![]() The AT91 is not dissimilar to the OEM AT3600 found on many a budget turntable, and even some models higher up the chain. Idle noise levels are low however and the phono stage certainly performs well enough to complement the AT91 cartridge, and is revealing enough to make an elliptical stylus upgrade worthwhile. The phono stage is reasonable and about equivalent to that of a basic integrated amplifier should you opt for the standard model, an external £40 phono stage will usually offer you better performance. The CS-435-1 is supplied in two variants a standard version at £359GBP (£379GBP in silver), and a model in black only with inbuilt moving magnet phono stage at £399GBP. Output is via captive RCA and ground cables of just over a metre in length. Power is via a 12V DC wall wart power supply which turned out to be linear rather than the usual cheap and lightweight switch-mode device. Painting the stripe or leaving it off altogether would not have significantly impacted the cost or aesthetic. My only other quality quibble concerns the chrome detail strip on the front of the plinth, which began to peel after a day of use and spoiled the aesthetic. It isn’t easily adjusted, though a screw beneath the headshell should provide fractional adjustment at a pinch. Azimuth was out slightly though not sufficiently to cause any concern with this cartridge. There is no VTA adjustment as expected at this price. The horizontal bearings however were free of play and appeared to move with minimal friction. The arm does feel flimsier than price rivals, showing evidence of cost cutting in favour of automatic functionality. The arm bearings are reasonably solid, though there is a degree of play in the anti-skate assembly on which the arm sits and thus vertical play in the arm. ![]() While it appears relatively free moving albeit with a small amount of lateral play, this design is far from optimal and will lead to uneven platter rotation, higher rumble figures and fluctuations in speed, more of which later. The platter rides on a fixed centre spindle rather than a traditional bearing. The arm does feature manual cuing with a damped lift/lower device which is pleasingly gentle in operation.īuild quality is OK though at this price there are some concerns of note. It should be noted though that there is no preventive mechanism to stop the turntable starting without a record on the platter and dragging across the mat, which would likely result in the rapid demise of the stylus. The turntable is fully automatic and as such will automatically place the stylus at the start of a 7 or 12” record depending on the position of the speed selector. The tonearm features an adjustable counterweight and anti-skate, and a fixed headshell with preinstalled Audio-Technica AT91 moving magnet cartridge. Herein we feature the Dual CS-435-1, an affordable and fully automatic turntable at the lower end of the 10-strong CS range. The range is made in Germany and carries the CS prefix, just like the models that came before. Meanwhile Dual Phono GmbH, creator of the original Dual turntables and now owned by Alfred Fehrenbacher GmbH, continues to produce Dual turntables using the same original production equipment in the town of St. Today the Dual brand name is used by two different German owned and based companies – Dual DGC GmbH, offering mostly imported consumer electronics including turntables, such as the MTR-40 featured in a previous review. In the 1980s however during the decline of the vinyl format, the company name was bought and sold, changing hands first to French manufacturer Thomson SA, and later in 1988 to Schneider Rundfunkwerke AG. This entry was posted in Turntables and tagged Dual Turntables Vinyl on Maby Ashley (updated on March 4, 2019)ĭual was once Europe’s largest turntable manufacturer and a venerable name on the turntable scene.
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