avid ingenium turntable
How do you encapsulate everything about your flagship product into an entry-level, budget product? You can't, simple as that. But the INGENIUM is based on the stunning ACUTUS, and does share many commonalities in its design. One of those is the main bearing, which is common to all AVIDHIFI turntables, and is somewhat responsible for their turntables sounding as good as they do. It also shares the same unique vibration dissipating clamp design, channelling unwanted vibration away from the record via the centre spindle, lowering the noise floor quite noticeably.
The sure-footed t-bar plinth is made from a solid billet of hefty aluminium, providing an extremely stable base for the deck to work on, maintaining a low centre of gravity, and is isolated from the surface it sits on using large feet made from sorbothane.
The bearing housing (the silver cylindrical piece in the middle of the deck in the photo above) houses an inverted bearing arrangement - a sapphire tipped spindle rotates on a tungsten-carbide ball, with no friction, noise, or wear. As this contact point has no lateral movement, the platter does not wobble or suffer from rumble noise. The spindle is tapered to eliminate standing waves.
The INGENIUM is a plug-and-play turntable, requiring very little set up to get up and running. Much like turntables costing a few hundred pounds, adding the belt and platter makes set up quick and easy.
The INGENIUM comes fitted with an AVID moving magnet cartridge, with a detachable stylus making replacement quick and easy.
Two power supply upgrades are available over the standard supplied PSU. Both of these upgrades come in the form of stand alone power supplies from the DIVA II and DIVA SP turntables, offering improved sound quality and speed stability. Both are easy to install at home.
A solid aluminium platter upgrade is available to replace the supplied MDF one, providing greater inertia, offering more accurate speed, greatly improving sound quality.
These potential upgrades means that your Ingenium purchase isn't a "dead end". So if you really can't bear to part with your Ingenium, there are options for it to grow. For those who wish to explore the wider analogue world of AVIDHIFI, any purchasers of the Ingenium from the little audio company will receive a healthy part exchange deal should they want to upgrade to a better AVID turntable.
The AVForums review linked to below is of a previous incarnation of the Ingenium, and is reviewed with a different arm, but captures the essence of the INGENIUM well, I feel. As Ed Selley wrote of the INGENIUM: "Simply put, the most important thing it does is that you can't hear it or more accurately, you can't attribute any significant aspects of the performance to it."
"Simply put, the most important thing it does is that you can't hear it or more accurately, you can't attribute any significant aspects of the performance to it."
AVFORUMS
"AVID has long prioritised accuracy, detail and a sort of unvarnished truth to the way its products make music. The balance here is slightly different. This is still a very accurate and revealing turntable, but it offsets this against a rhythmic energy and sense of fun that makes for a truly enjoyable listening experience."
HIFI CHOICE
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plug-and-play turntable
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AVID TA-1 tonearm
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AVID CA-1 MM cartridge
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33 RPM and 45 RPM
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2.5kg MDF platter / cork mat
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screw down records clamp
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solid aluminium chassis
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inverted stainless steel bearing
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sapphire jewel bearing
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vibration transfer clamp
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sorbothane isolation feet
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aluminium platter upgrade option £450
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DIVA PSU upgrade £1100
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DIVA II PSU upgrade £1500
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acrylic cover £85
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H 130mm x W 370mm x D 305mm
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2 year warranty
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£1500
We have a used INGENIUM which is 4 months old, excellent condition, which also includes the aluminium upgrade platter, acrylic cover, and an AVID Platform available for £1595 (RRP £2310) - please call.