Spin Your Records on a Glowing Cushion of Magnetic Magic | Gadget Lab | Wired.com
The silicon acrylic platter is both massive and stable, weighing five pounds and measuring one and one-half inches thick. It’s suspended magnetically and driven by a high-end Swiss-made motor that uses two opposing neodymium magnets. By floating the platter with magnetic force instead of using ball bearings at the base, low-end rumble is all but eliminated. It’s also one less part to wear down. Even cooler is the detail that everyone can appreciate: The platter glows the same McIntosh-flavored bright blue-green as the front glass panel.
The custom tone arm is also stabilized by magnets. The anti-skating feature (something common to all turntables) applies a counter-force to suppress the arm’s natural desire to swing toward the middle of the album. But since the McIntosh’s tonearm does it by way of magnets, it further reduces any motor noises or additional sounds that could creep into the audio signal and alter the sounds being pulled from the record.