The following is an email that a prospective turntable buyer received 

when he asked a current owner for feedback on the Proscenium Gold Signature turntable. 

Hi Chris,

No problem - glad to help if I can.  Let me start sort of backwards with a comment on my turntable experience in general then I'll answer your question as best I can.  I gotta tell you that I've never really believed that a turntable could make much difference in sound quality compared to speakers and cartridge.  What happened with me is that I finally upgraded the pre and the change in sound in my system was so incredibly unbelievably phenomenal that I realized that there were probably other things in the system that were now limiting its performance.  So I started experimenting and ended up with the stuff I listed.  Each one of those things has its own story and I wrote reviews on a total of three of them in AA (including the Walker by the way - please read it if you're interested; you can find it in the AA section devoted specifically to reviews).  

My idea was to replace only the stuff that was actually limiting the pre's performance but every time I upgraded something, I got another phenomenal improvement.  Not just significantly better sound, I mean a phenomenal improvement (my original system obviously wasn't as good as I thought).  The kind of thing my teenage daughter noticed from her bedroom down the hall.  Finally, I ended up back at the TT and I must tell you that I didn't expect it to be limiting anything and even my dealer, who is a major TT dealer in my area (I'm not going to tell you who he is because he's turned out to be quite dishonest) didn't think I needed to bother replacing it.  It was a Micro Seiki RX1500 VG with a SAEC 407/WE arm and a Monster Cable Alpha 2 (low output) cartridge.  I planned to replace the cartridge (which was really a pretty good component considering its cost) but not the TT. The Micro sold for $15000. just before they stopped distributing in the US and was considered by many to be among the best TTs ever made by a lot of serious vinyl people.

Ok, my dealer had Basis, Graham, Clear Audio, VPI, SME and several others, in stock, on the floor, ready to listen too.  I'd listened to his system so much that I had it pretty well calibrated and, like you, I wasn't afraid to spend whatever I needed to not be limiting the Aesthetix.  So after deciding on the Koetsu PO cartridge, I started listening to TTs, just for "completeness".  Well, I loved the Basis vacuum/Graham 2.2/ Koetsu PO and could tell right off that it sounded better than my Micro and by an amazing amount and that got me going. Then I listened to the entire SME line (he has them all) and several Clear Audio including the Master Ref with Graham 2.2, Souther and SME V arms, all with the same KPO cartridge.  Each SME sounded significantly better than the model below it and the 30 was fantastic - much better than the Basis.  But what sounded best was the Clear Audio Master Ref with the Graham 2.2 arm.  It was AMAZING !!  It totally blew my Micro to kingdom come.  Now I don't understand why Micro has such a following still after all these years.  They're really neat looking but are miles past their prime.  

So anyway, most important in all of this is that I realized the TT was now limiting my system in a big way.  Its weird too because if I hadn't known better I would have been totally satisfied because it all sounded SO much better than my original system and all I'd planned to do was finish IT off with a good pre. So, I started really investigating TTs and everybody I talked to said the Walker and the Rockport were absolute magic.  And while I couldn't find anyone who had compared them directly with each other every single person I talked to said there was absolutely no comparison between anything they'd ever heard and the Walker Or with the Rockport.  

Now the guy who builds Rockports doesn't plan to make them anymore (met him - great guy).  And even as nutty as I am, I couldn't spend 75K more than I already had for my system so I didn't pursue the Rockport and have nothing useful to offer you about it.  The Walker, in the 25K range depending on how you outfit it, was already about 10K more than I felt I could afford at that point.  BUT, if I felt it was THAT good, I'd find some way to do it (I'd thought similar things about the SME 30 at some point).  So I found a dealer and he arranged for me to meet Lloyd and Fred at a show in NY where they were demonstrating the TT.  When I heard the TT in NY, it was a revelation.  Its hard to describe.  Lloyd played a record I know well (Stravinsky Firebird/Mercury/45RPM version) and I heard things I had no IDEA existed.  And it was being played through a pretty modest system.  There was no way that stuff was getting out of those speakers if the Walker wasn't generating them.  I could hear instruments I didn't hear before, balances between instruments and the effects that caused I didn't know were there, ambiance that was just fricking weird (like a hologram of sound kind of; like being there) and the tone quality of everything sounded so "right".  Not "good", it wasn't a "man that sounds so good" thing, it was a "wow, I remember that! 

