Hardware Reviews

Rekkord M600 vinyl pedigree

Rekkord Audio M600 turntable review https://the-ear.net/

Rekkord Audio M600 turntable

Let me start with a confession. I was totally unfamiliar with the Rekkord Audio brand until I received an email from our Editor a few weeks ago asking if I would be interested in reviewing their top turntable. I was sufficiently intrigued to agree to doing the review and only then did I take the trouble to read a little about the company and its history.

Rekkord Audio founded almost a century ago in St. Georgen in Germany’s beautiful Black Forest, and has been turning out hand-built turntables since 1993, with 99% of the components used being sourced from local suppliers. The company is owned by Heinz Lichtenegger, who also happens to be the CEO of Pro-ject Audio Systems, so I think we can be pretty confident that when it comes to record players he knows his stuff.

The company produces two lines of turntables, the F series of fully automatic machines, and the M series, currently comprised of the M500 and its more expensive sibling the M600, which both need more user intervention at the start of play and when the end of a side is reached. It was the M600 which arrived meticulously packed for this review.

Rekkord Audio M600 turntable review https://the-ear.net/

The two page description of the M600 calls it “an audiophile top model”, which pits it against some formidable competition. In terms of UK retail price, the most obvious competitor to the M600 is Rega’s class leading P6, but the two models take radically different approaches to help the aspiring audiophile. UK readers will almost be certainly familiar with Rega’s ‘less is more’ approach to turntable design. I owned a Rega some 10 years ago and I enjoyed its ease of use and sophisticated sound, tipped with the redoubtable Dynavector 10X5 high output moving coil cartridge. The Rekkord Audio approach is very different. The M600 looks more substantial than its rival, with the review sample having an impressively finished gloss black plinth.

The M600 has an impressively weighty internally damped aluminium platter, an 8.6” aluminium tonearm with a stiff carbon fibre headshell, both of which were specially developed for this turntable and to which was fitted an Ortofon Red Quintet moving coil cartridge. There is a felt mat supplied with the platter, more of which later. As the owner of a Linn Sondek LP12 I was pleased to see that the M600 comes with a lid to keep dust off the played when it is not in use. In addition, the player is packaged with a mains lead, a conjoined pair of RCA interconnects with an earth wire attached and an adaptor for wide-centre records. On top of the elegant but substantial plinth a rotary control allows the selection of 33, 45 and 78 rpm speeds.

Setting up the M600 should be within the technical competence of most users. Having checked that it was level on the top shelf of the rack, it fell to me to attach the supplied drive belt, lower the platter on to the spindle, attach the counterweight to the tonearm and then balance the arm. The latter operation is the most fiddly. The arm is fitted with both tracking weight and anti-skate dials, but when I used my own tracking scales I found that the counterweight needed some fine adjustment before it showed the recommended 2.3 gramme downforce for the Ortofon cartridge. The last task was to plug in the supplied cables, and attach them to the inputs on my Gold Note PH10 phono stage.

Rekkord Audio M600 turntable review https://the-ear.net/

The rest of the system consisted of my Lyngdorf TDAI3400 integrated amplifier which was paired with my Harbeth Compact7ES XD standmount loudspeakers. Interconnects between the Gold Note and the Lyngdorf were Audioquest Pegasus RCAs and the same company’s Robin Hood loudspeaker cable ran from amplifier to loudspeaker.

The M600 in use

As my handsome guest was brand new from the box I gave it a few days to warm up in its new surroundings, without listening too closely to what was going on. However, from the moment that the Quintet Red’s elliptical stylus was gently lowered onto side one of Dave Alvin’s Eleven Eleven, and the first notes of Harlan County Line emerged from the Harbeths, I felt confident that I was going to enjoy the next week or two.

After perhaps 10 hours of play I felt that the Quintet had opened up and was giving of its best. I was very impressed with how well this relatively inexpensive set up was performing. The Quintet has a very natural presentation and I found a great deal of pleasure in delving deeper into my record collection than I would have done had I not been enjoying the M600/Ortofon system as much as a I did. I found it to be totally genre agnostic, with a most entertaining mixture of virtues. For example, I recently bought a copy of a double album called Congo Funk!, a compilation of music from that region captured in all its analogue glory and released on the Analog Africa label (AALP098). Through this system the music had loads of energy without ever sounding artificially enhanced, and a fine balance between all the instruments and voices. A very credible three dimensional soundstage was created, with height and depth and a width that seemed to go well beyond the space between the loudspeakers. This record is a very good test of pace, rhythm and timing and the Rekkord M600 delivered all of those elements with aplomb.

Rekkord Audio M600 turntable review https://the-ear.net/

I have also splashed out on some of the Analogue Productions re-issues which celebrate 75 years of the Atlantic Record label, and the first one I cued up was Bad Company’s self-titled debut, originally released in 1974 on the Swansong label. The 45rpm version here was absolutely epic, starting with the band’s first hit single Can’t Get Enough. I have always been a great admirer of Paul Rodgers’ voice, and the M600/Ortofon team did it full justice, projecting the singer confidently front and centre of the expansive soundstage. The whole album absolutely came alive, and later that same day so did Crosby, Stills and Nash’s debut album. Suite Judy Blue Eyes grabbed me from the first notes and again I despatched all four sides in one session.

Another 1969 release followed, Fleetwood Mac’s Then Play On, with the classic line-up of Peter Green, Danny Kirwan, Jeremy Spencer, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood playing at the peak of their very considerable powers. This Rhino reissue is an excellent pressing and once again I was impressed with tonality of the M600 and its ability to convey all the strands of the music as a cohesive and enjoyable whole.

Rekkord Audio M600 turntable review https://the-ear.net/

I shall not bore you with a long list of the music that I played through the M600, but I played everything from choral and symphonic classical to jazz, blues, electronica, pop and rock, and enjoyed it all. Whether conveying subtlety or bombast, the M600 seemed unruffled and unfailingly musical.

Final Thoughts

Although a new name to me, Rekkord Audio has real musical pedigree, precision German engineering and tremendous rack presence. The fit and finish of this turntable will stand comparison with any of its price competitors. As the ‘vinyl revival’ seems to be showing no sign of abating any time soon, the canny and budget-conscious audiophile has another name to add to the list of equipment worthy of audition. Pay attention to the details when setting it up and it will repay the listener with many years of musical pleasure. It can be purchased without the Ortofon cartridge but if this is a first turntable purchase it is worth opting for the complete package, because the synergy between the cartridge, arm and turntable is very obvious, and makes it very easy to give the strongest possible recommendation to this outstanding combination.

Specifications:

Type: belt-drive turntable with dust cover
Speeds: 33 1/3, 45, 78 rpm
Supplied tonearm: 8.6 inch aluminium
Drive mechanism: DC motor with belt drive
Speed control: electronic
Platter type: damped aluminium with felt mat
Platter weight: not specified
Main bearing:  not specified
Plinth material: wood
Finishes: satin black, high gloss black
Dimensions (HxWxD): 135 x 440 x 370mm
Weight: 8.3kg
Warranty: 2 years

Price when tested:
M600 without cartridge in satin black £1,399
M600 with Ortofon Quintet Red in satin black £1,599
M600 without cartridge in gloss black £1,599
M600 with Ortofon Quintet Red in high gloss black £1,799
Manufacturer Details:

Rekkord Audio
http://www.rekkord-audio.com

Type:

turntable arm & cartridge

Author:

Chris Kelly

Distributor Details:

The Audio Business
T +44(0) 1249 323551
theaudiobusiness.co.uk

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