Miniot Wheel 2 review: a unique vertical turntable worth waiting for

It solely took six years, one life-saving operation, and a whole lot of 1000’s in private loans, however this handmade, gravity-defying report participant from mom-and-pop store Miniot is lastly available to buy.

Backers of the unique 2017 Kickstarter have been on a wild journey, and most nonetheless haven’t obtained their minimalistic upright turntables. But right here we’re in 2023 with a refined second-generation Wheel that usurps the discontinued unique whereas nonetheless hiding all of the sound-generating {hardware} beneath discs of unobstructed vinyl, whether or not taking part in upright on a stand or held on a wall. 

I’ve acquired loads of expertise with devices, however the one vinyl I personal as soon as served as placemats for a music-themed ceremonial dinner. That’s why I’ve been testing the Wheel 2 with a gaggle of bonafide audiophiles. In any case, if an organization goes to launch a brand new deck within the twenty first century that’s 4 instances the value of a good turntable, then it had higher enchantment to a tradition that calls for loads from the machine entrusted with rarefied music collections.

After a number of weeks of testing, I can say this: the Wheel 2 is a really interesting product that mixes the fun of analog with the comfort of digital. It’s so intelligent that it would tempt you again to wax now that gross sales are once more surging, even when it does price over $2,000 and performs information the other way up whereas spinning backward.

It’s additionally the most effective hope but for Kickstarter’s backers to be made entire and for Miniot’s unwavering patriarch to salvage his legacy.

Earlier than we progress a lot additional, let me give you a spoiler: the €1,999 (about $2,142) Wheel 2 sounds higher than a $450 turntable however not so good as one which prices in extra of $4,000, all three of which I heard play aspect by aspect for a number of hours of comparability testing. However I’m hardly an professional. That’s why I turned to friend-of-a-friend Philip Doucet. 

Doucet lives and breathes vinyl. He’s the co-founder of Music Box Designs in Amsterdam along with being a musician, skilled audio engineer, avid report collector, and HiFi fanatic. As a self-professed audiophile, he has not one however two listening rooms in his residence, which function the proving grounds for his firm’s vinyl storage packing containers, audio system, and cupboards — a lot of which you see within the accompanying photographs.

Regardless of Doucet’s credentials, he needs Verge readers to know that his suggestions is couched in emotion, not science. “I’m not knowledgeable audio engineer that’s measuring output, frequency responses, pace stability, and so on.,” says Doucet. “I’ve been listening to analog tools of every type for over 40 years. I’m utilizing my ears, emotions, information, and expertise for my evaluate.” 

He was additionally joined by three different listeners to keep away from any private bias: two avid analog fans and a plebe who usually listens to digital streaming music identical to me and most everyone else.

Now, earlier than we get to the evaluate, let’s make a journey down reminiscence lane. Or skip the subsequent part completely if, like Wheel’s Kickstarter backers, you’ve already waited lengthy sufficient.

Miniot’s Wheel model 1 started life as an formidable Kickstarter approach again in February 2017, with deliveries set to start eight months later. Right here’s what I mentioned on the time after having profiled the family-run firm a number of years earlier:

Regardless of my enthusiasm, it’s essential to do not forget that this can be a Kickstarter undertaking and which means there’s danger concerned for you, the potential backer… Miniot’s experience is in deciding on wooden after which milling it into finely crafted circumstances. Wrangling electronics suppliers is difficult work, particularly when it’s important to ship at scale and assist a completed piece of client electronics. Having mentioned that, Miniot’s earlier success was at the very least partly as a result of Peter Kolkman’s and Greet van den Berg’s obsessive management over the end-to-end manufacturing of their circumstances. So I’d count on the identical dogged persistence in bringing Wheel to life. 

Should you backed or preordered the unique Wheel primarily based upon my writeup, I’m sorry — however you’ll be able to’t say you weren’t warned. Though I by no means imagined Miniot’s “obsessive management” would trigger it to be this late. 

