Music Hall • Stealth Turntable

by Guy Lemcoe | June 1, 2022

© www.theaudiobeat.com

To have survived for close to 37 years in the consumer electronics arena and, more specifically, the rarefied marketplace of high-end audio, you must be doing something right, and Roy Hall, president of Music Hall Audio, obviously is. Since 1985, Music Hall has offered two-channel music lovers its own line of turntables, electronics, phono cartridges and cables, along with vinyl accessories including the WCS-5 vacuum record cleaner. They also serve as distributor for electronics from Bellari, as well the Hunt EDA brush. Music Hall turntables, starting with the first from 1998, have been exclusively belt driven and served entry-level through high-end audiophiles. They have consistently received praise from reviewers and consumers alike and appear regularly on best-of lists. Introduced last year, the Stealth is Music Hall’s first-ever direct-drive turntable and one of twelve models in the company’s extensive lineup.

The Stealth presented itself on my doorstep as a 29-pound double-boxed, square package. Inside, the turntable was well packed, the parts being held in place with custom-fitted Styrofoam. The four-pound aluminum platter was separated from the multi-layered plinth, with the cartridge, rubber mat and other boxed accessories cleverly located to the sides and top. The aluminum S-shaped tonearm was held firmly in its rest with a plastic-coated twist tie. Due to the Stealth's plug-and-play character, I had it playing music in 30 minutes. First, after putting the platter and rubber mat in place, I put the turntable on my equipment rack and leveled it using the four height-adjustable, vibration-damping feet. Next, I inserted the power cord, connected the ground wire and signal cables from my PS Audio GCPH phono stage and attached the removable headshell (pre-mounted with an Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge) onto the tonearm. After setting VTF to 1.8 grams, anti-skate to 2, and pushing the power button on the back of the plinth, I was done. A welcomed touch is the inclusion of a separate 10-gram counterweight, which simply screws into the back of the main counterweight. It’s supplied to enable the tonearm to accommodate heavier cartridges (such as my AudioQuest MC1.1). Also appreciated was the pair of sturdy RCA jacks to which you can attach the supplied interconnect cables or those of your choice. Plug those into the phono inputs of an integrated amp and you’re ready to go. Taps on the plinth with the cartridge on a record produced no feedback, indicative of good mechanical isolation.

Music Hall claims the Ortofon cartridge is properly aligned as delivered, so, being the obsessive that I am, I proceeded to verify that statement. Because the tonearm lifter is not damped, I carefully lowered the 'arm and cartridge onto my alignment protractor, which showed the stylus to be just short of the dot indicating correct overhang. I loosened the mounting screws and moved the cartridge a skosh forward in the headshell and retightened the screws. Bingo. The stylus dropped where it should. (Quite honestly, I could hear little or no difference between the before and after settings.)

Another setup parameter to consider is 'arm height, or VTA. A generally accepted starting point is for the tonearm tube and/or bottom of the cartridge to be parallel with the record surface. (Deviations from this setting depend on a variety of factors that are beyond the scope of this review but can be found online.) The Stealth makes this adjustment easy by providing, just to the left of the tonearm, a vertical column topped with a knob that, after loosening a locking nut toward the base of the column, can be rotated to raise (up to 10mm) or lower (down 2mm) the tonearm. To appeal to the compulsive tweaker in many audiophiles, this adjustment can be made even as a record plays. Readily viewed markings on the adjustment column make it easy to see what you’re doing and make repeated settings easily achieved. I have never seen this level of user-friendly 'arm-height adjustability on turntables at this price point. In fact, such convenient VTA adjustment is rare on most high-end tonearms.

The Stealth provides three speeds -- 33, 45 and 78 rpm -- at the touch of a button, three buttons to be exact, each turning blue when pushed. The motor is a brushless, low-speed, low-torque direct-drive type. Using the online RPM Speed & Wow application on my Android phone, I found the speeds to be quite accurate, even using a 315-gram HRS ADL record weight. A convenient feature of this turntable is that it enters standby mode, indicated by the power button turning red, after 20 minutes of inactivity. Another feature is auto-stop, which, when turned on, stops the motor 20 seconds after a record has played to the end. Accessories include a manual, RCA cables, power adapter, additional counter weight, 45rpm adapter, cloth dust cover, and snap-on adapters that allow the power supply to be used in countries other than the United States. Music Hall seems to have thought of everything.

One of the advantages of tonearms with removable headshells, such as that found on the Stealth, is that cartridge swaps can be made in a matter of minutes. Just remove the headshell and replace it with another holding a pre-aligned cartridge, set the tracking force, anti-skating, VTA (if necessary) and you’re ready to go. That’s just what I did, giving my AudioQuest MC 1.1, Dynavector DV-20X2 H, Audio Technica AT-VM95SH and the Ortofon 2M Blue cartridges a listen. I finally settled on the Dynavector and Ortofon as my review choices (both loaded to 47K ohms with 54dB of gain). And, as it turned out, after many hours of listening, the sins the Ortofon gave up to the four-and-half-times-as-expensive Dynavector were limited to those of omission only. Engaging the tube stage of my Freya + preamp reduced the impact of those omissions.

