Mobile Fidelity Ultradeck Turntable + UltraTracker Cartridge

MoFi Electronics Ultradeck + UltraTracker Cartridge

“Ultra” is a term synonymous with Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's philosophy. It represents our extreme pursuit of the highest level of reproduction of recorded sound—beyond the status quo—to provide music lovers with the experience of hearing the Original Master Recording in their home.

Whether you're enjoying a standard LP or one of MoFi's UltraDisc One-Step limited edition records, UltraDisc will deliver faithful playback of what's in the grooves.

Mobile Fidelity adroitly enlisted Allen Perkins of Spiral Groove fame, who is said to have designed and overseen all aspects of production with Mobile Fidelity UltraDeck. Allen Perkins is a San Francisco turntable guru whose own spiral groove turntables start at $18,000. Spiral Groove consistently sells its well-reviewed and exquisitely designed turntables for tens of thousands, successfully carving out a niche for themselves in the ultra-high-end market. It is understandable why Mobile Fidelity felt they had made a significant breakthrough when they entrusted Mr. Perkins with the responsibility of leveraging his expertise on their new turntables.

The base of the UltraDeck features Constrained Layer Dampening: Sitting atop the MDF bottom layer are three pieces of aluminium. Each piece of aluminium isolates the three major components from each other: the motor, the platter/bearing assembly, and the arm, which each have their own aluminium plate. The motor is further isolated from the base as well.

Both aspects of the design help block vibration reaching the platter from moving parts inside the turntable or from outside influence.The platter and pulley system are made from DelrinTM material. DelrinTM is a proprietary polymer material developed by the DuPont Corporation, the crystalline structure of which is thought by Mobile Fidelity to be ideal in effectively shielding the stylus from unwanted motor noise or vibration. Although both the MoFi decks come with Delrin platters, the UltraDeck’s is 1.3" thick and weighs almost twice as much as the StudioDeck’s (6.8 lbs. versus 3.8 lbs. and ¾" thick).

The UltraDeck’s tonearm contains upgraded bespoke Cardas Audio wiring from the headshell through the gold-plated RCA connectors. George Cardas is very well respected in the industry, and his products are quite popular. The 10" aluminium arms on both models use high-quality ball bearings in a gimballed design for lower friction and operation. The arm has an effective length of 10 inches. Most models in this price range are 9 inches.

The extra inch is important. All pivoting arms have tracking errors. The longer the arm, the more gentle the arc as the arm travels the playing surface. The more gentle the arc, the lower the tracking error. One last detail is that there’s an O ring between the arm tube and the headshell to assist in isolating the stylus from unwanted vibration.

The first thing that’s striking about the Ultradeck is the ease with which it produces music, almost like open reel tape. It’s nearly impossible to describe to those who haven’t experienced it, but the difference isn’t subtle. The music just flows; it sounds far more real and lifelike via the Ultradeck. This could potentially be attributed to the excellent speed stability and the heavy Delrin platter, but it's likely a culmination of all the components that contribute to the Ultradeck's exceptional performance.

The second thing that’s noticeable is that the Ultradeck is an exceptionally quiet turntable. By that, we mean no hum, no hiss, nothing. What the silent background gives you are huge dynamic swings. Quiet recorded passages aren’t mixed with noise, which in turn makes the loud parts seem louder. 

The third thing that became immediately apparent was that the 10” arm and UltraTracker are tracking champs. No matter what you play, the UltraTracker will sail through effortlessly. Inner groove distortion is nonexistent. MoFi designed the arm and the cartridge to work together. Speaking of the UltraTracker, it’s one of the best (if not the best) cartridges as far as suppressing surface noise. 

Tonally, the Ultradeck is about as neutral as you will hear. You’ll get pounding bass if it’s on the record to begin with, but the Ultradeck doesn’t “warm” or “sweeten” anything. Through the midrange, it’s clean and clear, and the highs are crisp and sparkling.With the Ultradeck, MoFi has produced an American-made turntable that’s well engineered and built, looks great, and sounds sublime—and they brought it to market at a very reasonable price.

ULTRA TONEARM

Custom-developed and manufactured in the USA, the 10-inch Ultra tonearm uses smooth, high-quality ball bearings for low friction in the vertical and horizontal planes, so all you hear is what is in the grooves. Cardas Audio wiring maintains signal purity from the headshell leads all the way through to the high-quality, gold-plated RCA connectors.

ISOLATED AC SYNCHRONOUS MOTOR

A stepped-pulley AC motor provides excellent speed stability for pitch accuracy and rhythmic drive. The Delrin® pulley has two positions for 33 1/3 and 45 RPM speed selection. Motor vibrations are kept away from the platter and stylus by using advanced dampening materials that decouple the motor from the rest of the turntable.

CONSTRAINED LAYER DAMPENING

UltraDeck features three aluminium plates carefully bonded to an MDF body to add mass and eliminate tonal coloration, maintaining the true sound found on the record.

ANTI-VIBRATION FEET BY HRS

Any vibration of the stylus that is not created by the grooves in the record is a distortion that will mask musical detail. Developed in conjunction with the engineering team at Harmonic Resolution Systems, the world leader in vibration isolation for audio equipment, the included MoFi anti-vibration feet isolate your turntable from bad vibrations.

1.3-INCH DELRIN® PLATTER

UltraDeck features a massive 1.3-inch Delrin® platter. The increased mass creates blacker sonic backgrounds and a lower noise floor. Delrin® is a next-generation polymer developed by Dupont. In the world of audio, Delrin's® highly crystalline structure presents a wonderful impedance match to vinyl records, effectively grounding unwanted noise and keeping it away from the stylus.

HARDENED-STEEL INVERTED BEARING

The hardened-steel inverted bearing system is designed for smooth, quiet rotational stability. The extremely low tolerance combination of steel, bronze, and sapphire—found in much more expensive turntables—will provide you many years of high-performance playback.

Product Features

• 33-1/3 / 45.0 RPM belt drive turntable

• Custom designed and manufactured in the USA

• 10-inch MoFi Ultra Tonearm

• 1.3-inch Delrin® platter

• Isolated 300 RPM AC synchronous motor

• Anti-Vibration feet designed by HRS

Technical Specifications

Motor
300 RPM AC Synchronous

Speeds
33 1/3 RPM, 45.0 RPM

Platter
6.8 lb. Delrin®

Wow & Flutter
0.017%–0.025%

Signal-To-Noise Ratio
74dB

Power Supply Requirements
120V 60Hz, 220-230V 50Hz, 100V 50Hz

Power Consumption
< 5W

Dimensions
19.69" x 6" x 14.25"

Weight
23.1 lb

Tonearm Specifications

Type
10" straight aluminium, gimballed bearing

Overhang
0.71" (18mm)

Offset Angle
22.8è_ (+/- 2è_ adjustable)

Cartridge Weight Range
5g – 10g