Clearaudio Concept Dark Wood Active Turntable

It’s easy to think of turntables from only a single perspective: that they have one job and one job only–as the analog LP playback link in a much larger chain known as an audio system. But working with the Clearaudio Concept Dark Wood Active turntable these many months has set me straight about how wrong I’d been in that belief. The Concept Active redefines what it means to be an affordable and accessible high-performance turntable ready for action in the here and now.

There are two reasons for this. First, the Concept Active is fully equipped, literally ready to go—plug it in and just add vinyl. The ’table includes a tonearm and cartridge, of course. But, crucially, there’s also a built-in phonostage, and not just a bargain-basement type. Rather, it’s a top-notch, configurable mm/mc phono pre, just like the big boys. And second is something out of left field, something I wasn’t expecting at all, at least not on a Clearaudio. Along the lower right corner of the wood base is a tiny inset volume wheel and nearby, gasp, a headphone jack. I thought I’d seen it all. Sure, a headphone jack in a preamp, okay. In integrated amps or DAC/streamers, why not? Every electronic keyboard has one. But a turntable? Clearaudio’s crossover platform is also a personal listening device (PLD). 

Suddenly, it all made sense to this audiophile, who, truth be told, had essentially ignored the earbud/PLD segment. With a good set of headphones, Concept Active becomes fully self-contained, like an island of analog to be enjoyed in much the same way as any personal player, minus the on-the-go portability. Just jack-in, plop a record on the platter, and that’s the ballgame. No need to mobilize a full brigade of electronics and loudspeakers. Just sit back and enjoy some tunes. So, depending on how you like to get your high-end fix, this baby is more than able to go it alone. Just how well it performs that feat is perhaps its greatest trick. 

Flexibility has defined Clearaudio’s Concept line since its debut in 2009. Positioned as the company’s entry-level, plug ’n’ play model marketed to first-timers, it goes out the door of Clearaudio’s factory in Bavaria with cartridge pre-installed and calibrated. At a modest $4600 (the price dips to $3600 without the Active option), the Concept Dark Wood Active reviewed here is the top-of-the-line in the Concept collection. However, Concept models are available in various configurations, and money-saving bundles begin with the $1800 standard version with Concept tonearm and Concept mm cartridge. The Active package can be ordered with any Concept featuring the Satisfy Black or Satisfy Carbon Fiber tonearms. By the way, if you’re curious about the lengths Clearaudio’s gifted designer Peter Suchy will go to, check out Jon Valin’s evaluation of Clearaudio’s Master Innovation (Issue 301).

My sample shipped with the optional Concept clamp ($135). Hockey puck-sized and weighty, it not only flattens most records firmly to the platter but in so doing eliminates spurious resonances, as well. I’ve used record clamps of one sort or another for years. Short answer: Buy one and use it. Clearaudio also offers a full-skirted dust cover, especially fitted for the Concept Active, with cutouts for the phono/input panel and headphone jack. Personally, I wouldn’t consider not having a dust cover if one is offered. Turntables, cartridges, and all that goes into them are magnets for dust, as are cherished LPs. Why wouldn’t you want to shield them? 

Concept Active is mechanically identical to the Concept Black I previously reviewed, It’s a suspensionless design, belt-driven, with a DC-type motor that is both decoupled from the platter and well damped, easy to operate, light but not flimsy. Concept has a clean low-profile design with svelte lines and a minimum of accents and badging. The impression is purposeful and unpretentious—all the better to accentuate the heavy platter and gleaming Satisfy CF tonearm. Its modest dimensions require a minimum of rack space, too. A rotary on/off knob in the lower left corner of the platform selects the rotational speed of the platter and includes 78rpm as well as 33/45rpm. 

Clearaudio states that the Concept cabinet is resonance optimized. The core of its chassis is fabricated of solid baltic birch with a dark-wood stained edge. The 30mm-thick platter is made from a “synthetic” material. Its surface is CNC milled and rests on an aluminum subplatter. The bearing is a polished and tempered steel shaft in a sintered bronze bushing that runs on a Teflon thrust plate. 

