Get the weekly hi-fi digest — new gear, best reads, and deals.

Clearaudio Celebrity Edition turntable, co-designed with legendary jazz guitarist Al Di Meola, debuts a striking guitar-inspired aesthetic intended to be a visual centerpiece.
Advanced tacho Speed Control system continuously monitors platter rotation, compensating for belt tension and temperature changes to maintain precise 33 and 45 RPM playback.
Innovative Motor Suspension technology, derived from Clearaudio Reference Jubilee, isolates the motor to minimize vibration transfer and preserve sonic accuracy.
Strip away the celebrity narrative and the Celebrity Edition reads like a careful exercise in translating proven Clearaudio engineering into a more expressive industrial form. The underlying architecture still follows the brand’s familiar low-noise, belt-driven philosophy, but the emphasis here is on how micro-variations in rotational stability are managed over long listening sessions rather than headline-grabbing specs. Real-time correction isn’t just about hitting nominal speed; it’s about reducing low-level pitch wander that can subtly blur piano harmonics or sustained guitar notes. In that sense, the design aligns more with studio-minded thinking than lifestyle hi‑fi, despite its sculptural intent.
What divides opinion across early coverage is the extent to which the guitar-inspired control interface is functional evolution versus symbolic flourish. From a technical standpoint, consolidating multiple control operations into a single mechanical interface reduces additional wiring and switching points, which can be a non-trivial contributor to noise in compact turntable layouts. Some observers frame it primarily as visual theatre, while others note that it echoes Clearaudio’s long-standing preference for minimal user-adjustable circuitry directly in the signal path. The approach suggests an attempt to balance tactile engagement with electrical simplicity, rather than chasing automation or app-based control.
Attention also falls on the supplied arm and cartridge pairing, which signals that this package is voiced as a coherent system rather than a modular platform for endless upgrades. The choice of a medium-mass arm with a bespoke moving-magnet design hints at broad compatibility and stable tracking over esoteric performance extremes. This will likely appeal to listeners who value tonal density, transient control and predictable setup over the last word in resolution. In that context, the Celebrity Edition comes across less as a novelty spin-off and more as a curated expression of Clearaudio’s house sound, filtered through a musician’s aesthetic rather than an engineer’s white paper.
New gear, best reads, and deals — every Friday.

HiFi.De
* Disney+ has completely removed HDR support, including HDR10, HDR10+, and Dolby Vision, due to an ongoing patent dispute affecting all subscription tiers.

* Munich launches the inaugural Munich HiFi Days in March, filling the gap left by the departed international High End trade show.

* Starting in 2026, Dirac Live software licenses will be sold in-person at HiFi Klubben stores across Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, and the Netherlands.

* Marshall releases Mode USB-C wired earphones featuring a USB-C plug, priced at ¥8,990, targeting modern smartphones lacking 3.5mm headphone jacks.