Description
The prefix "ultra" is often abused in marketing. UltraDeck is the rare case where it lives up to its literal meaning: the ultimate, ultimate measure of quality in every aspect of the design. Developed in collaboration between Mobile Fidelity engineers and Allen Perkins—founder of the iconic Spiral Groove brand and one of the world's most respected analog engineers—UltraDeck embodies the purist philosophy of the Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab in Sebastopol, California: ultra-quiet, highly accurate vinyl reproduction without any of its own coloration.
The heart of the UltraDeck is a massive 1.3-inch-thick, 6.8-pound Delrin deck—almost twice as thick and heavy as the deck in the lower-end StudioDeck. Delrin was chosen for a reason: the material has a natural impedance match to vinyl, effectively "grounding" unwanted noise and preventing it from reaching the stylus. The result is a deep black soundstage and extremely low noise, even on quiet passages.
The UltraDeck cabinet is constructed from MDF with three aluminum plates glued to it—a solution that adds mass and effectively eliminates tonal colorations inherent in simpler cabinets. This is exactly the constrained-layer damping approach that allows you to hear a record as it was recorded in the studio, and not as it was "colored" by the player itself.
The 300 rpm AC motor’s step pulley provides excellent speed stability for pitch accuracy and confident rhythmic patterns. The Delrin pulley has two positions for switching between 33⅓ and 45 rpm. Motor vibrations are kept away from the platter and stylus thanks to advanced damping materials that mechanically decouple the motor from the rest of the turntable.
The 10-inch MoFi Ultra tonearm is designed specifically for this model and is connected to gold-plated terminals via improved wiring directly in the tonearm tube. At the heart of the rotation is a hardened steel inverted bearing system with a high-precision combination of steel, bronze and sapphire—materials usually found only in much more expensive turntables—for years of quiet, stable operation.
The proprietary anti-vibration feet were developed in collaboration with engineers at Harmonic Resolution Systems, the world leader in audio vibration isolation. Any needle vibration not caused by the record groove itself is distortion that masks musical details; the HRS feet effectively isolate the player from external and internal sources of resonance.
Available both cartridge-free for owners of third-party cartridges, UltraDeck is also available with factory-installed MoFi models—from the UltraTracker MM to the top-of-the-line UltraGold MC—making it a plug-and-play solution for those who want to start listening straight out of the box.
UltraDeck is the choice for the music lover who wants a flagship level of American-made analog playback that truly unlocks the potential of Mobile Fidelity’s legendary Original Master Recordings reissues—and any other vinyl in their collection.