Turning to the phonostage/headphone amp, distributor Musical Surroundings confirmed that the Concept Active uses a new circuit, designed by Marko Borovac, formerly of Audio Note UK, who joined Clearaudio in early 2018. It’s a single-ended, pure Class A circuit with just two JFET gain stages, passive RIAA equalization network, and DC-servo bias-control. Zero negative feedback is applied to both the first and second gain stages. 

The phono preamp is toggle-controlled and discretely positioned on the back of the dark wood base. Toggles include Subsonic, Gain, Mode, RCA (selectable for passive, active, variable). A pair of RCA outputs are included for either passive or active output (should you consider driving a pair of active desktop loudspeakers), as are a power supply input and a ground terminal. Since cartridge loading is preset and gain selections include 40dB or 45dB for moving magnet and 56dB for moving coil, setup is pretty much a “set it and forget it” procedure. Speed calibration is accessible via three rather tiny trim pots on the rear. (Grab a jeweler’s screwdriver and strobe disc). Purists may bristle, in principle, at the inboard phonostage versus a dedicated outboard phono preamp, but Clearaudio is aiming for ease of setup and use. The fact that in-board shortens the signal path and eliminates a set of interconnects (which can, in and of themselves, add colorations and attract RF) should not be lost on the “purist,” either. 

The Satisfy CF tonearm is the top-dog tracker for the Concept Series and Performance DC turntables. A step up from the Satisfy Black ’arm, it replaces the aluminum armtube of the Black with a carbon-fiber one that’s exceptionally light and rigid, reducing resonance for enhanced clarity. The handmade Swiss vertical and lateral bearings, adapted from the watch industry, are composed of polished tungsten points against sapphire thrust pads. A two-piece aluminum headshell sports adjustable azimuth, while anti-skating control is applied by a non-contact magnetic system that acts on the side of the bearing housing. The tonearm cable is hard-wired. Its delicate cue lever is very precise and doesn’t wander when lifted. 

At the business end of the tonearm was the Concept mc cartridge (0.42mV). It’s equipped with a boron cantilever and fine-line stylus, and clad in an aluminum-magnesium alloy with a ceramic surface layer. Its motor sports dual high-quality copper windings and independent coils in a “V” configuration, similar to the separate symmetrical coil design used today in all Clearaudio mc’s. 

My review sample included the optional Smart Power 12V ($1200). It’s a battery-based DC power supply designed for Clearaudio’s Concept and Performance DC turntables. (Standard equipment with Concept Active is a plug-in universal power supply.) Encased in either sliver or matte-black aluminum, the Smart Power is a low profile, space-saving design. It is not only handsome but will also preserve rack space. The advantages that battery power offers are well known. The key is voltage stability, a factor in maintaining speed accuracy and eliminating potential noise or grunge from the mains supply. The Smart Power 12V can be set to switch automatically from battery play mode to recharging mode, and is protected from short circuits and power surges, even while charging. A circular blue LED ring light on the front panel indicates that battery output is active; when the battery is charging, the LED starts to blink. For a ’table that houses additional electronics, like the Concept Active, the benefits of this power supply are even greater, since both the turntable’s motor and the on-board phono/headphone amp electronics are fed with clean, stable DC power. The good thing about the Smart Power 12V is that it can be added at a later date, when curiosity and budgets allow. 

Getting Up and Running

Turntable setup can be especially intimidating to newbies, but Clearaudio has gone a long way toward minimizing anxiety. Credit the Concept Active’s intuitive design, but also the included bundle of handy set-up accessories—a bubble level, a small screwdriver and wrench, a tracking-force gauge, and a tonearm protractor. I began by leveling the ’table—its threaded, three-point footers are tiny but easy to adjust. (Prior to this, check the level of the rack before seating the turntable on it.) I also recommend that level be periodically rechecked. After placing the drive belt around the subplatter and motor pulley, all that is required is to carefully lower the platter onto the bearing shaft. The cartridge had been pre-installed at the factory, only requiring the user to install the counterweight and set VTF with the supplied gauge.