The Wheel 1 isn’t accessible to order anymore however Miniot nonetheless has a backlog it must construct and ship to its earliest supporters. In any other case, the corporate is now completely centered on promoting the Wheel 2 — it must be.

Kolkman, now 65, contacted me in December to say that the second-generation Wheel was prepared for me to evaluate. By January, I sat down with him at his manufacturing unit slash residence to raised perceive what occurred, see the brand new manufacturing and meeting traces in individual, and choose up a regular Wheel 2 to check. 

Miniot has completely refreshed its manufacturing since my final go to in 2014. The CNC machines, lathes, and lasers as soon as used to provide picket circumstances for iPads and iPhones have both been changed with 3D printers or recast in new roles to provide elements for its Wheel turntables. 

The primary query I had for Kolkman was the apparent one: what the hell occurred? 

“We by no means made one thing like a report participant earlier than, so I had no clue what we have been doing again then. It’s clear that the estimated supply in October 2017 was completely ridiculous,” mentioned Kolkman, reflecting on the Kickstarter marketing campaign. “I’m rather more humble now about product improvement. In hindsight, you’ll be able to say, ‘effectively, most likely you employed the mistaken engineers, otherwise you went with the mistaken firms that didn’t have the experience.’ However nobody had the particular experience we would have liked to construct what we needed.” 

Six years later and most of those that preordered or pledged a mixed €424,457 (about $450,000) still haven’t received their Wheel 1 turntables, which have been priced as little as €568 (about $600) on the time. Kolkman readily accepts all blame for the delays after severely underestimating the work concerned in making his thought a actuality. However, he delayed retirement to see the undertaking by and has remained steadfast about not transport the Wheel turntable till it meets his definition of a “nice report participant,” regardless of its affect on his life. 

The Kickstarter success allowed Miniot to instantly give up constructing its picket circumstances to concentrate on Wheel. The cash lasted for some time, however the sudden delays and fixed redesigns made it essential for Kolkman to finally take out “a whole lot of 1000’s” in loans, together with a further mortgage on the home the place the household lives and works. 

The household additionally needed to downsize their residing scenario by reconfiguring their residence to not solely accommodate a small manufacturing unit but in addition create a separate unit that would function a trip rental for slightly little bit of semi-regular earnings whereas improvement continued. 

Improvement was additionally interrupted by the covid pandemic and world provide chain points. After which, to prime issues off, Kolkman suffered a coronary heart assault in 2021. However, he doesn’t need any pity. “I’ve been struggling for six years already, so what’s the issue,” he jokes with a heartfelt chortle. “The whole lot provides up, however the largest downside was that it was very, very sophisticated to develop the machine.”

As Kolkman tells it, Miniot’s unique thought was to be Wheel’s product designer and oversee the event work of companions from afar. However Kolkman discovered his wholistic strategy to product improvement — whereby Miniot had full management over the design, engineering, manufacturing, meeting, achievement, and assist of its picket circumstances — to be incompatible with outsourced manufacturing, and he grew to become more and more sad with every successive prototype delivered (slowly) from China. 

So little by little, Miniot introduced the event of every part in-house till practically all the pieces is now made by Miniot underneath Kolkman’s direct supervision. That features all of the software program and electronics, which is headed by Kolkman’s son Piet (25), a lifelong tinkerer and self-taught engineer. Having all the pieces in-house permits Miniot to quickly prototype new and higher concepts for manufacturing.

The Wheel was given an entire reset — not simply as soon as however a number of instances — such that there’s virtually nothing from the unique Wheel current in Wheel 2. Whereas the Wheel 1 was composed of some 400 elements, the Wheel 2 is made out of about 80 and is designed to be simply serviceable ought to one thing go mistaken. 

