Proscenium
Gold Signature Turntable and Walker Phono Amp
Reviews
and interview of Lloyd Walker
by
6moon.com's Mike Malinowski
Considering
a Walker Proscenium Gold Signature Turntable?
Read
what one owner told a prospective buyer.
Musings
On Walker Audio
One
customer's quest for sonic nirvana.
AudiogoN
Forum November 2007
"...I
have lived with the Walker [Black Diamond arm added] for about two years now and
can say it is the most amazing component I have ever experienced! I was a LINNIE
for twenty years, so I subscribe to the "source first" philosophy of
system building. IMHO the Walker simply gets more of what's on the record off.
Yes, Lloyd is a master set-up artist, yes, it is worth getting the Talisman and
Lloyds record cleaning kit [both are a big step forward with any TT] but the
Walker , in and of itself, will transform your present system in ways it is hard
to imagine! I have never been so sensitive to VTA adjustments [with the Walker
changes are easy and dramatic] have never heard more deeply into recordings or
been more aware of background singers or rhythm instruments. YOU WILL NEVER
REGRET THIS PURCHASE and Lloyd and Fred are available for questions and help, in
addition to info. about improvements and updates. [I would also HIGHLY recommend
the high definition links and SST] Perditty
Customer
Email November 2007
"Thanks
so much for all your hard work on setting up the Walker turntable and my
system. It all sounds better and better each day. I really enjoyed the
learning process and am very pleased with the final result...well worth
bringing you both (Lloyd and Fred) out here" RI
AudiogoN
Forum October 2007
"...I would venture to say that based on my personal experience
hearing the Walker in three homes with all different systems(one being
Lloyd's), the Walker table did tremendously in every setting. It
provides a sense of realism I've rarely heard elsewhere, and extracts an
incredible amount of detail from LPs without sounding etched or
analytical.My VPI TNT6-HR is not much different than your HR-X, and I'd
say it's still a big jump from either of our tables to the Walker in
level of performance."Spencer
AudiogoN
Forum June 2007
"...After
living with the Walker for 3 months I have nothing but positive things
to say about it. The first thing that strikes you after living with it
for awhile is regardless of how bad the recording is or how loud or long
you listen you never get listener fatigue, yet it is super detailed and
transparent and just hangs the instruments in the air. Some kind of
inherant distortion in turntables is removed that fatigues the listener,
a real pleasure to use and works flawlessly." Strapper211
AudiogoN
Forum March 2007
"...I
have almost the same set-up as you (my Ovation was updated to a Debut
vacuum, and I use a Graham 2.2). If I could afford it, as good as this
combo is I would probably replace it with a Walker, as the Walker seems
just a bit better in all respects, most noticeably in the detail it digs
out from the grooves and a sense of "liveness", for lack of a
better word (it could be that the Basis is too good at damping out
vibrations, for all I know). Ultimately the Walker makes a record sound
a little closer to a musical event rather than listening to a recording
of one.... I really think that you really have to hear the Walker to
understand what I'm talking about..." Rcprince
AudiogoN
Forum March 2007
"...I
have ordered a Walker Black Diamond table. I have been to Lloyds house
which is about 80 miles from me and heard the table and was absolutely
floored by it. It is a pleasure to use and the finest sound I have ever
heard from a front end, I believe you can find a different sounding
front end but none truer to the source. I did not believe analog had
come so far. A true work of art, I cannot wait till it arrives....after
hearing my albums on the walker I am positive the walker is the last
table I will buy, it just sounds better than any front end I have
heard." Strapper211
AudiogoN
Forum March 2007
"...I'm
a Walker owner of long standing (9 years)....a couple of personal
observations would be that the Walker is not really that fussy to set
up, but is revealing of changes in setup... the Walker table imparts
unlike any other source in my experience is a sense of gravitas, of
informational density, of musical mass. As the table itself is massive,
it passes on this substantiveness and foundation in its delivery. But
this quality is most definitely not burdened with a plodding pace or
inertia. I hope you get a chance to hear one sometime..."Acresverde
AudiogoN
Forum March 2007
"...I
am a Walker owner, so my comments should be taken
in that context. The Walker is the least fussy playback system I have
ever owned. It holds its VTA, speed, VTF settings rock steady. Music
does get altered in presentation by minute adjustments to VTA. While the
VTA adjustment is not on-the-fly, it is quick and easy. The air bearing
arm is no fuss and the compressor pump is as good as it gets, very
stable and reliable. Best of all, when you purchase the Walker
Proscenium Black Diamond, Lloyd and Fred come and set it up. They don't
leave until it's right and they are satisfied. In the year I have owned
mine, no adjustments have been neccessary, not even to the speed. All I
have changed is the VTA, to suit different LP thicknesses...."