Plug in the wall-mounted power supply and, snap, you’re off to the races. Swapping cartridges is similarly straightforward. The minimalist headshell, though fixed, is easy to handle. Setting tracking force, cartridge overhang, and VTA present no problems. 

The motor drove the platter up to speed quickly and was noise-free. It produced decent torque, although applying pressure with a record-cleaning brush did measurably slow the platter down. In spite of some modest mechanical feedback I could generate by knuckle-rapping against the Concept base, I didn’t experience isolation issues during routine playback. To be fair, even expensive high-mass decks are not entirely immune from feedback. The groove interface just doesn’t like extraneous mechanical or airborne vibrations. Still the best bet, although impractical for most of us (me anyway), has always been to isolate the turntable in an adjacent room. My Sota Cosmos Eclipse, on the other hand (and at considerably greater cost, I concede), has played through small aftershocks in earthquake-prone Los Angeles with barely a hiccup. 

Sonically, the Concept Active echoed the performance of the Concept Black “Passive,” the workings of which I described, in an earlier review, as akin to “a fine Swiss mechanical watch. It held forth with an overall musicality, image focus, transient authenticity, and a dynamic conviction that was highly authoritative.” If anything, the Concept Active seemed a bit lighter on its feet than the Concept Black, more rhythmically alive, faster on the attack with transients, airier in the top end, and more earthy and densely colored as the octaves descended. Steady and confident in the groove, it had no discernable mistracking, even on the demanding and wildly dynamic Wilson Audio LPs that I keep at the ready. If the bass drum thwacks on “Liberty Fanfare” don’t pop the stylus from the groove, nothing short of a mortar round will. Similarly, the leading edges of brass and wind transients were extremely clean and crisp, but not thin or strident. String sections were better layered and accurately positioned in the orchestra. 

And don’t be misled by Concept Active’s compact visage. There’s a misconception in audio circles that normal-scale components somehow “play small” in comparison to their big, brawny, and yes, sometime pretentious siblings. The Concept Active laid that assumption to rest from the very first slamming groove of “Come Together” to the final operatic fade out of “Her Majesty.” 

From groove-one onward, I understood immediately why the Clearaudio distributor Musical Surroundings shipped the Concept Active with the low-output moving-coil option rather than the higher-output moving magnet. If the idea was to demonstrate how quiet and grunge-free a small discrete phono preamp could be (and how it might compare to a full-size stand-alone phonostage like my Pass Labs XP-17 or Parasound JC3+), then point taken. A dynamic, all-analog piano recording like Nojima Plays Liszt [Reference Recordings] exposes system nuances and system noises like few recordings I know. But this on-board phono rose to the occasion, expressing low-level detail and dynamic energy that knocked on the door of what the aforementioned “stand-alones” had to offer. Its character skewed slightly to a softer and rounder presentation, but overall it was superbly listenable and musically satisfying.

While the Concept Active performed terrifically in a full system, it’s hard to downplay the musicality and pure simplicity of listening through a good set of headphones fed directly from its phonostage. Given that the single-ended, pure Class A output stage was optimized for headphones from 30–300 ohms, it proved exceptionally quiet and responsive, driving the top-notch Grado PS2000e and HiFiMan HE-400 models with ease and fluidity. The midrange was on the warmish side, well-defined, and very present. The treble had noteworthy hints of lift and air. Dynamic gradients were formidable in both sensitivity and slam, and bass response was tight and tonally defined in the hyper-distinctive way that only headphones create. The volume control was nicely graduated for these moderately sensitive ’phones. The biggest surprise for me was just how much I found myself listening to LPs via headphones. There’s no getting away from how easy it is to enjoy music at the spur of the moment without having to fire up an entire system. During this evaluation there were more than a few occasions that I glanced ashamedly at my Pass Labs preamp and dormant ATC loudspeakers, with cables and power cords strung everywhere, and thought to myself, “I could get to like this.”

