As Norma Jeane Mortenson (aka the incomparable Marylin Monroe) once said, "A wise girl knows her limits, a smart girl knows she has none." Bluetooth disc player that she is watching.
If I could only listen to it for a few fleeting moments, I'm sure it would be on my list of the best turntables currently on the market, and it wouldn't be at the bottom of this list.
Constraints I might mention include the fact that Fennessy, the talented Chinese maker who created this utterly modern and somewhat minimalist gramophone (yes, I consider this bright red horn minimalist) is an elusive company, and it isn't. It currently sells its products in the United States.
Although I am based in the UK, I am struggling to find the UK hifi dealer who can supply me with one. Apparently it retails for just over 13,999 yuan (about €2,071, €1,723 or AU$3,000) before any taxes or shipping, but even that information was hard to come by.
And yet I don't care. As Marylin also said: "Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius, and it's better to be utterly ridiculous than utterly boring."
So, without further ado, let's take a closer look at the photos Fennessy kindly took to show off his beautiful creation: a Bluetooth-enabled all-in-one turntable system, which probably none of us own.
It's all imaginary, right?
Yeah, that's another Monroe quote, as is: "If I had followed all the rules, I never would have made it." I'm suggesting breaking any rules, you know).
What I can do is provide you with some specifications. The Fennessy Donut i5 weighs in at 66lbs (or 30kg, so shipping won't be cheap) and at just over 5ft tall, it's a talking point too. You also get plenty of speakers: This speaker (or cornet) features a 1-inch 10W tweeter, and under the bridge is a 6-inch 5W midrange woofer plus 40-inch 8W down-firing woofer. w.
There's a built-in RIAA phono preamp and a class D stereo amp. So you have a complete plug-and-play turntable, and since there are no analog or digital outputs, you wouldn't be able to connect it to your existing system even if you wanted to. A single button on the front handles power, input switching, and volume.
I'm not sure, but I think the Bluetooth situation is only for the receiver. So while you can stream music from your phone to the Donut i5's built-in speakers, you can't send your vinyl collection to your best outdoor Bluetooth speaker or favorite wireless headphones the way you can with Audio-Technica AT -LP60XBT, let's say.
The turntable is belt-driven and features a 2.2lb all-metal platter that includes a custom anti-slip mat (Marylin wouldn't ask for anything less) and the carbon fiber tonearm comes pre-installed with a Diamond cone Audio-Technica (AT) stylus cartridge. moving magnet.
Fennessy's standard Donut i5 is available with a black wood base and fabric grille, but this lovely bugle is available in your choice of orange, dragon fruit, red velvet, banana, avocado, chocolate, matcha or milk, all which sound delicious, but it's not what I'm looking for.
This Monroe deck is one of Fennessy's special edition i5 Donuts (so called, of course, because the discs are shaped like donuts), featuring Van Gogh, a kind of pixelated version of possibly the most famous self-portrait of all. . the artist, including a glorious yellow flugelhorn, and the monochrome Quicksand.
They are all works of art, to me. I could put one in every room and be happy. Would I live to regret such a purchase in the age of streaming sites, Dolby Atmos 7.1 surround sound systems, HEOS, and multi-room audio? I really doubt it: the continued revival of vinyl is no accident and that warm analog sound lives on.
"We should all start living before we're too old. Fear is stupid. So is regret." Thank you, Norma Jeane. I will resume my search to get my hands on a Fennessy Donut i5 soon.