Slipknot1
AudiogoN
Forum March 2007
"...Agree
with the other Walker owners, I've had mine for 8 years and adjustments
are a set and forget affair. Tracking force is something I check every
few months (Winds 1/100th gram) and variation is less than 1/100th of a
gram this past year.The pressure pump is adjusted when the table is
initially set up and it remains accurate to a fraction of a pound until
it dies. My original pressure pump was in near continuous duty for more
than 7 years and when it died last year, Lloyd replaced it at his cost.
I think all too often the excellent air suspension designed into the
Walker is overlooked. This has evolved over time and is perfectly
matched to the mass of the table and compliments the air bearing arm....
Before
I purchased the Walker, my reference was the Versa Dynamics with it's
linear track arm. When shopping for the Walker (and in the running as
candidates) were two Basis Debut Gold tables (MK4 and MK5) with Graham
2.2 and Air Tangent 10B tonearms.
As for current experience, my best friend and part of my music group
bought a Kuzma Stabi XL with Airline arm and set it up along side a
Walker that is identical to mine.His goal was to displace the Walker
with the less expensive Kuzma and put the money elsewhere in the system.
He and I have tested this for months with various cartridges and cables
and as of this week, the Kuzma is up for sale and he has ordered the
Black Diamond Arm for his Walker.
I still remember the first moment the needle hit the groove on my
Walker. The gain in performance over every other turntable was so great,
it took several months before I stopped being amazed at the
improvement."Albertporter
AudiogoN
Forum February 2007
"This
afternoon I replaced the original arm (on my Proscenium turntable) with
the (Black) Diamond...In addition to the tautness and depth of bass, and
the slightly higher extension in the top end, my initial impressions
were drawn to the lower noise floor, the solidity of the body and
texture and the absolute sense of layering front to back...."Siddh
AudiogoN
Forum January 2007
"Just
had my Walker upgraded to Black Diamond by Lloyd and Fred and could not
have anticipated the magnitude of the improvement the new arm has
made!!! The Walker was such an amazing step forward I didn't think
it could be improved, but the new arm is an order of magnitude
improvement! Musical taste runs the gamut from Mozart to Mingus to
Madonna to Megadeth and it is all beautifully presented by this
turntable." Perditty
AudiogoN
Forum January 2007
"The
sonic improvements I hear with the new (Black Diamond) arm: even deeper,
tighter and more articulate bass response (and the original was superb),
even more resolving through the mid-range...and the top end sounds
subtly more extended and open. I notice an overall improvement in
clarity, transparency and resolution of leading edge transients, but
without any unnatural harshness or etching. To my ear, the original is
exceptional among turntables; the new arm just moves the already
impossibly good performance of the original up one more notch."
Rushton
Customer
Email December 2006
"Getting
into your Rolls or Ferrari will please your eyes; getting into music
played on a Walker Black Diamond turntable will please your eyes,
satisfy your mind, and enrich your spirit." PS
AudiogoN
Forum October 2006
"..I
have heard the Walker dozens of times at great length...I can say this
T.T. is a tour-de-force major in every musical aspect..." Rx8man
Customer
Email October 2006
"I
have never heard audio reproduction sound as good or better than the
audio
reproduction I listened to at your house yesterday . We threw a
huge
variety of music genre at the system, and it came through astoundingly
on
every single type of music reproduction that we played on it... the high
level of the definition in the system was not
"spiky"-"prickly"-"irritating"-"over-defined"
but just clear, smooth definition; ...
..
the level of "neutrality" in the sound of the system was not
"dead" or "dampened" sounding (I have never heard
any other system with that level of neutrality);
...
even with the "neutrality" of the sound, the reproduction of
the wide variety of instruments made identifying their sound easy and
there was musicality in the sound as well as "clean",
"neutral" sound.
Kudos to Walker Audio for coming up with audio reproduction that is
without doubt the best that I have ever heard, and I have been listening to all
types of audio reproduction for the last 35 years. AR
Customer
Emails March 2006
(Editors
Note: Walker Audio hosted a meeting of the Philadelphia Area Audio Group
on March 19.)
"...
each encounter I have had with a Walker turntable system has been an
amazing one . stunning sonically and visually!" BZ
"...the
table is very special and a marvel to behold and listen through."
BK
"...what
an "addictive" system. Once you start listening it's very hard
to pry yourself away..."GH
"I
met Lloyd in 1996 at the Stereophile Show in the Waldorf
Astoria. Editors
Note: The Proscenium Gold Signature Turntable was introduced at this
show.)
I
walked into his demo room and heard Muddy Waters being played over a
pair of Evett & Shaw Loudspeakers. I don't remember what electronics
were being used. I thought the sound was the best I had ever heard.
EVER! There weren't many seats, so I sat on the floor. I would have
stayed for the entire day if there hadn't been a show to see...
