MOFI UltraDeck/UltraTracker

PW17.12.2018

Analog sources

Looks beautiful in its simplicity without cover, looks quite generic with the smoky perplex cover on. Its name is iconic. Its engineering is top notch. It is cheap by the industry standards. It sounds authoritative and competent. This Mobile Fidelity table is like an out of blue revelation in turntable market.

100% reference

Function and form

85%

Ease of use

81%

Sound

90%

Appearance

Despite its understated appearance the way the UltraDeck is conceived is all but nonsense. I fell in love with it the moment I put in on my desk. Meticulously crafted chassis is made from a MDF base that is “laminated” by aluminum plates that are decoupled from each other to carry the drive mechanism, the platter and the tonearm assembly. It is heavy enough but not too heavy, mind over matter. The chassis is supported by Harmonic Resolution Systems feet which contribute a lot to the resonance damping and the turntable’s low noise operation.

The 1.3” Delrin platter (DuPont polymer) is smaller than a record and has a a recessed label area, thus the LP rests on it with its flat surface for the unevenness of cue grooves and the label is out of the game. The UltraDeck does not come with a rubber or felt mat. The aluminum tonearm is 10”long to lower tracking error and it is fully adjustable with Allen keys. The UltraTracker MM cartridge that is a part of the UltraDeck (selling for circa 500€ if you need a replacement; you will because its elliptical diamond stylus is not replaceable so keeping one extra back-up cartridge may be reasonable). The wiring in the toneram is Cardas.

Bass management

Weight

Slam

Articulation

The Ultradeck is almost a plug and play device, though operated fully manually. The new owner is only asked to mount the feet and set the tracking force and antiskate, plus connect the table to a phono preamplifier. The anti-skating is the traditional “fishing”wire and weight system, the tracking force is specified from 1.8 to 2.2 g and I can imagine that most of you will start with 2.0 g like me. Speed must be adjusted manually too by moving the bright yellow belt on the spindle. Personally I think it was good idea to use the colourful belt as it is easily seen in the dark and beautifully contrasts with the all black turntable. The only other bright element is the MoFi PLAY button that brings back the golden age of hi-fi nostalgia.

I was not quite prepared for the basswork of Ron Carter (Piccolo LP on Milestone Stereo label) to be so dynamic and explosive. The notes were anything but weak - aliveness and physical presence of the UltraDeck on the very dark and quiet backdrop exhibited an unbelievable degree of musicality. The Ron Carter Quartet’s performance was – through the MoFI UltraDeck/UltraTracker – vibrant and scary real.

Clarity & delicacy

Detail

Air

Transparency

In April this year I reviewed McIntosh MT2 turntable looks marvelous and sounds just hi-fi. On the contrary the MoFi UltraDeck looks hi-fi and sounds high-end. The difference between those two was quite dramatic. The UltraDeck is extraordinarily well built machine and the care that went into separating it from the environment results in very silent background that let the sound breathe with great dynamic contrasts. Thus I heard more ambience in classical recordings like Beethoven's C-minor piano sonata, Op.111 (James Boyk, Performance Recordings). The sound of the piano was outstanding and its image within the soundstage had great definition and solidity. All the sound layers were effortlessly controlled and the sound was pristine and accurate, if slightest bit darker than my reference turntable.

Tonal accuracy

Timbre

Dynamics

Temporal resolution

The darker tonality is not an artifact of sonic incompetency. Quite contrary, when married with high resolution it is the highlight of true excellence – the albums that I played sounded so full-bodied and real, it was more like a visit to a live performance than home listening.

The Mobile Fidelity turntable also excelled in the way it allowed the listener to hear the tonal nature of individual instruments. The snare drum on Bobby King and Terry Evans album Live and Let Live! (Rounder) was punchy, resonant and dynamic, other instruments were presented with their tonal characters beautifully outlined with bloom and dimensionality, and a kind of substance between them.

Spatial resolution

Holography

Soundstage width

Soundstage depth

Large scale orchestral works such as Messiaen's Turangalila Symphony (EMI) sounded as convincingly ‘live’ as I've ever heard from a recording. All instruments were placed in a wide and deep soundstage with (for this price category) unprecedented solidity and certainty of location. The UltraDeck is not a microscope rather it illuminated the recording in a soft and palpable way giving it depth and very fine front-to-back layering. Oh, and what should sound better on the UltraDeck than Mobile Fidelity’s own 200g pressing of Trafalgar (Bee Gees). On How Can You Mend a Broken Heart the trumpet was hovering in three-dimensional space with captivating stability.

The MoFi UltraDeck is something special. There is no breakthrough innovation used in its design neither it is size of wardrobe. Yet it skillfully uses the decades existing know-how about turntable building to bring an unmatched vinyl-listening experience. I am so glad that Mobile Fidelity resisted to join today’s high-end frenzy and priced the deck so friendly. This way it eats its competitors alive.

Price as reviewed:60 000,- Kč

Recommended resellers

HI-FI studio TYKON, Ostrava, tel. +420 723 449 894

Manufacturer's website: http://www.mofielectronics.com

Associated components

Sources: TW-Acustic Raven One with Graham Phantom tonearm and Transfiguration Orpheus cartridge, Rega RP 8, Rega Apheta 2 cartridge
Amplifiers: Spectral DMA-150, phono Gruensch Reference Phonostage MCS
Interconnects and speaker cables: MIT MA, MIT MA-X XLR, MIT V2.1 Oracle, Stealth Audio Hyperphono, Van den Hul The D-102 III Hybrid
Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio Sasha W/P
Power conditioning: Furutech Daytona 303E, Shunyata Research Python Zi-Tron

Gallery

Sound

84%

McINTOSH MT2

The MT2 is an entry level turntable offering from McIntosh. Affordability is a very flexible word – in McIntosh’s jargon it equals the asking price of around 5.800€. The turntable is preset in the factory and equipped with all ...

Recommended resellers

E.P. Audio, Dobřejovice u Prahy, +420 323 605 088

Sound

78%

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