At the outset of this review, I fretted over whether or not the sonics of the Concept Active on optional battery power would be improved enough to justify this option’s added expense. Would readers be better off applying that thousand bucks to something else suitably high end, like a power cord or a Michelin-starred restaurant? Afraid not. I’ve heard over the years how battery power enhances amplification. Jeff Rowland Design Group and N.E.W. come to mind, for examples. And, indeed, with Clearaudio’s Smart Power at work, violins were more vividly focused, with transient information and trailing resonances better defined. Solo piano was reproduced with greater brio—more attack, longer decay.

During the Mahler Das Lied von der Erde [Berlin Phil, Karajan, DG], I was impressed by the Concept Active’s sensitivity to low-level dynamic gradations, its stability with images, and its layered dimensionality and transparency. Place Smart Power on bypass, and the soundstage literally sounded like it was losing altitude and density, growing increasingly flatter and less dimensional. Its sonic character also grew softer and more forgiving. It may not be a must-have at the outset, but be warned: Once it is installed, you’ll likely not want to return it.

At well under $5k all-in, the Concept Active is neither budget nor expensive by today’s LP-playback standards. Compared to my own reference, the Sota Cosmos Eclipse (recently returned to my system after a factory overhaul, Issue 315), which nudges the $10k mark exclusive of tonearm, cartridge, and phono preamp (SME V tonearm, Clearaudio Charisma, Pass Labs), the Concept Active fared remarkably well. In this head-to-head encounter I heard some minor subtractions. The midrange though excellent in most ways skewed slightly leaner on strings and brass. The treble was not quite as lustrous, and the lower bass was shallower. But these were small reductions—tiny losses of micro-information at the back of a soundspace, slight dynamic constrictions, small losses of electric immediacy. The breadth of an orchestral soundspace was not as grand,  depth was foreshorted. But what was unexpected was how little resolution the “entry-level” Concept Active gave up in comparison to a far more elite rig that costs four-times as much (all components considered). 

Conclusion

The beauty of the Clearaudio Concept Active approach is that the turntable can be a beginning or an end in itself—the start of a well-dressed audio chain or, with a proper set of headphones, a case-closed complete system. It represents a rarity in the high end—a triumph of performance, pricing, and packaging. Most importantly, and something that often gets lost in the minutiae and high-minded seriousness of the high-end world, the Concept Active turned out to be a helluva lot of fun. A win/win for the analog rookie and the vinyl veteran alike.

Specs & Pricing

Concept Active turntable with Satisfy CF tonearm and Concept MC cartridge
Type: Belt-drive, DC motor turntable
Speeds: 33, 45, 78 rpm
Dimensions: 16.54″ x 13.78″ x 5.51″
Weight: 17 lbs.
Price: $4600

Concept MC cartridge
Cartridge weight: 8.0 gram
Stylus shape: Micro-line
Cantilever: Boron
Coil material: OFC copper
Recommended tracking force: 2.0 gram (+/- 0.2 gram)
Output voltage: 0.42mV at 5cm/s
Cartridge Impedance: 11 ohms
Cartridge body: Aluminum-magnesium alloy with ceramic surface layer
Price: $1000 if bought separately, included with the Concept Active MC package

Smart Power 12V Battery
Type: NiMh 12V 5000mAh
Dimensions: 4.33″ x 13.78″ x 1.81″
Weight: 5 lbs.
Price: $1200

MUSICAL SURROUNDINGS (U.S. Distributor)
5662 Shattuck Avenue
Oakland, CA 94609
(510) 547-5006
musicalsurroundings.com