Continuum Audio Labs
| Country | Australia |
|---|
Continuum Audio Labs is an Australian company that set out to build one of the most advanced turntables ever made, drawing on engineering methods from aerospace and motorsport. Its Caliburn turntable, launched in the mid-2000s, combined an advanced, heavily researched platter and bearing, a vacuum hold-down system and an elaborate isolation stand called the Castellon, and it was paired with the company's Cobra tonearm. The Caliburn was extremely expensive and became one of the most celebrated statement turntables of its era, praised in the hi-fi press for its silence and resolution. The company later introduced the less expensive Criterion and Obsidian turntables. Continuum's work was notable for the amount of measurement and materials research behind it, and for showing how far turntable engineering could be pushed. Its current status is unclear, and its turntables are now rare. For many enthusiasts the Caliburn remains a benchmark for what a no-compromise turntable can be, and reviews from the period still make interesting reading for anyone interested in analogue engineering.
Notable Continuum Audio Labs products
- Caliburn turntable
- Cobra tonearm
- Castellon stand
- Obsidian turntable
- Criterion turntable
More about Continuum Audio Labs
In the presence of such a powerful cocktail, the ordinary constraints that normally limit most endeavours can suddenly disappear, and the result is the Caliburn-Cobra-Castellon, which guaranteed the company over-night world-wide recognition. The journey was one not based on design for design’s sake but rather solving fundamental problems that existed in accurately transcribing the vinyl medium. A collaboration of field leading like-minds all sharing a common vision culminated in the Caliburn-Cobra-Castellon. The first challenge in the design process recognised that materials can greatly affect tonal accuracy and this led extensive materials testing.
Having not attained the required outcome with current available alloys, composites or organic material, the team developed its own proprietary Magnesium-composite alloy with sixty times the damping factor of Magnesium. This ensures resonance control within the chassis, arm board and platter. Having the ideal material was just the first step. This challenge was met using Shape Optimisation software to ensure the turntable and tone arm had the optimum shape to allow for effective energy transfer and dissipation.
Now came the issue of isolation from internal influences. A true zero cogging motor, a revolutionary vacuum system, microprocessor controlled rotational accuracy, mass rotational stability, oil re-circulation and bearing lubrication, all working in tandem ensured a playback performance level till then unheard. The final challenge was isolation from external influences and the Castellon was born. The Caliburn-Cobra-Castellon, a truly cost no object engineering masterpiece paradoxically presented another challenge to Continuum’s design team.
The result is the Criterion-Copperhead. Utilising a smaller chassis, easier to manufacture tone arm, low cogging motor, lower mass platter and a less complex lubrication/vacuum system allows for a cost saving that has lowered the entry threshold for vinyl lovers worldwide but not the quality. Does it equal the Caliburn-Cobra-Castellon? No, but it comes closer than anything else available.
Indeed, the superlatives allocated to previous turntables have been transcended by the exquisite sonic performance of all Continuum products, which dig into the grooves unheard musical overtones, enabling a closer and better communication between music and listener.