“Ever worried about off-centre LP pressings? Neither did we, until we tried DS Audio’s mind-boggling ES-001 Eccentricity Detection (and correction) Stabiliser,” write Ken Kessler and Paul Miller in the latest issue of Hi-Hi News. 

The ‘eccentricity’ of vinyl records is directly related to the speed-stability performance of a record, which can depend on a number of parameters in the pressing of the vinyl. First, there’s the positioning of the stamper plate, which creates the record’s groove – different for each of sides A and B. Second, there’s the spindle hole at the centre of the record. While both are very precisely stamped and cut, neither can ever be ultra precise in the way that, say, a hard metal can be precision-machined, since here we’re dealing with a lump of vinyl.

The upshot is that most records rotate very slightly eccentrically, but even this very slight variation makes an audible difference to the sound – a difference you may only notice once you hear its absence.

DS Audio’s ES-001 – another ‘world first’ from the company (patent pending) – is designed to address the problem by measuring, and then correcting, the record’s rotational stability. First, it projects a light onto the run-out groove to measure variation in speed stability. Second, it guides you to adjust the record’s position so that it is perfectly centered and there is no more eccentricity.

“If you have the ears and the gear, then you will find this as indispensable as a dust brush,” conclude Kessler and Miller.

“If you live for vinyl and want to extract the best of your LPs, you’d better start saving”.

Read Ken Kessler and Paul Miller’s review in full in the November issue of Hi-Fi News

Find out more about the ES-001 cartridge at https://ds-audio-w.biz and track down your nearest retailer via UK distributor www.soundfowndations.co.uk