VPI Industries Classic Direct turntable with JMW 3D 12" tonearm ($30,000; reviewed by Michael Fremer, May & June 2014, Vol.37 Nos. 5 & 6 Review and Review)

The analog source remains nearly as vital as ever: a product category that continues to attract both new design talent and the efforts of industry veterans. Our 2014 choice for Analog Source Component of the Yearthe Classic Direct Turntable with JMW Memorial 3D-printed 12" tonearmcomes from the latter group: manufacturer VPI Industries has toiled in the vinyl vineyards for 36 years. (We assume they threw a hell of a party for their 331/ 3 anniversary.) While retaining many of VPI's calling cardsmassive MDF-and-metal plinth, similarly massive aluminum platter, inverted main bearing with polymer thrust platethe Classic Direct adds an exotic Thin Gap motor and servo loop to become the first truly high-end direct-drive turntable of recent memory. For its part, the JMW unipivot tonearm is the first such product whose (removable) armwand is manufactured via 3D printing, from a nonresonant epoxy. And the arm's 12" pivot-to-stylus distance offers the at least theoretical advantage of reduced tracing-error distortion. While $30,000 may be a stretch for most enthusiasts, Michael Fremer extolled the "ear-opening ease, sonic coherence, and fluidity" of VPI's flagship record player, adding that, "while the Classic Direct is not the only turntable that produces those qualities, it may well be for its price." The combination of Classic Direct and JMW 3D-printed arm is, in MF's words, "a game changer."

Notes on the vote: Although not all of the finalists in this category are turntablesphono cartridges, a phono preamplifier, and even an analog FM tuner earned high marksthe ones that do appear are all turntable-tonearm combinations or, if you prefer, record players. Incidentally, I couldn't help being struck by the fact that the second-place product, the groundbreaking Rega Research RP8, sells for exactly one-tenth the price of the first-place VPI and is, in almost every technical regard, a strikingly different design.

Finalists: (in alphabetical order)

47 Laboratory Model 4730 Midnight Blue FM tuner ($1500; reviewed by Art Dudley, September 2014, Vol.37 No.9 Review)

Luxman PD-171 turntable with tonearm ($6400; reviewed by Art Dudley, November 2013, Vol.36 No.11 Review)

Lyra Etna phono cartridge ($6995; reviewed by Michael Fremer, March 2014, Vol.37 No.3 Review)

Ortofon 2M Red phono cartridge ($99; reviewed by Stephen Mejias, May 2014, Vol.37 No.5 Review)

Rega Research RP8 turntable ($2995; reviewed by Michael Fremer, November 2013, Vol.36 No.11)

Sutherland Engineering Insight phono preamplifier ($1400; reviewed by Art Dudley, October 2014, Vol.37 No.10 Review)

Well Tempered Lab Amadeus Mk.II turntable with tonearm ($2850; reviewed by Art Dudley, August 2014, Vol.37 No.8 Review)