while the U.S. still kicks ass on the turntable hall of fame, the danes are not doing so poorly either. i think the problem with U.S. audio industry, is that they simply have no clue about the fact that we have to stare at ‘their’ ugly contraptions on a daily basis while we listen to our  beloved music. the danes on the other hand, are perhaps more used to beauty as a part of life. for one thing, everyone there weighs a fraction of those in the U.S. so streamlining is a part of cultural engraine-ment (sorry that’s a new word i just invented). second, the danes must have discovered material beyond the readily available and disgustingly common natural oak. now of course, the sonic capabilities are to be judged by discerning ears everywhere; but, at approx $4,800 bergmann sleipner sustem gets an “a” for aesthetics in our book. well done… turntable: airbearing design. vacuum hold down or clamp. high precision digital controlled DC motor. belt-driven. tonearm: linear tracking airbearing tonearm. carbon armtube and headshell, moulded in one piece, for optimum stiffness. armtube damped inside. counter weight decoupled from armtube. adjustable in all angles. by dd