Regardless of Kolkman’s honest apology, it’s of little comfort for backers of the unique Wheel. The marketing campaign’s comment thread stays energetic, with folks interchangeably asking for updates on their orders and calling the corporate a rip-off. They’re additionally aggravated to see Miniot promoting some Wheel 2 turntables to the general public, which Kolkman contends is required to fund the upscaling of its manufacturing capability and to lastly ship on its Kickstarter promise.

To be blunt: that Kickstarter cash is gone, based on Kolkman. Miniot must promote new, high-margin merchandise with a purpose to fund the 1,000 or so (a quantity that features backers and preorder prospects) turntables which have but to ship. 

For instance its strategy to creating backers entire, Miniot not too long ago offered 10 restricted version White Wheel 2s premade for Christmas. They every price €3,000 (about $3,200) and shipped on time with some higher-end elements along with the unique coloration. Miniot plans to provide 10 to fifteen particular version Wheels every month which are pre-built with a purpose to assure quick supply. A brand new restricted version Black Wheel prices €3,799 (about $4,000) and comes with an improved cartridge, preamp, and stylus. Even the value of the Wheel 2 has gone from €1,350 to €1,500 to €1,999 as Kolkman “acknowledged its actual worth,” he says. Earnings from these gross sales will probably be used to construct Wheels owed to its Kickstarter backers.

Kolkman says 90 % of backers and preorder prospects already switched to the Wheel 2. In complete, Miniot has shipped about 100 of the unique Wheels and over 100 of the brand new Wheel 2 turntables.

The corporate at the moment employs 11 folks, a quantity that features Peter, Greet, their son Piet, and their two different grown youngsters. In January, they have been constructing about 10 Wheel 2 turntables per week. By March, that quantity had accelerated to about 30 however was nonetheless in need of the 10-per-day purpose Kolkman had set for November 2022. 

Those that got here to Miniot by means of Kickstarter are rightly pissed off after Kolkman offered the Wheel as a virtually completed product again in 2017. However some backers are complicit in treating Kickstarter as a storefront. I can nonetheless bear in mind Kickstarter’s origins as “a way for creators and audiences to work together to make things.” And from my vantage level, the suggestions loop created by the €500K marketing campaign kickstarted Miniot right into a client electronics firm with a really compelling first retail providing within the Wheel 2. 

After I ask Kolkman if it’s been value it — all of the monetary stress, offended backers, delayed retirement, and life-saving coronary heart surgical procedure — he responds merely and matter of factly:

“We imagine in what we’re doing and suppose we’ll finally succeed.”

The Wheel 2 makes a superb first impression on novices and fans alike. To me, it’s an exquisite instance of chilly precision warmed by the liberal use of pure wooden. I like that it makes me query all the pieces I assumed I knew about turntables that depend on gravity to each maintain the report in place and preserve the stylus deftly tracing that vinyl groove. 

It isn’t the primary turntable to play information upright, however the Wheel 2 is by far the best-looking vertical participant that you would be able to truly purchase at the moment.

For Doucet, seeing the Wheel 2 function for the primary time was a near-religious awakening. “I don’t imagine that there has ever been such an unique redesign for a turntable in over 100 years,” he mentioned. “The Wheel 2 is a good looking piece of analog aesthetic minimalism. Its compact and glossy design is, of itself, a chunk of artwork. I couldn’t cease taking a look at it.”

Miniot’s occasion trick is placing the stylus (aka needle), a cartridge (the factor that holds the stylus and interprets info from the report’s groove into {an electrical} sign), tonearm (the lengthy bar that normally holds the cartridge), and preamp (aka the “phono stage” that amplifies the output sign for linked gadgets) beneath the report. 

The design permits for a really brief sign path between the cartridge and built-in preamp, which Miniot says helps forestall sign loss, noise, and distortion, all within the service of higher sound. But it surely additionally prevents the Wheel 2’s cartridge from being upgraded like most trendy turntables or for the preamp to be bypassed (extra on this later).

