Our review Caliburn was pre-fitted with a Koetsu Red K Signature which sounds absolutely magnificent – rich, tactile and highly detailed – even if it could be considered a bit 'low-priced' in this context!

Although the Caliburn is highly inert and very well isolated, the Castellon stand is an integral part of the package. It provides a solid, stable platform for the turntable, houses the motor power supply and pump, and raises the deck to mid-chest height, making it easy to use.

The complete package comes in six boxes with a total shipping weight of about 450kg and an actual weight of 300kg. Installation is a two-man job, taking about eight hours.

Sound quality

So – what might the 'perfect' turntable actually sound like? While CD sets a benchmark in terms of pitch stability and overall security, it lacks other qualities.

The Caliburn certainly equals CD on its home territory, giving an exceptionally solid, secure and stable musical presentation. It sounds absolutely unflappable – as though nothing short of an earthquake could upset it.

On instruments such as piano or acoustic guitar, there's no wobble or pitch waver. Playing a recording of Beethoven's Pathétique piano sonata, the heavy chords that open the work decayed with absolute steadiness. There was no hint of pitch variation – none.

Not knowing, most listeners (this one included) would assume that a CD was being played – it's that stable. And the Caliburn boasts another type of stability. Voices and instruments stay put in the stereo soundstage and don't shift or wander as the music alters – each individual strand maintains complete independence and individuality, while overall the music sounds cohesive and coherent.

Playing the live 1982 LP Ongaku Kai by the Crusaders, the turntable creates a coherent, yet holographic soundstage with huge amounts of percussion detail. Partnered by darTZeel amplification and Magico V3 loudspeakers, it reveals previously hidden space and detail.

On the 1989 LP Sybil, the spatial width and depth of the various layers of voice and backing are almost palpable; the music seems to hang in free space – behind, above and around the loudspeakers. The bottom end is very deep, with impressive weight and power.

It's like listening to master tapes rather than LPs. The music has the sort of effortless ease and fine subtle detail you get from first-generation masters. Soundstaging is airy and holographic – very 'out of the speaker boxes' – extremely dynamic and lively.

The Caliburn offers an intriguing mix of opposites: exceptional tightness and control, allied to extremes of bandwidth, dynamic contrast and tone colour, topped off with a creamy-smooth effortless ease.

It's capable of the utmost subtlety and delicacy, quiet passages possessing considerable refinement. Yet there's nothing fragile about the sound; it's always solid and full-bodied and the overall presentation has an impressive robustness.

The deck is like the best CD you never heard; it presents the music with comparable security, but brings extra finesse and broader dynamic extremes to the mix.

The Caliburn also has the ability to keep surprising you. One minute it sounds smooth and honey-rich, the next it's sharp and tactile. But, to be accurate, it's not the turntable surprising you; it's the music and the original recording.

The Caliburn liberates your recordings – allows them to be more like they really are, rather than constrained by limitations in the playback equipment. As a result, voices and instruments display a greater range of tonal colours.

It's this that distinguishes the turntable from even the best CD players. The Caliburn produces a wider variety of sounds. Given a reasonably good LP, the music keeps on surprising. By comparison, CD has a degree of 'sameness' – LP offers subtler individual tonal colours, plus more finely shaded dynamics.