The idiots write the things and have are clueless what the write. It is time for another manufacture to remind that he is still alive and to initiate another round of cash collection for his customers. How they do it? Of cause by introduction of a new irrelevant modal number. The times when hi-end companies changed the chassis screw heard from flat to Philips and to introduce it as the “revolution in audio” have pasted.   You think it passed? Think again.

Walker audio have introduce a new Proscenium Black Diamond III Turntable.

http://www.walkeraudio.com/Proscenium.html

“We had no intention of upgrading or changing the Proscenium Black Diamond II turntable.  It is already considered one of the best in the world.  We thought we had achieved the pinnacle of analog playback possibilities.  We were wrong.  Over the years, we have continued to improve different aspects of the Proscenium turntable.  One area of the turntable had remained essential unchanged was the turntable air suspension chambers – the chambers that support the weight of the turntable and isolate it from the equipment rack.  We began to experiment with ways to use lower pressure in the turntable air suspension chambers as a way of extending the life of the air chamber pods.  We didn’t expect the dramatic effect that a separate isolated air supply using lower pressures would have on the sound.   The result was amazing.  We found the perfect pressure for isolation, rigidity and resonance control.  We also discovered the ideal material to couple the air suspension pods to our Prologue Top Shelf.  Just this change in itself was a major breakthrough.  Together, the changes to the air pressure system  and the new coupling material result in a musical presentation that is truly phenomenal.  I never believed recorded music could sound this real.  In my opinion and the opinions of others who have heard the change, it is clearly a 30% to 50% improvement.  The sound is so real that it will leave you in a trance. It is jaw-droppingly good.  As one audiophile said, “this is a game-changer”. The results not only improve the sound, but the lower pressure will extend the life of the air chamber pods indefinitely.  If you are interested in playing LPs, I strongly recommend that you make an appointment to hear the new Proscenium Black Diamond III turntable.  If you already have a Proscenium Black Diamond turntable, contact us to find out how to upgrade your turntable to the Black Diamond III. “

The “clearly a 30% to 50% improvement”? That is great and it is all by lowering the pressure in of suspension. That is great and it took just 20 year to discover.  So, over the cause of the last 20 years the Proscenium TT did not perform well and did   50% worthier then it has to be juts because it was running at too high air pressure? I did not see the estimable users and reviewers of the Proscenium turntable complained that something was wrong.

There is another twist in the story that might escape attention of an ordinary observer. I personally never used Proscenium TT but I know a guy who has a lot of experience with it. Although he likes the sound of it but he reported that the TT I very much tend to change Sound with any slight modification of millions different parameters.  I am VERY much against of those types TT as I feel that a TT has to have a default sound that it impossible not to get. The resent Proscenium modification is juts prove my point as if TT was able to get 30% to 50% improvement juts by modifying suspension pressure then it is a faulty made TT to begin with.

Romy the Cat wrote:

... Although he likes the sound of it but he reported that the TT I very much tend to change Sound with any slight modification of millions different parameters...The Cat

about its sonic quality...

That is a well known fact. Even Harry Pearson wrote about that lots of years ago and he refused to listen to it, because he never knew, is the table sonically stable today for a comparison / rating or not...or his Set up Man went crazy...

Some former Walker Owners compared it with a crap cheap Technics SP-10, sold the Walker and bought the SP-10 with a 14k plinth...

But now it is obvious they went away when 50% improvement is just based on air.

Strange world

Stitch wrote:

That is a well known fact. Even Harry Pearson wrote about that lots of years ago and he refused to listen to it, because he never knew, is the table sonically stable today for a comparison / rating or not...or his Set up Man went crazy...