The Wheel 2 is handmade virtually completely from elements designed by Miniot. Refreshingly, most of these elements are manufactured by Miniot itself in an annex to a big however in any other case unassuming household residence situated in a small Dutch village. 

It might play 7-, 10-, and 12-inch information and routinely selects the pace. Furthermore, Miniot says the Wheel’s belt-driven platter adapts to information which are out of alignment or stability to realize a real 33 1/3rpm or 45rpm observe pace the place the stylus tip touches the groove. The Fixed Groove Pace characteristic achieves this by recalculating motor pace each millisecond. 

There’s even a Purist Mode that may be enabled to beat extreme problems with vinyl misalignment and imbalance. When activated, the turntable will play a number of seconds of the report silently, course of the information, after which transfer the stylus again to the lead-in groove to begin taking part in audio after a interval of about 10 to fifteen seconds. Miniot says that this characteristic must be turned off 99 % of the time — I by no means discovered a necessity for it throughout my testing.

As a report participant, the Wheel 2 can, after all, be performed flat on a desk and comes fitted with 4 vibration-dampening toes. However this factor was designed to be performed vertically, and the visible affect of that completely framed vinyl can’t be overstated. 

Audiophiles like to do one thing referred to as “crucial listening,” normally carried out with an air of superiority whereas casually swirling a wee dram. It begins solely after the stylus is emancipated from mud and the report cleaned utilizing both ultrasonic waves or, for those who’re poor, some squirty stuff and a a lot too costly carbon fiber brush. The ritual takes place in a devoted, acoustically-controlled listening room with audio system and album artwork pointed instantly at a seat to create the a lot prized “candy spot.” It’s right here — dealing with the turntable — the place a correct 180-gram vinyl disc will be maximally appreciated. 

By standing the report upright, it merges the listening expertise with a brand new visible aesthetic that may, at instances, be mesmerizing. Even I, an acoustic clod, may totally respect this new dynamic, particularly when spinning marbled vinyl pressed from a colourful puck. 

“We have been all enthralled to the visage of the gorgeous Objet d’artwork that’s the Wheel,” mentioned Doucet on behalf of his listening occasion. “I will surely mount it on the wall if I owned it. My spouse (one of many further listeners) preferred its clear traces and unfussy design. I can’t see a scenario through which the Wheel 2 could be used within the horizontal place as a result of it could lose its ingenious enchantment.”

Miniot constructed an analog turntable with a digital interface, permitting for unprecedented ease of use and management. Three bodily buttons are baked right into a grippy quantity slider that adorns the highest fringe of the Wheel 2. From left to proper, these operate as again, play / pause / repeat, and ahead / settings. 

To start playback, you’ll be able to both swipe left on the report’s edge or push the play button. That causes the tonearm to slip throughout the underside of the report to rely the tracks and show them as a collection of lighted dots on a curved line on the prime of the participant. The tasteful sample of 120 white LEDs visually mimics the width of every observe pressed into the vinyl out of view. That is essential as a result of the Wheel is taking part in the underside of the report, not the aspect you’ll be able to see. A barely brighter LED signifies the place of the stylus.

The Wheel performs the primary observe by default, or you’ll be able to hit ahead to shortly transfer the stylus to the subsequent observe with digital precision — no loud pop, no report scratch, and no undesirable blast of music related to shifting the tone arms on conventional report gamers. Miniot features a clear album within the field with the Wheel 2 so you’ll be able to marvel on the mechanics. It truly is spectacular to look at Miniot’s customized tonearm sliding backwards and forwards between tracks.

The controls do take some follow for anybody accustomed to the massive switches of conventional turntables. The fundamentals are intuitive, however you’ll have to seek the advice of the guide for lesser-used capabilities just like the stylus cleansing mode, adjusting the stylus weight towards the report, or manually altering the RPM. 

