Note that this is a discontinued product. You may want to visit the brand's page here to browse their newer products.
What reviewers think
Bloggers and YouTubers have tried this product—so we've summarized their strongest opinions below. Links to full reviews follow.
Product Strengths
- Unique Catenary Curve plinth design adds structural rigidity while saving mass and material
- Exceptionally quiet operation, with minimal vibration transmitted to the plinth, bearing, or platter
- Extracts details out of record grooves in an honest and un-editorializing way
- Precise playback with electronic speed control with only ±0.1% of variance
- Wide and deep soundstage, creating a realistic sense of space for chamber musicians or orchestras, scaling properly and with a realistic sense of space
Product Considerations
- The stock Gold Note stabiliser killed dynamic extension when in use, rolling off the upper mids and treble
- The B-7 Ceramic tonearm's finger lift is considered awkward to use and poorly designed for a secure finger position
- Potentially susceptible to footfall, meaning a solid support or wall mount is recommended, unless on concrete floors
- Bad recordings are exposed
- Some might want to have on-the-fly VTA adjustment for tonearm, which it lacks
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Vs SOTA Nova VI, the Mediterraneo has a softer, easy-going, warmer sound compared to the SOTA's detailed and transparent presentation, the SOTA also glosses less over pressings or worn recordings
Takeaway: The Mediterraneo offers a beautiful design and excellent build quality combined with precise, highly-detailed musical extraction from vinyl, providing enjoyment and emotional connection with recordings
All
Mediterraneo
reviews
Manufacturer details
- Wow & Flutter: 0,1%
- Rumble: -80dB
- Speed: 33-1/3 and 45 rpm +/-0,1%
- Speed changing: electronic with fine pitch control
- Transmission: 70 shore rectified polyvinyl belt
- Motor: 12 Volt High Torque synchronous externally powered
- Platter: Ultra Dead Design Sustarin® 45mm
- Dimensioni: 470mm L | 210mm A | 360mm P
- Peso: 20kg
- Wow & Flutter: 0,1%
- Rumble: -80dB
- Velocità: 33-1/3rpm e 45 rpm +/-0,1%
- Cambio velocità: controllo elettronico con regolazione fine
- Trasmissione: a cinghia (diametro 2mm, 70 shore)
- Motore: 12 Volt sincrono alimentato esternamente
- Piatto: Sustarin® da 45mm ultra smorzante
- Platter spindle: special Split-Spindle™
- Platter bearing: Tungsten 5mm ball bearing with adjustable brass seat in finely Polished bronze case
- Acrylic Dust Cover included
Brand highlights
Taking a step back to look at reviewers' thoughts of the brand's entire lineup—not just this product—what stands out most is the following:
- Gold Note distinguishes itself through its holistic "systems thinking" approach, meticulously designing each component to synergistically function within a complete Gold Note audio ecosystem.
- The brand's unique design philosophy, inspired by the Italian Renaissance and the Catenary Curve concept, combines aesthetic beauty with functional vibration control and structural integrity.
- Gold Note's phono stages, such as the PH-5 and PH-1000, offer exceptional cartridge matching capabilities, boasting a wide range of gain, impedance loading, and EQ curve options accessible via an intuitive touchscreen interface.
- They offer upgrades that are usually power supplies or tube output stages, often providing a running change in production.
Select products
T-5
- Positioning: The entry-level turntable in Gold Note's lineup.
- Description: Features a compact and practical design with a 15mm ultra-clear glass platter that minimizes noise and enhances detail extraction. Unlike more advanced models like the Valore 425 Plus, uses a manual speed change system, making it ideal for budget-conscious users who prioritize simplicity and portability in smaller spaces.
Valore 425 Plus
- Positioning: A mid-range model offering a balance of performance and affordability.
- Description: Features a 23mm POM platter and a high-torque synchronous motor for stable rotation. Compared to the Giglio, offers a more compact form factor.
Giglio
- Positioning: A high-end turntable with a focus on traditional craftsmanship and modern technology.
- Description: Stands out with its catenary curve-inspired plinth and high-density POM platter, providing exceptional structural rigidity and sound precision. It offers more advanced motor control and vibration reduction compared to the Valore 425 Plus.
Bellagio Conquest
- Positioning: The flagship model, representing the pinnacle of Gold Note's turntable technology.
- Description: With its massive structure and unique thirteen-plinth design, delivers groundbreaking stability and vibration control. It features the longest spindle ever made for a turntable, setting it apart from the Mediterraneo X with its focus on ultimate audio performance and structural innovation.
Our take on the brand
Look inside the brand
Our interview with the brand
What are two key technological innovations or strong opinions that differ you from other brands?