As
a professionally trained musician, I think I bring a real
"ear" to the listening experience. It has aided me in knowing
when I hear something unique in audio equipment. Even though I no longer
play professionally, I still spend countless hours at Carnegie Hall, the
Met, Lincoln Center, and halls throughout Europe. I know what the live
experience sounds like as an audience member and as a player...
At
that 1996 show,... I told him that I was really impressed - no - I told
him I thought the system was magical...I regard Lloyd as a remarkable man
in high end audio and it gives me great pleasure to know that I
"get it."
The
system sounded astounding on Sunday.
I thought the reproduction of the bells on the
novelty recording of the Carmen Suite was as close to the real thing as
I have heard on any system by a wide margin... it makes me feel good to
know that Lloyd is out there pushing the audio envelope and that here
and there I get a chance to enjoy it." MB
Customer
Email February 2004
"I
would like to take this opportunity to thank you for not only
providing a great product, but for all your after care service; I have
spent tens of thousands of dollars on audio gear, and the Walker Audio
turntable is the one piece of equipment that I have never regretted
buying. It has provided me with untold pleasure in allowing me to get
nearer to the music. I have had all the latest greatest stuff, all the
Wadias, dCS's, Levinson, Linn's and even the SACD's, and your product
is the single one that I always go back to...I think it is probably
the singlemost product that has "added value" to my
enjoyment of music that I have ever purchased - period. So once again,
many many thanks."
Audio
Asylum Posting December 2002
Owner
Review by
jrus
"...you
really have to hear it yourself to get it...I wouldn't believe it unless
I heard it and you probably wouldn't
either...
..The details are described
in the TAS review and in another AA review, but more than that, there's
this "rightness" to what you hear. Its the same feeling you
get when someone FINALLY plays your favorite piece of music the way you
think it should be played...extremely beautiful and well made...
its a lot of money, but I look at it this way. In terms of quality of
sound per unit dollar, believe it or not, its actually a bargain.
Amazing.
Product Weakness: Can't think of one.
Product Strengths: Sound,
Design and Quality Construction, Sound, Customer Support, Sound"
Email December
2002
"Thanks
again for the FANTASTIC turntable and rack/shelf you built for me !!
I swear - all I do when I'm home is listen to it !!
AudiogoN
Forum December 2002
"..I
can vouch for ease of maintenance (of the Walker turntable). I bought
one…almost two years ago. After initial setup (which is
time-consuming and not that easy), I've only had to check the lateral
arm balance (level) a few times (the same with all air-bearing linear
trackers), lube the platter air bearing once, and empty the air pump
trap once. Just keep the platter, belt, and pulley clean. The air
bearing for the lateral arm tube is essentially self-cleaning. All
adjustments are stable once set."
Tafka_steve
AudiogoN
Forum September 2002
"If anyone wants a religious experience in sound, listen to
Lloyd Walker's turntable." Lithojoe
Audio
Asylum Postings June 2002
Comments
on HE2002
by
JWH
"Hands
down best in show, however, for my money, had to be the Walker Proscenium
turntable, playing through a Walker Reference solid state phono
stage,......The pinpoint precision, musical honesty, purity and beauty of the
sound was such that tears were welling during the Corelli the way they did the
first time I heard the record many years ago. People in the room
actually applauded after the Nessun Dorma....what an astounding achievement
that turntable is... What (Lloyd Walker) says about people being amazed by how
much music there is in an LP was totally backed up by what I heard."
by
High-end Dreamer
"WOW..
talk about resolution!! And also, when the tympani in this one symphony came
in..what a low end...double wow!! Clean, deep bass like I couldn't believe -
All around "highest-res" of show."
by
Rod M
"The
system put together in the Walker Audio, Viva Musica, Silverline, and
Silent Source Cables suite was a high point and really showed what world
class analog production can sound like."
by
Fripp
"I've
owned a Walker turntable for over four years....The turntable has worked
flawlessly over the years. It's as easy to use as any other turntable
and certainly the best I've heard."
Audio
Asylum December 2001 web
link
Owner
review of the Proscenium Gold Signature Turntable by vinyl_mike
"Nothing
that I have heard during the past 25 years could begin to prepare (me) for the
arrival of Lloyd Walker and his Proscenium turntable....As to the sound...
We're talking an order of magnitude better than the VPI. The solidity of
the sound images is amazing. In a darkened room the sound just emerges from
blackness. With proper tuning and tweaking, you get an enormous 3D
picture with front to back depth and better harmonics, without grain or
glare.... Individual instruments became more defined... I am hearing low
frequency information that I never knew existed...It might be a cliché, but
it is appropriate: the Walker system removes multiple veils between you and
the music.. Do not infer that the VPI/Graham is not an excellent system.
If I never heard the Walker, I could have lived happily with the VPI
forever. It is just that Walker, to my humble ears, is significantly
better."
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