There are another issues it’s important to get used to. First, as a result of it’s taking part in the other way up, you’ll be able to’t learn the observe itemizing printed on the middle of the report. And to wash the report, you have to mount it someplace, clear the aspect you wish to play, then flip it over and place it onto the Wheel’s spindle the other way up — steps that purists will discover unsettling. And when there’s no report on the Wheel 2, the Miniot brand is sideways, which bugs me, and everybody else after I discussed it (sorry!).

When standing upright, taking part in information with middle holes that aren’t reduce correctly requires two palms to screw them onto the spindle to keep away from toppling the Wheel 2 over. In any other case, you’ll be able to all the time purchase an excessively costly instrument to precisely widen the spindle gap if pencils and screwdrivers simply received’t do.

The Wheel 2 was capable of deal with a “barely warped” album simply advantageous however did not play a severely warped report from Doucet’s assortment — identical as his different turntables. 

The Wheel 2 has a built-in preamp and three.5mm audio output, which makes it a compact and handy turntable that may be linked on to headphones and energetic audio system like Sonos’ new Period collection. That jack also can hook up with the aux or line enter of a receiver, which nearly everybody available in the market for a $2,000 report participant may have, however you’ll probably want to purchase a 3.5mm to RCA cable first. It will get its energy from USB-C (cable and plug included). I used to be even capable of energy it from a conveyable battery pack which helps make the turntable transportable. 

The Wheel 2 doesn’t have the normal RCA phono outputs discovered on most turntables, and there’s no method to bypass the preamp. Some audiophiles will argue that the primary level may compromise the sound high quality (however I had no method to take a look at that), however the lack of a bypass prevents you from utilizing a greater exterior phono stage which nearly actually impacts the turntable’s audio potential. 

Lastly, the digital person expertise would profit significantly from a easy distant management to simply change tracks or repeat a favourite jam till the household begs you to cease. 

Doucet had the Wheel 2 for per week, the place he examined albums and tracks from his personal music assortment. They characterize recordings he’s heard numerous instances performed on his private techniques, making his setup best for comparability testing. 

Doucet’s Room A, as we’ll name it, is devoted to crucial listening. It’s fitted along with his most refined — and loopy costly — gear (see sidebar). Room B is actually his residence’s formal lounge, fitted with gear that has been slowly demoted through the years in Doucet’s unending quest for good sound. It was in these two rooms that we examined the Miniot Wheel 2 towards two worthy rivals.

Let’s begin with Room B, evaluating the Wheel 2 towards a €450 (about $480) Professional-Ject turntable fitted with what Doucet and his three listening friends contemplate a greater OM-20 cartridge. Right here’s a abstract of the comparability:

“The Wheel 2’s presentation was extra partaking, centered, secure, and detailed on each album we listened to. We have been captivated by the propulsive drive of Depeche Mode and The Smiths. Lauryn Hill, Otis Redding, Aretha, and Nina Simone’s vocals benefitted from the upfront presentation of the Wheel. The unimaginable album that’s Bob Marley’s Catch a Fireplace got here alive and spit out a incredible mixture of rhythm and efficiency, musical and fascinating. 

“We stored remarking how stunning it regarded and sounded when in comparison with my Professional-Ject turntable,” mentioned Doucet. “The Wheel compelled you to maintain listening to extra information, which may be very fascinating certainly.”

My takeaways matched theirs once I additionally listened to an identical sampling of vinyl. The Wheel 2 produced extra nice audio that was noticeably brighter than the Professional-Ject in each take a look at. The whole lot — Miles Davis, Lauryn Hill, Nina Simone, Inexperienced Day, and Tyler the Creator — sounded higher, to me, on the Wheel 2.

Subsequent, we in contrast the Wheel 2 in Room A, the place it was examined towards a €4,000 Linn turntable paired with a €1,600 exterior phono stage. Not like Room B, which benefited from a complete host of listeners offering suggestions, Room A suggestions comes from simply Doucet and myself.