The design of our turntables in the mid and high range relies on a very unique geometry that’s mathematically defined as the catenary curve, a shape that is found across nature (from spider webs to rope statistics) and firstly described by Galileo Galilei in the 17th century. The curve was first leveraged to design load-bearing structures such as arches and bridges since it offers the best rigidity/mass ratio. For turntables, it's an optimal as it provides really high rigidity with minimal mass giving the turntable great stability and resilience while minimising the amount of mass that could store potential energy (such as vibration). As a side effect, it creates a beautiful shape that elevates the design — this is a very Italian approach, developing creative solutions that serve boh performance and aesthetics.
Another key feature is the electric control of the motor leveraging a built-in power conditioning stage with a triple AC-DC-AC conversion to feed the motor with ultra-clean current, which is crucial as our turntables feature synchronous motors (calibrated on the AC).
Lastly, the design of the bearing/spindle is developed to achieve the strictest of tolerance with higher quality materials, and you won’t find similar designs on any turntables in the same price range since it’s extremely expensive to manufacture — it’s a core feature of our turntables that enables superior sound quality even though it’s completely hidden from the eye.
What's your approach to customer support?
We have a dedicated inbox for customer support [email protected] that is monitored 24/7 and a response time of around 24h. Customer should always contact Gold Note directly, our customer support will then manage their enquiry appropriately and put them in touch with the relevant contacts (such as our local distributor) if needed.
We used to rely primarily on our local partners in the past to provide quick support, however we have recently moved to a more centralised approach since we wish to establish a direct contact with our customers and ensure they get all the information directly from the source.
Today we can in fact guarantee fast response time and - since we are the manufacturer - more precise information to determine whether the product needs a simple firmware update, a hardware fix or a replacement.
What are your favorite tracks for showcasing the strength of your products?
Since we manufacture all sorts of sources — from turntable to streamers — we usually to suggest a mix of genres and it’s really hard to narrow it down to just three tracks:
For classical, we love "Dance of the Tumblers" from the Snow Maiden by the Minnesota Orchestra conducted by Eiji Oue (Reference Recordings,1998).
For electronic, our go to is "The Expert" by Yello (Polydor, 2021).
For jazz and vocals, it’s hard to pick between Cassandra Wilson’s "Strange Fruit" (Blue Note, 1995) and "Blues in My Heart” by Fiona Boyes (Reference Recordings, 2020).
What other products pair best with yours?
As a system manufacturer, we design our products to be part of a Gold Note system and therefore that’s the highest degree of synergy you can reach. The idea of designing full systems is generally frowned upon as the main objection inevitably is: if you design all sorts of products, how can you beat a specialist that only makes amplifiers?
The answer is somewhat counterintuitive and I believe it’s not fully understood by the public yet so I’ll briefly summarise it here — engineering audio systems is fundamentally to design ways to manage signals, whether digital or analogue. The knowledge compounds by researching all areas of signal transmission and amplification, and can then be used to improve on designing electronics, loudspeakers or tonearms.
For example: researching and designing a cable leads to gaining insights that can then be deployed when designing PCBs; R&D on phono stages where dealing with low voltage signals and ultra-low noise components will inform the design of amplifiers. This positive loop goes on affecting all areas and increasing the knowhow of the team, leading to better products.
Used
Gold Note
What if you spend more?
The past and the future of Gold Note come together in Mediterraneo X. Taking its inspiration from the iconic Mediterraneo, this innovative turntable blends tradition with technology to cater for analogue enthusiasts after a next-gen record player with cutting-edge and authentically high-end features. All of the functions of the turntable can be controlled from the touchscreen display, which makes it possible to finely adjust the speed and torque of the motor to ensure it is perfectly synchronised with the type of LP and music being played. The timer function is a new feature which records the amount of time the needle is used for so the wear and tear of the stylus can be monitored. Made from machined solid aluminium, the platter has a composite design thanks to the addition of POM to minimise vibrations, and weighs a total of 7 kg, guaranteeing excellent stability and maximum precision of the rotation speed.