Before continuing, I have a confession to make: I prize records for their sound only -- not their physical nature, their collectability or their supplementary materials, but for their sound, period. I know I may be called a heretic, but that’s the way it is. My music room has become a sanctuary where I can escape the ills of the day. With the speakers on one side of the room and my listening seat on the other, I can immerse myself in the sound coming my way without any other end expressed or implied. The sound itself becomes the end. I have found ambient electronic music best suited for this experience, especially the dense, textural drones of artists such as Brian Eno, Klaus Schultz, Hans-Joachim Roedelius and, most recently, A Winged Victory For The Sullen. Listening to music such as this clears my mind of the cobwebs left by cognitive spiders spawned by troubling current events. A system that gets out of the way of the music is especially important in this case. Any noise, mechanical or electrical, will distract from the intimacy of the moment.

I’m delighted to report the music pulled from the grooves with the Stealth was presented with absolutely silent backgrounds and no extraneous noises, save for the occasional click or pop from the record itself. The dark, melancholic tone of Winged Victory For The Sullen’s 2014 release Atomos [Kranky Krank 190] was never more ominous as heard played back on the Stealth. On “Atomos I,” the opening chord emerges from the silence as if from nowhere until it slowly fades, followed by a dirge-like passage that flowed like molten lava beneath which arose some low frequencies (more felt than heard) that easily pressurized my room. Whether I played Eno’s expressive Apollo-Atmospheres & Soundtracks (Extended Edition) [Virgin EMI Records 774 777-2], Klaus Schultz’s spacey Timewind [Brain - brain 1075] or Roedelius Schneider’s capricious Tiden [Bureau B -- BB132], the result was the same -- total immersion into the sound of the music with but little consideration as to its nature or meaning. It’s to the Stealth’s credit that it brought the music forward without imposing its own personality.

Quite different-sounding and eliciting a dissimilar emotional reaction was a recently acquired two-LP set of the music of Edgar Varése, The Varése Album [Columbia Masterworks MG 31078]. This exceptional Columbia recording was startlingly dynamic, causing me to flinch a couple of times at the suddenness of some of the musical attacks. On the groundbreaking “Ionisation,” the bangs, scrapes, slams, slaps, wails, roars and sirens of the thirteen percussion instrumentalists were rendered with breathtaking clarity, texture and tone. In contrast to the electronic music I first played, this music was so compelling that I was unable to not pay attention. The Stealth so completely vanished as being the source of this exciting music, I lost consciousness of it, never equating it as being responsible for the aural bedlam.

Another album of envelope-pushing music is 1985’s La Folia De La Spagna [ATR ATR013LP]. This reissue of Harmonia Mundi’s La Folia [HM 1050], the TAS and audiophile favorite, features mostly tongue-in-cheek arrangements of ancient Spanish “Crazy Dances” by Gregorio Paniagua performed with spunk by his Atrium Musicae De Madrid in glorious sound. Do you like your music with gunshots, chainsaws, automobiles, and nervous chatter? It’s all here, and, despite the levity, the album continues to endure as a soundstage and dynamics champion. Listening to this LP without a smile on your face will be difficult, given the ecstatic music and sonic treats. It’s like hi-fi porn, and I hold the Stealth responsible for the exciting ride.

The arrival of the Stealth turntable coincided with my receiving the new Bernie Grundman-mastered, double-45rpm-record set Pearls, from Singaporean vocalist Aisyah [Groove Note GRV 1250-1]. Seconds after cueing up the first song, “Wicked Game,” I was struck by the utter silence of the background. No nothing, only the amazing sound of Aisyah’s voice and her backing band working thru Chris Isaak’s noirish lament. I became aware of the black background upon which the music was suspended made even darker, quieter -- the emotions touched. A large part of that can be attributed to the quality of the (uncredited) pressing, but I credit the Music Hall Stealth with letting the music flow, unhindered by artifacts or colorations. I continued my listening with one of my favorite Keith Jarrett LPs, Standards, Vol. 1 [ECM 1255]. This all-analog 1983 recording was mastered by Robert Ludwig and sounds magnificent. Jarrett’s piano presented a good test of the Stealth’s speed stability, and it passed the PRaT (Pace, Rhythm and Timing) test with flying colors. Listening to the three musicians work their way through a handful of standards was a joy. As far as soundstaging goes, the placement of the musicians was what I have seen in videos, with Jarrett right of center, Gary Peacock center and Jack DeJohnette to the rear just behind Jarrett.