Let me sum it up with this. “Linn kills it!” says Doucet. “There is no such thing as a track performed on the Wheel 2 that sounded pretty much as good when performed by the Linn LP 12.” I’d chalk that as much as Doucet’s personal purchaser bias for his turntable, however my listening notes roughly matched his personal: all the pieces sounded higher by the Linn and its exterior preamp. The one time the Wheel 2 would sound higher is for those who tried to play the Linn turntable standing upright.

However no person anticipated the Wheel 2 to outperform Doucet’s most premium setup. “I don’t suppose the Wheel 2 wins or loses towards my Linn turntable,” mentioned Doucet. “It isn’t designed to compete in that audio class.”

Issues may need been totally different if the Wheel 2’s preamp (aka, phono stage) could possibly be bypassed. “The truth that I can’t bypass the Wheel 2’s inside phono preamp means I can’t run the Wheel by my phono stage; due to this fact, I can’t make a real apples-to-apples comparability,” says Doucet. 

The opposite limiting issue for the Wheel 2 is Miniot’s use of the “very common” Audio Technica AT-95E cartridge, based on Doucet and buddies. Most turntables, particularly on this worth vary, let you improve to a cartridge of your selecting.

To check that opinion, Kolkman introduced a Black Wheel to Doucet’s home for comparability towards his Linn LP 12 fitted with a Nagaoka MP-500 cartridge. In any case, Miniot is positioning its $4,000 restricted version deck as an “audiophile turntable” with its AT-VM95 Nude Shibata cartridge, matched preamp, and improved stylus. 

“Total, the Black Wheel is a sonic improve from the Wheel 2, with larger definition and far wider soundstage,” mentioned Doucet. “Nevertheless, the Black Wheel continues to be not as full and detailed or nuanced because the Linn LP 12. This was obvious on some albums greater than others, with one exception (Muddy Waters’ People Singer).” And for what it’s value, I concur, having been current for the comparability testing.

Sadly, even this turntable comparability isn’t apples-to-apples. And not using a bypass, the Black Wheel, just like the Wheel 2, couldn’t be performed by Doucet’s fancy €1,600 SPL Audio preamp, and that is likely to be making all of the distinction — and for that worth, you’d hope so.

In the end, an audiophile’s last judgment on the Wheel 2 comes right down to the sound you get for the value. “Should you by no means heard the Linn setup and also you have been casually acquainted with nice analog sound, you’d be fairly pleased with the sound presentation of the Wheel 2,” mentioned Doucet. “But when price is a measure of high quality — and on this case, it’s — I’m not certain in regards to the €2,000 price ticket.”

Perhaps, possibly not. As all the time, it relies upon.

“€2K is an efficient chunk of cash. That worth level will not be for the vinyl-curious seeking to see what the hype is about,” says Doucet. “The worth is extra for the analog-experienced who want to improve or change their deck with one thing higher.”

He’s not mistaken. That type of cash should buy a turntable from manufacturers with stellar reputations like Rega, Mofi, Thorens, and Clear Audio and nonetheless have some change left over to purchase a cartridge superior to the Wheel’s. You’ll additionally personal a turntable that allows you to bypass the preamp in favor of an exterior phono stage for even higher sound, now or sooner or later. However will it play vertically to dazzle your eyes? Are you able to dangle it on the wall to impress your pals? No, no, you’ll be able to’t, and that’s why Miniot can demand a worth premium.

Who can actually say what goes on contained in the mind of an audiophile or anybody with sufficient cash to appear like they care deeply about esoteric pursuits? What I can say is that this: the Wheel 2 turntable is a novel marriage of digital and analog that produces very pleasurable sound from an attention grabbing design that’s hand constructed by a small family-run enterprise that has actually wager the farm on making the Wheel successful. And that’s interesting to all people. 

Should you order now, Peter Kolkman is ready to ship your Wheel 2 on time, most likely… however virtually actually inside the subsequent six years.

All images by Thomas Ricker / The Verge