The discussions surrounding the best drive principle, belt or direct drive, is almost as old as the record player itself in this regard. The direct drive sounds more dynamic in the ideal scenario and has better synchronisation. However, on account of the motor being located directly on the turntable and therefore having to be extremely smooth running, it is much more complex and therefore more expensive. Magnat has achieved something special with the MTT 990: a high-end drive with all the advantages of the direct drive and with an outstanding price-performance ratio
Knowledge & Passion
A record player from the loudspeaker specialist? Yes. The two different hi-fi components have more in common than might generally be assumed: Both a pickup and a loudspeaker are sound transducers. This is where you hear every quality stage most clearly. And: A lot of passionate hi-fi fans work at Magnat who still prefer a record player for listening to music. So it was an obvious move to design a record player than could incorporate all our knowledge from more than 45 years of hi-fi development.
Motor & record player
There are very few specialists around the world who offer motors for direct-drive units. But we have found a supplier that has been able to realise our ideas with perfection: with a motor that offers three speeds (33, 45, 78 r.p.m.), almost perfect synchronisation (< 0.08%) and a tremendous torque of 2.2 kgf/cm. The 12-inch (30.5 centimeter) record player is made of a special plastic material (POM) that is well-known for its high torsional stiffness and whose resonance behaviour is similar to vinyl - which has proven to be very advantageous in terms of sound. According to our impressions, this then produces the most detailed sound. As sound impressions are always subjective, we have added an extra felt mat. This means that records can also be used directly without any additional turntable mat. The dimensions of the 1.9 kg turntable have been designed specifically and precisely for the motor. In addition, a quartz control system is used to ensure exact synchronisation. This eliminates the need for fine speed adjustment
Resonance-optimised case and feet
Magnat is a loudspeaker manufacturer and has the best technologies at its disposal to detect and reduce resonances. We were able to benefit from this when developing the MTT 990. The case is made of solid MDF wood and is so strong and heavy that it offers optimum conditions for the motor unit.
The feet of the MTT 990 have also been produced according to our specifications and display exceptionally high vibration absorption.
Another detail: The power transformer is of a swinging suspended design to avoid further resonance. The case has a high-gloss black finish.
Tonearm & pickup
The tonearm of the MTT 990 is not a standard design either, with many details having been modified. It is a J-shaped, curved 10-inch arm – which we feel is the best shape for keeping the tracking angle error as low as possible. The tonearm tube is made of special alloyed aluminium, with the internal wiring comprising high-purity copper wires from the Japanese specialist Mogami. The tonearm features four gimbal stainless-steel bearings with carbon-steel ball bearings. To enable different pickups to be fitted without any difficulty, the tonearm of the Magnat MTT 990 is height-adjustable and has a bayonet headshell for the convenient and precise fitting of pickup systems. The tonearm is of the so-called medium-mass category. This means that a very large number of medium and low-compliance MM and MC systems can be used to update or upgrade the MTT 990. However, the quality of the drive and the arm is so high that even high-end pickups find an appropriate environment here. In the “X” version, the Magnat MTT 990 is therefore also available without a pickup.
The Magnat MTT 990 (without the “X”) is a ready-to-play version equipped with an intermediate-class moving magnet system that could almost be called legendary: the Japanese Audio Technica AT 95E pickup. Its vitality and naturalness have made it one of the best-selling hi-fi pickups of all times. It goes without saying that it has already been precisely adjusted in the MTT 990.
