Thales Thales Reference

Reference-Turntable

The recently patented centrifugal governor from Thales enables the driving and braking torque of a turntable drive to be in constant balance. Therefore, no corrective actions related to speed-constancy is needed during playback, as it is essential with any electronic controller. The result is unprecedented precise timing in analogue music playback.

The centrifugal governor brings the platter driving force into self-regulating balance with an eddy current brake, thus offering optimal conditions for the human cognition of music. Since such a controller works at a certain speed only, an electrically driven mechanism automatically switches the integrated belt drive when the platter speed is changed by the user. Completely independent of the mechanical device, an electronic circuit monitors by quartz reference the average platter speed and adjusts it via the drive current to the selected nominal value, without affecting the speed constancy behaviour at all.

After fifteen years of experience in designing turntable drives, not only this invention became part of the Thales Reference, but our know-how is reflected in all details. The compact device is very stable and optimized for perfect resonance behaviour. The platter rests on a curved sub-platter and is decoupled by a layer of hard paper. The main bearing made of tooling steel, spheroidal graphite iron and sinter bronze is our proven homage to old craftsmanship and guarantees maintenance-free function for several decades.

The status and function of the integrated battery power supply are monitored by a microprocessor. The external charger is connected to the mains via a relay, so the power supply can be disconnected from the power grid during listening mode in an elegant way.

An additional base for a second tonearm is optionally available.