It may be almost 20 years old,  but Trio's L-07D direct-drive turntable can still mix it with  the best, thinks Jon Marks.

Most hi-fi is built to a budget, as a quick heft of most equipment will tell you - a lot of cases contain more air than components. Every once in a while though, a manufacturer decides to throw their accountants out the window and design a true statement product just to show everyone what the boffins in lab coats are really capable of. Trio's L-07D direct-drive turntable was their engineering statement back in 1980.
 
The preamble in hi-fi manuals usually consists of the manufacturer congratulating the buyer, and the Trio's is no different: "Your choice of this product indicates that you are a devotee of excellence in sound reproduction." In the majority of manuals this would look like unduly purple prose, but not in this one. The L-07D with its outboard power supply is 35kg of innovative precision engineering.
 
Selling for a not inconsiderable £1150 18 years ago, this turntable incorporates Corian, composite materials and aerospace aluminium to great musical effect.
 
Starting with the tone-arm, you'll find a high-grade aluminium arm-tube wrapped in a layer of carbon and boron fibres to damp resonance and increase rigidity. The detachable headshell is formed from the same fibres. Ultra-hard tool steel is used in the pivot which runs on oversize bearings mounted atop a stainless steel shaft.

The whole assembly is then clamped to the plinth in a four-jaw collet chuck, similar to the one you'd find at the end of a power drill. Allowing precise height adjustment with these jaws open is a helicoid mechanism which raises the arm 0.1mm for each revolution of the dial. Once the arm is properly set up, the chuck just needs to be tightened before listening.
 
Rigidly connecting the arm and motor (as you might have guessed, rigidity was one of the main design objectives in the L-07D) is a heavy aluminium casting. The heart of the deck is the main bearing, a 12mm diameter shaft of precision-ground hard stainless steel. 

Inferior engineering in this area simply wouldn't have lasted because it has to support most of the mass of a whopping 5.5kg platter which would grind your average bearing to dust. Taking up the rest of the load is a floating magnet system which also helps reduce rumble.
 
The platter is unusual for its mat. Instead of rubber Trio opted for dished stainless steel, reasoning that any 'lossy' materials would absorb part of the signal cut in the record rather than relaying it through the cartridge. And judging from the power and focus of the music the L-07D makes, they were right.
 
Whether it's 33 1/3rpm or 45rpm you're spinning your vinyl at, the Trio has a crispness, detail and substance to its sound that's addictive. Play an orchestral work and you'll find there's no squashing of dynamics on crescendos - the tension and scale just build up and up effortlessly.
 
Some massive turntables with large platters can sound slightly sluggish in the bass. The Trio avoids this pitfall. There is a touch of looseness in the lower registers but the arm takes the blame for this - good as it was in its day it's now outclassed by modern midprice (£250-£500) offerings in many aspects.
 
Proper setting up is vital if you're going to realise the L-07D's full potential. As it has absolutely no suspension whatsoever it has to be sited on a stable platform that will transmit very little vibration into the deck. Make sure too the aluminium platter under the stainless steel mat is level as the plinth's in-built spirit level can drift with time. Finally, the arm is very sensitive to bias adjustment and headshell azimuth, so time spent getting both right is time well spent.
 
L-07Ds aren't as common as Rega Planar 3s but neither are they in as short supply as sincerity at a party political conference. Look to pay between £450-£700 depending on condition and make sure it's complete - Kenwood (tel: 01923 816444) have no replacements for most parts. Pick a well-preserved example though and you'll be able to enjoy superb vinyl replay for years to come.