Dual • CS 455-1 Automatic Turntable
I’m not sure I’m the right person to be writing this review. You see, I have this aversion to inanimate objects thinking for me: I prefer to drive cars with a manual transmission, detest computer software that thinks it knows what I want to do better than me, and I’m not a fan of automatic turntables. In my opinion, the mechanical challenges in turntable design are hard enough to get right at the best of times, without the added complications automatic operation brings to the, uh, table. So I was a little hesitant when Audioscape Canada’s Allan Feldstein offered me the chance to review the CS 455-1, Dual’s one from the top of the line automatic turntable (the top model being the CS 455-1 M, which is a more substantial variant of the CS 455-1 and comes in a choice of finishes including gloss black and genuine walnut veneer). But I recognise that not everyone is as much of a Luddite as I am when it comes to automatic turntables, so I decided to give it a spin.
As a brand, Dual have been around for ages, starting in the early 1900s. Although their heyday was in the 1970s, they went bankrupt in 1982. After a bit of reshuffling, Dual (perhaps befitting its name) emerged as a beast with a dual identity: a company called Alfred Fehrenbacher GmBH has the rights for the Dual name for the marketing and sales of turntables, and another company called Karstadt AG has the rights for all other uses of the Dual name.
Dual currently have five turntables in their line up, from the entry level CS 415 up to the previously mentioned CS 455-1 M.
Technical Description
The CS 455-1 is a suspended subchassis, fully automatic, belt-driven integrated turntable. The plinth is made from wood, and it comes complete with a detachable acrylic lid (other turntable manufacturers take note!). The turntable is powered by an external wall wart power supply, and it comes fitted with an Ortofon OMB 10 moving magnet cartridge. Three speeds are supported: the usual 33 and 45 RPM, as well as 78 RPM (although the stylus must be changed before playing your 78s).
The platter is made from vibration damped aluminum, and is designed to be used with the supplied antistatic felt mat. The CS 455-1 doesn’t use the more typical AC synchronous motor; a DC one is used instead.
The integrated tone arm has a metal arm tube, a detachable headshell to facilitate easier cartridge replacement, an adjustable counterweight, and dials to set the tracking weight (VTF) and bias (anti-skate). There’s also a cueing lever to manually raise and lower the arm, the latter being damped. (The cueing lever works somewhat counter-intuitively, in that pushing it away from you lowers the cartridge rather than raising it; a minor point to be sure, and one to which one easily adapts.)
Finally, the CS 455-1 is available with either gold or silver coloured trim for the arm tube, platter, and plinth. The review sample had the gold trim, and rather fetching it looked!
Setup and Listening
Setting up the CS 455-1 is relatively easy: within ten minutes of unpacking the turntable, I was ready to play my first record. After placing the turntable on a level surface (the integrated feet are not adjustable, alas), setting up consisted of removing the shipping locking mechanism, fitting the drive belt and platter, and finally verifying the cartridge’s alignment and tracking weight. The VTF dial’s calibration on my sample was a little off, reading a little light: when it was set to the recommend tracking force of 1.5 g, the actual VTF was a bit higher. I conducted my review using a VTF of 1.5 g, as measured by my Cartridge Man digital stylus force gauge.
Despite being an automatic turntable, it is possible to exert some manual control over the CS 455-1: rather than clicking the control lever into the start position (which starts the motor and places the arm in the position usually appropriate for the selected speed—although 12’ singles and 7’ and 10’ 33 RPM records thwart this—and lowers the stylus into the groove), simply make sure the cueing lever is in the up position and place the tonearm where you want it (the act of moving the arm away from its rest position automatically starts the platter spinning at the selected speed).
As usual, I played the turntable for about 20 hours before starting my formal evaluation, which started with Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells [Virgin Records V2001].
Initial Impressions
My initial impression of the CS 455-1 was that the sound was a bit soft, with constrained dynamics and limited frequency extremes (both top and bottom). The combination of limited dynamics and frequency response leads to a sound that has a somewhat laid back presentation (“Where’s the excitement?!” is a comment that appears in my listening notes).
