The Review Smiths
Rekkord F400 Rekkord F400
4.5
Rekkord F400 4.5
When it comes to vinyl, the quality of sound is king and a decent turntable can make a massive difference to that sound. The guys at Rekkord have been making turntables by hand for almost half a century so it’s fair to say they’ve got a pretty good idea of what they’re doing! They even get 99% of the components for their turntables made within a 25 mile radius of their factory – the suppliers being “ideally suited” for supplying all the parts needed. Sounds good but what does this mean for this particular turntable?

Firstly, this one is fully automatic so no need to worry about getting up to lift the arm off when your record is done – a win in my book! Secondly, the turntable is raised above the main chassis of the unit on a sub-chassis platform. This separates the automatic system (including the arm and damped aluminium platter) away from the main plinth, reducing the potential for noise interference. Given the plinth is made from MDF (picked for its resonance-damping qualities) already, this gives you an idea of how serious Rekkord are with getting things just right so that you can listen to your vinyls in the way intended. The arm includes massless tracking force adjustment meaning the centre of gravity is firmly at the bearing centre, leading to a smooth and gentle movement that holds no danger for your precious discs! That’s the manual adjustment and fine-tuning of the whole automatic system from the experienced technicians having an impact right there.

The cartridge supplied is an Ortofon 2M Red which is a perfectly good mid-price range cartridge in itself, the only criticism being that some feel its sound is too ‘bright’ but you could easily swap it out with your favoured cartridge if this is the case. RRP €696

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