That IS what a double bass or a clarinet or oboe REALLY sounds like !!" kind of thing.  So I bought it.  It was MILES beyond anything else I'd ever heard.  Sort of like comparing a really really nice souped up Mustang and a Top Fuel Dragster.  You wouldn't even talk about them in the same context because they're totally different things.  That's how the Walker sounded compared to the SME 30 or the Clear Audio. Another thing is value.  The Walker is roughly the same cost as the SME 30 (which is a beautifully made thing) but its about 100 times more "thing" than the SME and even more beautifully made.  At this point, I really think the SME is a rip-off at that price, even though its made very well and sounds very good.  Buying a Walker at that price is like buying an F17 vs a commuter prop plane for the same price.  The Clear Audio is less expensive but the same thing applies.  The Walker is actually downright cheap when you see what he gives you for that money.

Regarding your "what's it like" questions, once its up, the maintenance is trivial.  Its not finicky at all.  You empty a "yuck" bottle once a month (plastic thing about the size of a Snapple bottle that just lifts out of the air supply box) and check the oil in the compressor about every three months.  You tip it forward on the floor, pop off the filler tube plug and see where the level is.  If its low, you add some Mobil Synthetic oil with a funnel, replace the cap and tip it back up - very easy.  There's nothing else you have to do.  Its so well built that I think it will last much longer than I will.  Not a single problem so far.

Now, as far as putting it together, from what you said, you might want to hire Lloyd and Fred to come out and do yours for you.  There would be several benefits.  One is, Lloyd really is an authentic, no shit genius and by the time he's done with you that baby will sing and dance.  I'm pretty technical (I'm a physicist) and I put mine together pretty easily and spent a lot of time tweaking it and I'm going to have Lloyd come out to play with mine some day just because I'm sure he can get stuff out of it I haven't found yet.  Every single time I adjust something, it gets better (its AMAZING).  Also, he'll probably give you a ton of advice about everything else in your system plus he's a great guy and you'll just plain enjoy him.  He's very unusual and very very real.  You don't meet people like him very often.  Fred is a very nice and very direct guy too. 

On the other hand, I spent several hours setting up mine and in my case I'm glad I did because I know the TT pretty well now.  Its MUCH easier than it looks and Lloyd would be sure to be by his phone when you get it and would walk you through any questions or problems you have.  BUT, it will scare you to DEATH at first when you see what he's sent you.  There are many many tens of individual pieces involved.  But his instruction manual is pretty straight forward and complete, and like I said, he's right there.  You might consider doing it yourself and if it gets to be too much, just stop and then hire him and Fred to come out and finish it off for you.  If  you do decide to do it yourself, just to be as relaxed as possible, I'd recommend you set aside a whole day to do it and take your time with each step.  The main thing is to try not to freak out when you see it all for the first time.  

Looking back on it, it was actually very easy to put together and I think I could do one now in about two hours.  It worked perfectly right off.  One more thing. The base and the platter are so heavy you won't believe it.  I mean, you really just won't believe it. If you're strong you could probably lift them by yourself but you really should have another person there to help at at least two stages.  Oh, one more thing.  Make sure you keep a phone book on the floor near by when you lift the platter.  Do NOT set that platter on the floor or on a table top or you will never get it up again without damaging it.  If you need to set it down, set it down on the corner of the phone book so you can gently hold it by the sides when you pick it up again (that's a Lloyd suggestion and its IMPORTANT man!).

Anyway, I'm going on and on here and I've got to get going so I'll just leave it at that.  Read my review (there's at least one other on there too), give Lloyd a call (tell him we exchanged emails and I suggested you call him to "get the story" - I've come to think of this guy as a personal friend at this point and I'd like you to meet him and see what a neat guy he is) and maybe get him to invite you out to his place to hear the TT.  If you do that, would you please email me back and tell me about it?  I've never been there and would love to go some time.

Good Luck!

Russ