TheOptimist wrote:

I've been reading these comments for years now, and it's getting pretty tired. So I think it's about time someone spoke up. I've done some work with Mr. Walker, I know the guy, and most importantly, I've ACTUALLY HEARD HIS TURNTABLE. It is a sonic work of art. You CONSTANTLY bash it, but it's always "a guy you know" that has complaints about it. No firsthand experience. All talk. You claim the table is unstable. It's nothing of the kind - Google Walker Proscenium Reviews, check Audiogon, Audio Asylum, 6Moons, etc... it's a myth. And Harry Pearson? The reason he claims he won't review the 'table is because it "doesn't sound like anything - how can I review a 'table that doesn't have its own sound?" Lloyd's whole goal is to reproduce the recordings in a completely uncolored way. HP accidentally paid him the highest possible compliment. Many industry reviewers use Walker turntables because they choose to. The manufacturer lets the reviewer borrow a component, and if the reviewer thinks it's the best, HE WANTS TO KEEP IT, so he continues to put his opinion of it in print. That's how the industry works. I'm going to try to ignore the personal attacks on Lloyd, because you ought to know better than to attack a man's integrity based on your own baseless opinions. I'm just going to say this: Romy, you have no experience with the Walker Turntable. I doubt you've ever even heard it. As such, you should have no opinion on it. If you do, you've allowed "what you've heard", and God only knows from whom, to become your "expert" opinion. Perhaps you should try getting some experience with something BEFORE forming an opinion. You might just learn something.

 Your are an simpleton who is willing to run across web and patronize this or that product. I wonder what interest you have to change my opinion about TTs? People get TT in order to build certain sound in their own rooms. You have your Walker or whatever TT you have, you happy with it - great, use it and shut up. No one interest to hear your voice unless you talk on the matter of subject. I did express very clear and very SPECIFIC things that I disagree with Walker turntable and your pop up at this  site assuring me that you sucked MR. Walker’s dick and therefore his TT shall be piece of art. Do you think, considering your reasoning, I have any interest in your opinion? A person who advise me to use the Audiogon’s, Audio Asylum’s, 6Moons’ garbage as reference for my judgment is an idiot. Please go to the above mentioned sites and spray there your wisdom there, they have a lot of audio-retards like you and I am sure that you will be well received in there.

In the end: stick your denial or my credibility into your own ass. Over the years observing the audio crowd I recognized that for whatever reason an incredible amount of worthless audio idiots use Walker turntable and you are no exeption. I certainly do not feel that any person who use Walker turntable is an idiot but too many uncontestable idiots are clustered around this turntable, go figure why?...

My response is intentionally harsh, I do apologies for it on personal level but I also hope it will turn you off to post any of your adolescent BS at this site as I have no interest to waste my time debation or even considering  your opinion.

TheOptimist wrote:

I've done some work with Mr. xyz, I know the guy, and most importantly, I've ACTUALLY HEARD HIS TURNTABLE. It is a sonic work of art. You CONSTANTLY bash it, but it's always "a guy you know" that has complaints about it. No firsthand experience. All talk.

TheOptimist wrote:

Many industry reviewers use Walker turntables because they choose to. The manufacturer lets the reviewer borrow a component, and if the reviewer thinks it's the best, HE WANTS TO KEEP IT, so he continues to put his opinion of it in print. That's how the industry works.

TheOptimist wrote:

I'm going to try to ignore the personal attacks on Lloyd, because you ought to know better than to attack a man's integrity based on your own baseless opinions

TheOptimist wrote:

I doubt you've ever even heard it. As such, you should have no opinion on it.

TheOptimist wrote:

Perhaps you should try getting some experience with something BEFORE forming an opinion. You might just learn something.

RonyWeissman wrote:

I heard this TT, it was magnificent, almost no coloration to speak of, dead dead quiet. Of course it wasn't plugged in and there was no tonearm or cartridge yet but man I loved the sound! Really whatnthe hell is everyone screaming about ? Romy mentioned that walker changed the air pressure and suddenly his Uber-expensive TT is 50 % better than the old  model and all that for the same price. It's just a poke at audio idiocy and really not a comment at all about the TT!