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Our summary
Product Strengths
- Combines traditional materials with user-friendly digital technology and contemporary Italian style
- The plinth has a triple-layer architecture of materials with different densities and structures to break resonance patterns and prevent the transmission of vibrations
- Delivers an extraordinary audio experience, with pristine speed consistency, minimal vibration, and an outstanding signal-to-noise ratio
- Has an intuitive touchscreen interface for precise control over motor speed and torque adjustments, playback parameters, and cartridge wear monitoring
- Offers the ability to adjust the torque in five stages while playing, allowing for subtle audio differences
Product Considerations
- Substantial in size, requiring dedicated space
- The felt mat might be considered surprisingly thin for a turntable of this caliber
- May require professional setup for optimal performance
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- The Gold Note X's performance mirrored the original pressing more faithfully, compared to Thorens
Takeaway: The Mediterraneo X is a beautifully designed turntable that offers excellent sound quality and innovative features. The adjustable torque and built-in cartridge timer make it a joy to use and a great choice for serious vinyl enthusiasts.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Our summary
Product Strengths
- The Naia epitomizes Rega's design philosophies, and its sonic performance confirms this
- Exceptionally capable, setting a sky-high standard for resolution and transparency
- Incredibly neutral and transparent for a vinyl source, doing a more effective job of getting out of the way and letting the record itself be the story
- Genuinely high end and trades blows with the best, but is no more demanding in use than one at a tenth of the price
- Delivers better timing than 99.9% of audio sources–analogue or digital
Product Considerations
- The foam edges on the plinth look a little unfinished
- An otherwise admirably off-hand approach to music-making did leave some wanting more in the way of rhythmic drive
- Can expose weaknesses in record quality, so upgrades to some of your record collection may be needed
- Minimalist design and understatement might not impress those unfamiliar with high-end audio
- The removable dust cover doesn't offer quite the same protection as a more conventional lid and, combined with the fairly small stylus guard on the cart, means Rega is slightly more vulnerable than some rivals
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Vs Rega Planar 10, the Naia brings it closer technologically and, unfortunately, in price, but it is also better in every way, and the measured performance demonstrates that the Naia is a step above the Planar 10
- Vs Rega Planar 10, the Naia gets significantly more information out of records, has a lower apparent noise floor and even better timing
- Vs Technics SL-1000R, the Rega is significantly better with low-frequency transients, delivering them with greater heft and power while also revealing that the Technics has a slightly sludgy quality in comparison
- Vs Linn Seleckt LP12, the Naia is more neutral and transparent
Takeaway: The Naia is a high-performance turntable that offers exceptional clarity and detail, providing a very neutral sound. If you want a turntable that reveals every nuance in your vinyl collection, the Naia is worth considering.
Video review
Our take on the brand
The VPI Avenger Table was originally a project started by Harry over 12 years ago. In the process of the design, the project was dropped in mid-production due to excessive demand by HR-X customers which left the design and proto-type chassis to be mothballed. The good news about the abandoned design is Harry instead shifted his focus to starting and completing the VPI Classic Turntable.
Our summary
Product Strengths
- Customizable and upgradable, it can handle up to three tonearms
- It produces a big soundstage with life-like proportions and scale, which provides a holographic sound
- Offers an effortless power and control and is unflappable at any volume
- VPI's chassis is versatile, allowing a different and more complex drive system
- Has great speed stability
Product Considerations
- Setup is critical and may require assistance from an experienced dealer or audiophile
- It can be sensitive to vibrations from the room and speakers, requiring careful placement and isolation
- It may not suit those wanting a 4/4 beat to everything, because it does not emphasize the beat in the way that a suspended turntable does
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Minimizes resonance problems with both moving-coil and moving-iron cartridges
- Avenger Direct has the speed stability of the best direct drives
- Avenger Direct is competitive in overall level of detail and silence, sometimes slightly superior, to the VPI Classic Direct
- The three-legged layout solves the problem of accommodating two tonearms
- Compared to VPI Scout 21, the Deep In The Night track has depth and scale to it that's grander in every direction and dimension via the Avenger
Takeaway: The VPI Avenger is a high-end turntable with a customizable design and strong performance, offering great sound quality and the ability to use multiple tonearms. With its solid engineering and powerful sound, it is built to deliver great sound from vinyl records, allowing listeners to hear music with a new level of engagement.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Our summary
Product Strengths
- Offers a sweet spot in price/performance terms
- Delivers a quintessential Sondek sound, and is highly emotional
- Unlocks the music in real time, making for an extremely immersive sound
- Strong and taut bass
- Sounds sweet, refined, and smooth
Product Considerations
- Setting up an LP12 needs to be done by someone who knows what they are doing
- The Kendo MC cartridge feels very exposed
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Is a definite step up from the Majik LP12
Takeaway: The Linn Selekt LP12 embodies the best of the venerable turntable in its classical form, offering high-quality engineering and an immersive sound. It's a worthwhile option for those seeking a significant upgrade in their vinyl listening experience.
Video review
Our take on the brand
What competes at this price?
Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Shares the plinth, bearing and suspension design with higher-end LP12 models
- Great build quality and finish, made with precision aluminum and stainless-steel components
- Offers upgrade paths with higher quality phono cartridges, arms, chassis, and power supplies
- Known for its musicality and ability to make listeners forget about typical audio criteria and focus on enjoying the music
- Great value package bringing LP12 ownership to a wider audience without major compromise
Product Considerations
- Requires professional setup and adjustment
- Speed change to 45rpm requires fitting a pulley adaptor, which may be annoying for some users
- Footfall and external vibrations can affect performance, requiring a lightweight and rigid support
- Some reviewers found the bundled Adikt moving magnet cartridge to be the weakest link in the system
- Lid is an optional extra, which may come as a surprise
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Vs Technics SL-1200G: Majik LP12 offers a more relaxed and beguiling sound, while the Technics is crisper and tighter
- Vs Origin Live Calypso Multilayer/Silver: Majik LP12 sits in the middle, more relaxed than the Technics SL-1200G—but not as expansive and tonally natural as the Origin Live Calypso Multilayer/Silver
- Vs Thorens TD160 HD or Michell's Gyrodec SE: Majik LP12 has a relaxed warmth and fluidity that the others do not
Takeaway: The Majik LP12 is a well-built, musically engaging turntable that brings the classic Linn sound to a more accessible price point. It's a great way to get into vinyl and enjoy records without being distracted by technicalities and has plenty of upgrade options available.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Heavy weight and high mass design combats resonant frequencies and provides a stable platform for playing vinyl records
- Delivers a clean, dynamic sound with superb imaging and soundstage
- The motor is integrated into the chassis giving the turntable a very clean look
Product Considerations
- No dust cover/lid is included
- No ground/earth cable included with the RCA's
- RB330 tonearm is not known for its easy adjustment and cartridge matching
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- TTP has similar solidity of image and body to the Thorens TD-124 and Garrard 301 idler-wheel turntables
Takeaway: The Cyrus Audio TTP is a well-engineered turntable that delivers engaging music from a stable platform and a clean background. It offers a blend of modern technology, thoughtful design, and flexible upgrade options.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Sleek acrylic construction that is visually appealing and acoustically excellent
- A beautifully open window onto the performance, achieved in a commandingly authoritative manner
- Muscular sounding, exhibiting a solid grip on the music, especially through the bass and into the lower midrange
- Utterly coherent, with an uncanny ability to untangle complex music
- Precision opened up the record, presenting sometimes-busy albums as if they were giant paintings
Product Considerations
- Consistency of speed was not what was expected from a turntable of this pedigree
- The headshell lacks sufficient offset angle, so rotation of an MM or MC slightly inwards may be needed
- If a cartridge is less than about 17mm tall, spacers may be needed to use it with the M8xTT's arm
- Acrylic scratches easily and shows dust, so care must be taken when cleaning
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- The M1 was always a little soft at the low end, but the Musical Fidelity's new model couldn't be more different
Takeaway: The M8xTT is a wonderful turntable with exceptional sound quality and outstanding construction. The crystalline chrome-and-acrylic chassis and visual effect of the spinning platter make it a thrilling machine to use.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Designed by Allen Perkins, incorporating groundbreaking technologies and design principles.
- Every component is designed to work in perfect harmony, extracting every nuance and detail from vinyl collection.
- Features a three-point isolation system with Harmonic Resolution Systems (HRS) feet.
- Has a 10-inch dual-pivot carbon-fiber tonearm with Cardas Audio internal wiring.
- Offers speed options and trim control.
Product Considerations
- Setup is extremely critical and may require assistance.
- The tonearm rest requires a strong pull to secure the arm, which can cause the arm to ricochet if not handled carefully.
- Additional head shells should be purchased with the turntable, if the user anticipates swapping them to use different cartridges.
- Maintenance parts may be difficult to secure for the next 40 years.
- The design is not for those looking to customize the table with different tonearm mounts and components.
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Compared to StudioDeck and UltraDeck, the MasterDeck's collar screw drive VTA adjustment is easier to set and more precise in its movement.
Takeaway: The MasterDeck is a well-engineered turntable that delivers realism and detail while keeping the musical enjoyment alive. Its innovative design and precision components provide a high-quality listening experience for vinyl enthusiasts.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Extremely well built and beautifully finished, demonstrating extraordinary tolerances between mating parts.
- A quiet and stable platform for playing records.
- Its tonearm is very flexible in cartridge support.
- It provides balanced outputs via XLR, which is unusual, but phono cartridges are inherently balanced.
- It provides an accurate and consistent rate of spin.
Product Considerations
- The antiskating mechanism is effectively uncalibrated and extremely sensitive to correct adjustment.
- The manual provides very little detail about attaching the cartridge to the tonearm.
- The manual lift has to be operated carefully because it is located on the moving part of the player.
- The manual TP 160 arm's lift lever is less damped, and any non-linear hand movements are transferred to the sub-chassis—incurring wobble.
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Vs Thorens TD 1601: The TD 1600 is fully manual, while the TD 1601 is semi-automatic.
- Vs Linn LP12: Both models fall into the same audiophile category and are also quite close in price in terms of basic equipment.
Takeaway: The TD 1600 turntable is a well-engineered, beautifully finished turntable that offers a quiet and stable platform for quality vinyl playback. With its flexible tonearm and robust construction, it should provide years of listening enjoyment.
Video review
Our take on the brand
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