Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Collector’s item
Given the venerated status of many vinyl collections, it’s surprising how little thought is given to the question of where they should live. Often they’re slotted into a functional four-square shelving unit, their creased spines only readable when you tilt your head and squint. But a growing desire to give them beautiful homes has seen Norwegian craftsman Stian Herdal become a sought-after maker of cabinets and stands devoted to vinyl, turntables and hi-fi peripherals. “Music has always been a huge part of my life,” he says. “I don’t have a deep knowledge of amplifiers or speakers, but I love the vinyl format. And I like to make pieces that inspire people to, shall we say, hide the digital parts of their lives.”
Now based in the city of Kristiansand, Herdal grew up in a woodworking family with the smell of wood shavings and Danish oil ever-present. He began as a hobbyist, making furniture he needed for his own home, but soon started receiving local commissions. In 2016 he made himself his first vinyl stand: a simple but beautiful X-frame with slots for each record. A web shop quickly gained traction, he designed and built larger pieces, and today his customers range from lawyers kitting out their offices to Hollywood celebrities who love his midcentury aesthetic, inspired by designers such as Niels Otto Møller and Torbjørn Afdal. His admirers include woodworking students who email him for advice; he happily sends them his plans and answers their questions.
This, his most recent design, has a plinth for the turntable, a sliding tambour door concealing the amp, a cable management system and space for 200 records. “They should hold their own as centrepieces in a room,” he says of his work, “but also be timeless and understated. To some extent it represents the Norwegian way of going about things; you don’t need to wave your arms and scream to make people notice you.” HRDL Vinyl Table £1,649 with storage base
Achtung Eno
Brian Eno’s Turntable, part record player, part acrylic sculpture with softly glowing LED lights, was produced in an edition of 50 back in 2021. “It sold out overnight,” laughs gallerist Paul Stolper. “We got the numbers hopelessly wrong.” Turntable II, now available in an edition of 150, has been updated in a number of ways, including a rounded plinth and a platter placed off centre to give the tonearm its own space.
The shifting lights have been pre-programmed by Eno to include a random element. “A key aspect of his thinking is this idea of surrender,” says Stolper. “It’s programmed, but he doesn’t know what it will do, so he’s just as much the viewer as you or I.” Brian Eno Turntable II, 2024, £20,000, paulstolper.com
Preamp it up
Every turntable needs a preamp, but not many of them are milled from a solid block of aluminium, sit on an anti-vibration support stand and are engineered to last 30 years. HSE was founded in Zürich in 1987 by Robert Huber and is one of very few audio manufacturers to carry the “Swiss Made” mark, with all mechanical parts made within the country. Its products are generally bespoke items destined for recording studios (the most notable being Electric Lady in Greenwich Village, founded by Jimi Hendrix in 1968) but the launch of the Masterline 7 is a chance for discerning customers to experience some of that finesse at home. HSE Masterline 7 phono preamplifier, £80,000, absolutesounds.com
Smooth operator
When you set your sights on making the best belt-drive turntable in the world, it can become an obsession. Mark Döhmann’s quest was to isolate the Helix One from any vibrations that might ricochet through the system. Thus the platter of the Mk3 has suspension based on engineering you find in electron microscopes, the Swiss motor is custom-designed to suppress unpleasant resonances, and the clamp that holds your records to the turntable isolates any noise generated by the needle in the groove. The result is an almost supernatural machine, devoid of compromise, wholly dedicated to making records sound the best they possibly can. Döhmann Helix One Mk3, £78,998, absolutesounds.com
Clean machine
Anti-static brushes, cleaning solvents and lint-free cloths inevitably leave some kind of residue on the surface of the vinyl, which compromises sonic clarity to some degree. By contrast, ultrasonic techniques – the kind used in electronic and pharmaceutical industries – can give records a deep clean using sound waves sent through liquid. This two-piece kit comprises a six-litre tank with an adjustable thermostat and timer, and a motorised spindle that holds five long players. The spindle attaches to the side of the tank to keep the vinyl label clear of the water, and it rotates at 3rpm while the bubbles do their work: around half an hour at just under 30ºC is recommended. DK Ultrasonic vinyl record cleaner kit, £399.99