Yes, Rony, I do not remember I ever spoke about sound of Walker’s turntables. I have no reasons to do it. I heard the TT in very many occasions and I had an intimate conversation with two long-times Walker users, not the internet salivatetors like the idiot above in the thread but truly thoughtful audio users. I do not think that my experience of listening the TT qualifies me to make any judgment about the TT. You see what you hear a complete setup then no matter how experienced you are it is imposable to recognize in the whole sound what was specifically contributed by TT and what come from zillion other things. It is possible to do if you begin to play with that system, do some modification and to see how the playback reacts to it.  However, even then there is a lot of complexity evolved in order to make definitive judgment. Average audio reviewing never go to the depth of that complexity, ironically the professional audio reviewing usually even more shallow then armature one.

I did hear setups with Walker’s turntables that were more or less interesting and I heard installations that were disgusting.  What it Walker’s fault or glory? I have no idea. However, the problem that I see is that the system owner were completely unconscious about positive or negative moments of own sound. It was very disturbing.

Walker’s turntable is not other turntables. If you have EMT-927, Micro 5000, larger Clearaudio or some of the Thorens then you clearly hear the sound of TT. You can put them in some kind of capable setup and if you know what you do then you can reach the final sound beyond witch you can’t go further as it will be limited by the sound of that TT. That I would call the Turntable Sound.  Walker does not have that fixed Turntable Sound but instead it has million ways to make that TT to sound like anything and it hardly very predictable as the combination of actions and adjustments you do over Walker will give to you  different result. That is in my view an absolutely faulty approach to design TT as the TT does not demonstrate a stable sound producing platform.

If you drive a car than you would like to know all time that turning wheel to certain angle you move your specific vehicle to very specific location on road. If you have that feeling than you can build up your driving techniques upon that fixed feeling how your steering system works. However, how will you feel and how will you develop you driving skills if the wheel will have different angle-to-turn ratio and different power steering efforts depends of the tire pressure, road condition, temperature of engine, day light, proximity to Chanukah, type of the sandwich you ate this morning, presence of other cars on the road, age of oil in engine, type of gasoline in the tank, frequency of radio station you are playing in your car… That exactly what I am very much opposed and would consider that such a car has fundamentally faulty design, even if was driven by Harry Pearson or by any other pimps who are famous to drum up idiots to buy audio.

I do not claim that Walker can’t produce a very good sound. I personally do not know and I do not trust to expertise and efforts of people out there who use Walkers.  The most important is that I do not trust their honesty and integrity. Most of them are like this idiot “TheOptimist” who run and scream about the best TT on planet without even understanding the essence of the subject.

BTW, I would like to note one more thing.  Above I mentioned Micro 5000 but not the Micro 8000. Micro 8000 from the perspective of sound stability is not as fixed as 5000 and it has some parameters that might be adjusted that will make it to demonstrate slightly different sound. I do not like it as well. However, I use my TT for my own gratification; I know how to use it, I now the sound I am getting and I am well informed about the consequences of my actions with that TT. I might discuss the ways to get different sound from Walkers, Micros or any other TT but it has to be with the people who are sensible not the people similar to the idiot above who converted my very specific criticism to alleged personal attacks toward Mr. Walker or my alleged ignorance with given TT. In the end of it I know very much what is behind the motivations of “TheOptimist” and the rest of similar to him. I do not care, respect or even consider their position/view and recognize their stamens as a fart in ocean.

Romy the Cat wrote:

If you drive a car than you would like to know all time that turning wheel to certain angle you move your specific vehicle to very specific location on road. If you have that feeling than you can build up your driving techniques upon that fixed feeling how your steering system works. However, how will you feel and how will you develop you driving skills if the wheel will have different angle-to-turn ratio and different power steering efforts depends of the tire pressure, road condition, temperature of engine, day light, proximity to Chanukah, type of the sandwich you ate this morning, presence of other cars on the road, age of oil in engine, type of gasoline in the tank, frequency of radio station you are playing in your car… That exactly what I am very much opposed

Romy the Cat wrote:

I personally do not know and I do not trust to expertise and efforts of people out there who use Walkers.  The most important is that I do not trust their honesty and integrity. Most of them are like this idiot “TheOptimist” who run and scream about the best TT on planet without even understanding the essence of the subject.

haralanov wrote:

This is also the case with the Bulgarian distributor of Walker – he is 1:1 with “TheOptimist”.

