NAC588

C 588

NAD Electronics

Bring new life to your existing vinyl collection with the NAD Electronics C 588 Manual Two-Speed Belt-Drive Turntable. NAD is well known for innovative, high-performance, yet affordable turntables. Designed to play records, purely and simply, the C 588 is constructed from high-quality parts, precisely engineered to work together in harmony.Striking that balance of quality and value, the C 588 combines a glass platter and solid MDF plinth with an isolated precision AC motor for accurate and consistent rotation. The 9" carbon fiber tonearm allows for vertical and horizontal balance adjustment to improve precision and reduce wear. A fixed headshell comes preinstalled with the Ortofon 2M Red cartridge, which is well regarded for excellent tracking, transparency, and bright tone. The RCA phono level output will need to be connected to a phono preamp and a high-quality RCA cable with separate ground is included to make the connection.Electronic Speed Control Having exact pitch (speed) is important, but human hearing is much more sensitive to momentary changes in speed which, in turntable parlance, are expressed with the terms Wow and Flutter.As its name sounds, Wow is a slow cyclical speed variation. The most severe example is the sound of a severely warped record, where the stylus travels faster on the rising side of the warp and slower on the descending side, causing abrupt changes in musical pitch. Flutter is what we call very fast and small variations that are usually generated by the motor.The C 588 addresses both of these problems with proven and effective solutions. A specialized, high-precision, synchronous clock motor is both very smooth and accurate, especially when driven from a stable AC voltage. To ensure a clean and stable AC voltage, NAD isolates the AC Mains by first converting it to a clean DC voltage, and then electronically generating the precise AC frequency to regulate the synchronous motor. Using a specially formulated belt to drive the platter further filters and isolates any remaining vibration. All rotating parts are made from aluminum alloy machined to very tight tolerances to eliminate any eccentricity or vibration in the drive system.Tonearm and Cartridge The C 588 features a custom designed carbon fiber tonearm shaft with a fixed metal headshell and features a decoupled counterweight and magnetic anti-skate compensation. An Ortofon 2M Red cartridge is factory installed and offers superb tracking and a full range sound. The C 588 uses a longer than usual 9 tonearm to optimize overhang and reduce the tracking angle error. To perfectly align the stylus NAD includes adjustments for azimuth and vertical tracking angle, and include a gauge to calibrate the alignment.Resonance Control and Isolation Reducing all spurious vibrations to a minimum is critical to getting the best result when playing vinyl. Since these vibrations can come from various sources, both internal and external, the materials and dimensions must all be carefully calculated to reduce and balance all resonances in order to prevent a buildup of energy at particular frequencies. To isolate external vibrations from the loudspeakers or footfalls bouncing the floor, NAD use a massive MDF base with specially tuned vibration damping feet, along with a thick non-resonant dust cover. The choice of glass platter, felt pad, MDF base, and carbon fiber tonearm, were carefully considered to work together to limit and reduce spurious vibration.