High-End Audiophile Systems, Personalized Service - TOWNSHEND AUDIO

Townshend Audio, Engineering Hi-Fi

the Rock 7 has the solidity and neutrality of mastertape sound to a startling extent... The price is modest, indeed, by high-end standards, but the sonic results are spectacular.

TAS 2012 High-End Buyer's Guide

Townshend combines a love of music with tried and tested engineering theory. They exploit new, previously untried, processes to create sound reproduction that constantly amazes even the most hard-bitten audiophiles.

Townshend products are hand-built by skilled craftsmen in the UK, each material and technical process is chosen to ensure durability, reliability and sound excellence. Townshend high-end turntables showcase these qualities.

We love it when music, analog and excellent engineering come together. Wes Bender Studio NYC is pleased to offer the Towshend Rock 7 Turntable. Come give the Rock 7 a spin and a listen at WBSNYC.

The Townshend Rock 7 Turntable

"this is the best turntable we've ever reviewed..."

Townshend Audio developed the The Rock and Rock Reference high-end turntables with the unique Excalibur tonearms. With outstanding quality and limited production, these remain highly sought after by audiophiles around the world.

Townshend's damping trough & cartridge outrigger assemblyTownshend presents The Rock 7 against this well-pedigreed backdrop. The Townshend Rock 7 is an open-style record player which incorporates all the engineering and functional features of the venerable Townshend Rock V at a considerably lower cost.

The Rock 7 is built with room to grow. It is supplied without the familiar front-end damping trough characteristic of all Townshend Rock turntables to date. But you can add the trough and outrigger/paddle together as an optional extra, which will transform the turntable to performance levels approaching the Rock V and surpassing most conventional turntables, regardless of cost.

The turntable is supplied without a tonearm, but with the armbase of your choice. Armbases for most popular tonearms are available “off the shelf”. Others are available to special order. We've got the Townshend Rock 7 setup and tuned-up. See it, hear it at WBSNYC.

The Townshend Rock 7 Is an Affordable and Award-Winning High-End Turntable

As many reviewers, including those below attest, Townsend's Rock 7 Turntable is an engineering success not only for its performance, but also for its price.

CNET's Steve Guttenberg AKA The Audiophiliac visited Wes Bender Studio NYC and came away shaken and stirred:

I went to the Wes Bender Studio NYC to play a few LPs on the Rock 7, and came away shaken and stirred by the experience. the sound was closer to what I'd expect to hear from an open-reel tape than an old record. The Rock 7 unleashes more get-up-and-go from the grooves. Bender's hi-fi system also featured the extraordinary Hansen Prince E speakers, Zesto Audio preamplifiers, and a Viola Labs Symphony stereo power amplifier. I love my job.

The Absolute Sound honored the Rock 7 yet again by featuring it in their High-End Buyer's Guide (2012 edition). If you don't have access to a copy, check out their comments here. (scroll down)

The Rock 7 won the 2011 Golden Ear Award from The Absolute Sound. In his review, Robert E. Greene said:

“The latest incarnation of Townshend’s unique ideas of turntable design, including damping of the arm at the front end via a trough of damping fluid, offers truly remarkable performance at a rational price. With its silent background, stability, neutrality, and purity, and control of the arm in a way not otherwise available, the sound is reminiscent of mastertape or even live mike feed. And the front-of-the-arm damping also gives extraordinary bass. Combine it with the Moerch DP-8 anisotropic tonearm (one of my Golden Ear Awards of 2010), and you will hear all the bass and all the rest, that is really on your records. The Rock 7 is a triumph of engineering insight, with performance at the very top level but at a moderate price.” (Reviewed in Issue 209)

The Rock 7 also won the 2009 Hi-Fi Choice Award. Here are highlights from their June 2009 review:

“The calm platform that the Rock 7 offers confers a sense of effortlessness to vinyl replay that makes for very convincing instruments and voices… when you’ve got a great recording, you know about it.”

“…The turntable is so good at digging out fine detail: at low and high level you get the full picture of the music”

Specifications:

Speed

33 1/3 and 45 RPM + 0.25 to + 0.5%

Wow and Flutter / Arms

0.1% Townshend Audio Excalibur 3 Pick-arm recommended
Arm – plates available for all radial arms from 200 mm – 255 mm (7.8 inches to 10 inches) axis to axis.

Mechanical

Speed Change
Manual rive belt on stepped motor pulley
Bearing
Hardened precision ground steel shaft, 8 mm steel ball.

Electrical

Voltage Power Frequency Control Connector
110-120 VAC, 220-240 VAC2.5 W50/60 HzRocker SwitchIEC mains socket

Physical

Color
White platter, black metalwork, polished stainless screws
Dimensions
19 x 14 x 7.5 inches (48 x 36 x 14 cm)
Weight
29 lb (13 kg)
Shipping dimensions
21 x 17 x 13 inches (52 x 43 x 33 cm)
Weight
33 lb (15 kg)