Transient attacks are somewhat muted. For example, Oldfield plays a nylon-stringed acoustic guitar near the beginning of Part One of Tubular Bells, the attack of which is barely audible in places; it’s almost as if the initial few milliseconds of the guitar’s sound have been edited out. Perhaps related to this is the presentation of low level details: they were hinted at but never revealed in their full glory. Detail nuts should look elsewhere!
Left-right image placement is quite good, although image depth and specificity are somewhat lacking. The humming of the nasal choir is presented as a congealed blob, rather than as a number of distinct voices. That said, the blob was about the correct size, so it could be worse.
It Lets the Magic Out
Reading the preceding paragraphs, you would be forgiven for thinking that I hated the CS 455-1. I don’t, it’s merely my best description of the tradeoffs one inevitably makes when listening to entry-level equipment. Fortunately, the CS 455-1’s sins are mostly those of omission rather than commission. No, the bass doesn’t plumb the depths of the Mariana Trench, but what bass there is is quite tuneful. It’s not overbloated, stodgy, or particularly slow.
The middle frequencies are fairly neutral, although perhaps a touch on the warm side. Polite would be a good word to describe them: not overly dull, nor offensively bright. One thing I did notice, though, was that sibilants were exaggerated a bit.
As I wrote earlier, the CS 455-1’s top end isn’t particularly extended (at least when used with the cartridge with which it ships). Sounds like the celeste in the second movement of Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kije [Classic Records/RCA Victor LSC-2150] lacked air and sparkle, and the “you are there” feeling that more expensive rigs engender was missing.
My reservations about the (lack of) extension at both frequency extremes and lack of dynamics notwithstanding, and despite its other weaknesses, the CS 455-1 is good enough to let much of a good recording’s magic out. Yes, the soundstage depth isn’t that great—but it’s also not quite pancake flat—but the music’s beauty shines through, and isn’t that what it’s all about?
I should add that my comments above describe what I hear with the stock cartridge, which is fine to get you going, but the CS 455-1 is good enough to benefit from a cartridge upgrade when funds allow. Pairing the CS 455-1 with a better quality MM cartridge, or even a high output MC one, would be an interesting experiment!
Verdict
The Dual CS 455-1 is a modestly priced integrated turntable, with reasonable build and sound quality. It doesn’t have wide dynamics and frequency response of the bigger record spinners, but that’s an unrealistic expectation at this price level, and is precisely why the latter cost more money!
If reasonable sound quality and the convenience of automatic operation are important features for you, you should definitely make the effort to audition the CS 455-1 at your nearest dealer. But the audiophile purist in me can’t help but wonder if the extra expense that goes into the mechanics that implement the automatic operation would be better spent elsewhere. That’s a call that only you, gentle reader, can make.
Specifications
Description Belt drive, suspended subchassis, automatic integrated turntable.
Speeds 33.3, 45, and 78 RPM.
Wow and flutter ±0.07% DIN.
Signal to noise ratio 72 dB (weighted).
Dimensions (whd) 440 mm x 119 mm x 360 mm.
Weight 5.4 kg.
Finished Black, with gold or silver coloured trim.
Serial number of unit reviewed 170380003.
Price CAD $649.
Warranty One year non-transferable.
Canadian Distributor
AudioScape Canada
65 Kingswood Drive
King City, ON 7LB 1K8
Canada
(905) 833-0010
www.audioscapecanada.ca
Associated Equipment
Analogue source Forsell Air Reference Mk 2 turntable and arm.
Phono cartridge Lyra Parnassus.
Phono stage Allnic Audio Labs H-1200.
Preamps Audio Research SP9 Mk 2.
Power amplifiers PrimaLuna ProLogue Sevens.
Speakers MartinLogan Spires.
Cables Phono: Nordost Frey. Interconnects: Nordost Frey. Speaker: Nordost Frey. AC: stock.
Accessories Target and SolidSteel equipment stands; Mission Isoplat; Furman Elite 15-PFi power conditioner; Audio Physic cartridge demagnetiser; Acoustech carbon fibre brush; Last record and stylus cleaning products; The Cartridge Man tracking force gauge; Spin Clean Record Washer Mk II..