Introducing Wheel’s magnetic levitating feet.
We’ve been searching for the most effective way to isolate Wheel from unwanted vibrations from the outside world. Because Wheel is thin, the room in its base is very limited. We’ve designed several rubber/steel spring combinations, but due to the short stroke of the springs, we never liked how the feet worked.
Finally we switched to an all new approach and developed a magnetic levitating foot, made out of finely crossgrained dense wood.
You have to put Wheel upside down to see this:
An early production sample of Wheel’s Pertinax base with its levitating wooden feet.
Here’s how it works:
The flat cone shaped feet reduce surface contact to a minimum. Wheel touches your table with just three small points, so almost no vibrations are passed on.
Inside each foot, two repelling neodymium magnets create an air spring. There is no mechanical contact between the upper and lower part of the foot.
A diaphragm accurately centers the magnets 'in the field’. The wood further dampens remaining vibrations.
Its new feet make Wheel fly!
Animated cross section of the foot. Magnets create an air cushion that makes Wheel float.
Parts of the feet.
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But when does Wheel finally ship?
Our initial goal was to ship in October 2017. In hindsight, we must conclude that was optimism based on naivity. Last year, we took many, many wrong turns, costing us a tremendous amount of time, and yes, funds.
The last months everything finally starts to fall into place. Even with the delays, we are very happy how Wheel is becoming the wonderful turntable we envisioned. Almost everything is sealed and/or in production. We are working hard to iron out the last wrinkles of the tonearm setup. We are getting there at good speed, and a fixed delivery target is in clear sight! We want Wheel as great as it can be, and we know you’re waiting.
We’ll keep you posted!