Audiogon wrote:

.....the kiss of death.... In Analog we will find everything but in my opinion, lots of those units became a Boutique Character (expensive bottle, cheap fluid inside). All those expensive units have one in common (when we look back): GREAT Reviews, lots of Hype and at the end of Day it was more or less nothing to write home about (sonically).  Some examples? Goldmund Reference The Mother of Hype, but the moving Arm changes Azimuth in every groove, the table itself has a good soundstage, but details are all smeared AND it destroys every cantilever after some time. Rockport Sirius III The American Altar, but the Arm wire inside is so stiff that the Arm can not track the inner 3 tracks properly, it skips, the only way out is to use a very heavy cartridge, but the cantilever will be destroyed very soon. And the sound is ultra thin, completely lifeless without any body. Great engineering, missing the sonic target by a mile. Montegiro A super expensive German Turntable 30k+, endless rave and hype and during its demo at the High End Show the bearing broke. A typical example for Boutique. Now they are available for 1/5th price, company is out of business. Continuum Framers Finest. I listened to it 3 times, professionally set up from the Importer. 2x it was defect and the 3 time the connected Phonostage had a problem (or the Arm wire, Phonamp, Cartridge). I always said "Mono IS interesting" Anyway, that Company is also more or less out of Business what Australians wrote me. Buy replacement Parts NOW. Airtangent The Mother of of all Airliners. Super, super expensive at that time, Hype endless, bloody knees from Audiophiles - from kneeling in front of it - was normal, even more expensive with optional remote VTA....but it never worked properly. The Airflow in some areas was not constant, so..well, you can imagine... NVS The Mother of a "Game-Changer" Product, defect bearing while RMAF but some wrote, even with that defect bearing it sounded fantastic (great or?) and in some discussions in Seattle area some buyers wrote how happy they are now "being a member of the Club." A pity that the thread about was deleted :-) No knowledge (from the whole Chain Manufacturer-Distributor-User) about shipping, no knowledge about platter mechanism, no damping was a result of that damage and honestly, buying a product from "Engineers" who have absolutely no idea about technical connections ...well, good luck. Thorens Reference The Audiophile Answer from Germany to Arnold Schwarzenegger.Heavy and it will show every visitor "Hey, I am something serious"In real life you can get the identical sonic quality from every 2-3k$ turntable today. But the motor management is good. Wood Arms Well, let's face the truth, a piece of wood at a string or 'in long' for 16K$ has to be touched from God AND made from some ultra secret, mystic material, stolen from the NASA...Energy transfer? What is THAT, we want Emotion... well, Boutique,...Geometry? Pardon, WHAT? The best bearing is no bearing... blubber...Of course you need a 12k+++ Cartridge to get the full sonic impact the Arm is able to deliver Linn Well, even after 30 years they find revolutionary 'improvements'...in a way the ARC Company in analog. To catch the same customer again and again, that's brilliant. Sonically? When you want a different sound, all you have to do is to open the window... Of course, all owners, no matter from what expensive product, will write that their unit is an exception and is working like a charm etc. But let's face the facts: It is the money what counts. The wealthy Audiophile likes to show others how clever he is and what expensive units he owns, he wants the Respect to be accepted as an "Experienced Audiophile" but at the end of day, he also wants money when he sells that Sonic Wonder. Who writes "Yes, I have that T3F, Rockport, ...and it is really inferior, but I like it?" No one. Is there a way out? Of course. Let's visit Dover and steal his Turntable :-)

Of course, that writer has now more enemies than before. Most of them are too stupid to understand anything at all, but they don't like to read something like that. For whatever reasons...