Electronics and sources

Transrotor

Founded in 1971, Transrotor is Germany’s oldest turntable manufacturer, still owned and run by the family that started it. Absolute Sound is the distributor for Transrotor in Singapore and Malaysia.

One family, one workshop

Transrotor’s workshop sits in Bergisch Gladbach, near Cologne, where founder Jochen Räke set up after years spent modifying and importing turntables from British makers including Transcriptor and Michell. His son Dirk Räke now runs the company, and the philosophy has not moved: every turntable is built by hand, from chassis machined in acrylic, aluminium or POM plastic through to Transrotor’s own magnetic-bearing drive systems, engineered to isolate the platter from motor vibration rather than resist it mechanically. Transrotor also builds its own tonearms and offers cartridges under its own name, so a system can be specified almost entirely from the one workshop.

The Transrotor range

Transrotor turntable in clear acrylic and polished aluminium, with two tonearms and a record clamp.
Transrotor turntable with a black plinth, polished steel platter and tonearm on a pale background.
Transrotor turntable with a black platter, tonearm and chunky polished aluminium feet on a pale background.

Maxthe entry point into the range, built around an outboard motor kept off the chassis so it cannot pass vibration into the platter.

ZETchassis in polished acrylic and aluminium, the material pairing most associated with the Transrotor look.

Dark Stara single-material design in POM plastic, from chassis to platter to weight, upgradeable to Dark Star Reference.

TMD modelsAlto, Massimo Nero, Fat Bob S, Bellini and Orion Reference, built around Transrotor’s own magnetic bearing, which couples the platter to its sub-platter through neodymium magnets rather than a mechanical link.

FMD modelsRondino, Tourbillon, Artus and Metropolis, the contact-free Free Magnet Drive turntables at the top of the range.

Tonearms and electronicsthe TRA 9 and TRA Studio tonearms, introduced after five decades of building turntables, plus the KONSTANT and PHONO phono preamplifiers.

Model-by-model specifications live on the manufacturer’s site: transrotor.de

Common questions about Transrotor

What is the difference between Transrotor's TMD and FMD drive systems?

Both are Transrotor’s own magnetic bearings, designed to keep drive vibration away from the platter. TMD (Transrotor Magnet Drive) couples the platter to its sub-platter with neodymium magnets rather than a mechanical link, which quietens a conventional bearing. FMD (Free Magnet Drive) goes further: the platter and motor share no physical contact at all. FMD sits in the higher tiers of the range, on models such as the Rondino and Artus; TMD runs through the middle of the catalogue, including the Alto and Massimo Nero.

Why do so many Transrotor turntables use acrylic?

Acrylic has been part of Transrotor’s construction since the company’s early years, usually paired with aluminium and, on some models, brass. It is dense enough to damp resonance in the plinth and platter, and it lets a turntable like the Rondino be built almost entirely transparent, so the mechanism is part of the object rather than hidden inside it. Not every series uses it: the Dark Star range is built in POM plastic instead, for a different look and a different sound.

Does Transrotor make its own tonearms and cartridges?

The tonearms, yes: the TRA 9 and TRA Studio were introduced after fifty years of building turntables, and are designed and made in-house. Cartridges are sold under the Transrotor name too, tuned from Goldring-built cells rather than made from raw materials. Turntables are equally set up to take arms and cartridges from other makers, so neither is required to run a Transrotor system.

Hear Transrotor for yourself

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