Soundtracks often expose us to music well outside the box, which is one of the reasons I find myself addicted to the genre. I hear challenging, often exciting music drawn from often very familiar instruments. Take Ryuichi Sakamoto’s score for the movie The Revenant [Milan-MLN1-36761]. From the opening bars, the music paints a stark, frigid landscape, as the doleful strings develop a theme in short phrases suspended upon a glacial electronic reverberant field. Throughout the album the juxtaposition of low strings and electronic effects is compelling, and the Stealth held nothing back. In “Carrying Glass” and several others, the use of the Theremin-like ondes Martenot lends an appropriate chill to the compositions. Familiar sounds become nearly unrecognizable, members of the Frantic Percussion Ensemble make their presence felt throughout the album, interjecting the occasional accent into several tracks. Despite there not being a bright musical moment on any of the album’s four sides, I sat enthralled listening Sakamoto's imagination and composing skills.

Grabbing my AT-MONO3/LP cartridge, I gave the Stealth a workout playing some recently acquired mono LPs. First up was a smooth Frank Sinatra album from 1959, Look To Your Heart [Capitol W1164]. The Voice has never sounded so suave, tastefully supported by Nelson Riddle’s arrangements and orchestra. Did the Stealth contribute to my appreciation of Sinatra? I think so, because I quickly became aware of just how fine the sonic virtues of those early Capitol LPs were. Next, I placed an LP of Elmer Bernstein’s theme music from the late-'50s TV series Johnny Staccato, Staccato [Capitol T1287] on the platter. Its razzle-dazzle presentation of then popular “beatnik” jazz (complete with bongos) performed by top West Coast players such as Pete Condoli, Red Norvo, Shelly Manne and Barney Kessel, sounds dated, but it serves the spirit of the detective series well. The Stealth conveyed all the energy and excitement of the moment.

Finally, to reassure me of the Stealth’s speed stability, I pulled my first pressing of Glenn Gould’s 1955 recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations [Columbia ML 5060] from the record shelf and headed toward the turntable. Listening to the Bach, in addition to the amazing energy Gould displayed, I felt I could sense the personality of Gould’s Steinway CD 19 piano -- quick, dynamic, crystalline, assured and honest, in Gould’s words “a little like an emasculated harpsichord." It proved a fine test, once again, of what is referred to as PRaT and demonstrated the Stealth’s superb speed stability, with no wavering or odd-sounding notes. From the laconic, melancholic melody of the “Aria,” with its legato phrasing, to the fleet “Variation 1” and “Variation 5,” with their high-octane fingerwork, the depth of Bach’s genius was conveyed in striking sonics.

The availability of the Stealth's 78rpm speed was a big plus for me. After switching out the Ortofon for my Audio Technica AT-MONO3/SP, I had a lot of fun listening to my modest collection of Bing Crosby, Gene Autry and Charlie Parker 78s in glorious mono sound. Watching the tonearm ride the grooves of the shellac records at close to three times the usual speed was mesmerizing. And, tracking at 3 grams, the needle stayed in the saddle for the entire three-minute ride per side.

Does it sound like I enjoyed my time with the Stealth turntable? I spent several weeks spinning LP after LP on its platter and never had a bad moment. It checked all the boxes on my turntable checklist. Spun records at the correct speeds? Check. Isolated the signal from electrical or mechanical feedback? Check. Provided repeatable tonearm adjustment settings? Check. Included a removable headshell? Check. Got out of the way of the music? Big check.

Have I heard better-sounding turntables? Yes, starting at four to five times the cost, without a cartridge or in many cases even a tonearm. For its modest asking price, the Stealth performed well above what’s expected in terms of sound, convenience and build. With it, you get a well-made, plug‘n’play turntable complete with an above-average moving-magnet cartridge, the choice of three speeds and several convenience features. In the final analysis, what counts for me is the degree of satisfaction one gets from hi-fi -- the satisfaction that comes from the emotional relationship the listener has to the music. Also, the satisfaction that comes from knowing you’ve made a good investment and spent wisely, without suffering buyer’s remorse. Music Hall’s Stealth turntable has fulfilled all of those requirements.

Most of all, though, the Stealth gave me confidence that whatever LP I put on the platter would sound as good as it was going to at the sub-$2000 price point. A cartridge upgrade, perhaps to a high-output moving coil, raises that performance to a higher level still. Both value hunters and music lovers will be impressed with the Stealth turntable because it offers performance well beyond the threshold for high-end audio. For those who get their music from the grooves of vinyl records, the purchase of a Stealth turntable could be an endpoint. It will open the door to the high-end without breaking the bank. In the right system, it can deliver 85% of the magic found in systems costing much, much more. I view it as the foundation upon which a fine system is built. Music Hall Audio and Roy Hall have hit it out of the park with this one.

Price: $1649.

Warranty: Two years parts and labor.

Music Hall
108 Station Road
Great Neck, NY 11023
516.487.3663
www.musichallaudio.com

Associated Equipment

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