(It doesn’t look half bad either!).” The motor is a high torque AC synchronous type with the requisite power to spin up the substantial platter to 45rpm from standstill the switch system doesn’t allow you to jump straight from 33.3 to the higher speed, you need to switch one off before using the other. Levinson’s take is, “We use three belts to provide a somewhat tighter connection between the motor and the platter, which mitigates the effects of drag and results in a slightly more extended and accurate bass sound than a single belt. Mark Levinson has chosen to drive the platter with no fewer than three belts, which is not a VPI trait. 515’s performance can be affected by the nature of the supporting surface as this provides the energy path between motor and plinth.
What this approach does mean is that the No. It does mean a potentially chunky power cable hanging off the back but as the PSU and motor are separate to the turntable that doesn’t provide a direct conduit for vibration. The way that the motor sits within a niche in the plinth is elegant, and the fact that the power supply is part of the system means that you don’t need to find space for another small box. Four Delrin and aluminium feet keep it perched high enough for the power supply to sit underneath with the drive spindle sticking up at the right height. The plinth is a sandwich of aluminium and composite materials with a vinyl wrap, and it’s big, at 533mm it’s too wide for the top of my rack. Mark Levinson has put some research into the design, and the result has several distinctions not seen in the VPI range. 515 is not merely a rebadged model from the VPI range. OEM turntable manufacturing has happened in the past, with companies including Rega making decks for other brands, but it’s relatively uncommon now and especially in the high end. Mark Levinson make no bones about this and given that developing a turntable that’s worthy of their name would be quite a challenge for an electronics company, the approach makes a lot of sense, why go to so much trouble when an expert in the field is happy to create a custom turntable to your specification. Eagle-eyed record player enthusiasts will notice however that this turntable bears a striking resemblance to those from a well-known US turntable specialist, namely VPI. 515, which is the first turntable to bear that name in the history of the marque. That is the case with the Mark Levinson No.
It says something about the state of the vinyl revival that established high-end brands which existed in the day of vinyl supremacy are building its first-ever turntables.
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