination of these materials helps to reduce the unwanted vibrations and resonances that would otherwise have gone directly into the platter and from there into the cartridge and finally end up in your ears as distorted sound. The record player has a rare ability to reproduce music with incredible confidence, nerve and at the same time neutrality. It is incredibly rewarding to listen to and operate, and if you give it a piece of good vinyl, it immediately rewards you with listening pleasure that a few years ago could only dream of in this price range.

Ready to entertain

The tone arm is fitted with a phono cartridge so that the record player is ready for use when it is unboxed. The cartridge is Clearaudio's own MM Concept, a very nice model considering that it is included in the purchase. Of course, you can always upgrade to a better phono cartridge at a later stage, but with the Concept MM you are at least off to a very good start. Everything from cartridge to anti-skating is adjusted from the start, so you can start listening right away! - A pure plug-and-play solution if you can use that word for something as analog and classic as a record player.

Clearaudio Concept Signature is available in several versions. What you’re looking at here is the standard package. It consists of the Concept Signature chassis, a Concept tonearm and a Concept MM cartridge. It is possible to upgrade both the tonearm and pickup at the time of purchase if you want an even better package. Contact us for more information on the options.