Jean Nantais Reference Lenco MKII turntable review/preview

So where vinyl reproduction of the 21st century stands?

We hear many of the present triumphant vocalizations of massive machines impact, but these uber techno sculptures are more of Ibuprofen potency rather then being really musically inclined. The heavy weight championship trend, that is going on now for decades left an unsettling feeling and sadly driven away many of people to take vinyl reproduction seriously. Some of these iron sculptures actually put more of a stigma on our industry rather then welcome people in…

Many of audiophiles and music lovers are still waiting to be corrected with the latest and greatest analog replay machines and stood attached to the machines of the “past”. 

Bulky machines coming from the European industrial heaven sees to be more and more a matter of luxurious ego trips and material wellbeing showcase rather then a real high performance stand out products performing on the level of the dedicated pricing. I’m the first one to embrace the exotic and special gears when it comes to the high end audio, but I’m the last one buying into the nonsense and BS overtness. 

Let me level on the plane of sanity for and linger in a moment. BMW Series 5 implements crazy amount of technological discoveries frankly works as a highly reliable piece of industrial art and advancement. Let me lurk into the dealings of so highly praised grand turntables. In nutshell, many of them cannot even hold pitch stability regardless of many dedicated electronically controlled mechanisms. And thats only one small fragment. I could go on and on, but let me get closer to the point. How come that many of the past vinyl machines can still stand along or surpass the contemporary ones? Mental, time loop encapsulation or? Perhaps the answer is even more simple that it supposed to be…

Taking apart some of the legendary turntables reveals profound simplicity. This usually translates into vast time and funds being spent into the optimizing the product before it seen the light of the day. In the past turntable manufacturers employed highly trained and efficient people with real technical know how and more then right dosage of pin point determination. 

I believe my introduction pointed exactly where I wanted. Having spent almost two years with the Jean Nantais MKII Reference Lenco turntable was quite a mind opening experience. I’ve been literary in the camp already, but quite few people could witnesses and confirm what many are repeating for decades. Garrards, Lencos, Thorens etc. were remarkable machines that can still rival if not surpass many of the current turntables. Heretic?!

“Their great advantage over other systems is their torque, and the fact their torque is pure analogue. This leads to a combination of speed, dynamics timing and naturalness all at once which is supreme, in my view at putting the “music” back into music reproduction.  Which was the whole reason I decided to start an “Idler-Wheel War”.” – Jean Nantais


In Poland show living legend of high end audio FM acoustics’ CEO Manuel Huber was playing records on this particular turntable. This is the man that can enthuse full packed room of people for few hours with music. His almost mystical sense for music and its reproduction is one of the kind and his affection and clear affection for such machines is evident. Anyone can inquire with him how he feels about the modern iterations of analog playback. 

Jean Nantais reference Lenco Turntable created the story of it own over past few years and sure by no coincidence or being kitten by the ”tons” of heavy metals. 

You can read more about his approach and philosophy here: link and here: link, but in a sum, he took the legendary Lenco and pushed it into the completely different realms. 

His success is evident and is it really intriguing, that many of the heavy machinery owners converted to his Lenco’s? Well, there should be more then one reason… 

The first one I would lay down is musicality. You can instantly hear the music being enriched with the lively attributes via Jean Lenco. Compared with many of the new wavers the difference is not subtle and even untrained ear can spot it. Musical flow resolves in a much more unaltered rendition of original material moving closer to the mighty power of the analog tape machines. Iron, solid steel, aluminum etc. being used on many of the present turntables are adding the unmistakable ring effect and dullness to the sound. These are the design choices, that led to precognition. With vinyl reproduction everything and anything matters. Vinyl rig chain represent the most fragile system chain and its prone to every miniature changes. It’s fully perplexed science in action.  

On many fronts high end audio one can explore and exploit the undefined grounds. Yet, more then anywhere else vinyl reproduction and surrounding paraphernalia is utmost subjective to the actual physics rules. That’s why we see and hear so many turntables being introduced year by year sounding so utopian distant. There is little advancement or stand out abilities being presented and introduced. No one can really trick the Mother Nature and the longest standing laws. As a fact you must start with a clean slate being totally dependable on the real tech and measurable objectivity.  

I’ll won’t go in the total extremes and state that no turntable that uses different metal based materials cannot not be sounding  good or even great. It can be perfected to a certain level by mixing the different materials and following the real technical norms.

Still, like with best speakers wood based chassis are being used for a strong reason. This relates exactly the same with the wooden plinths being implemented with the turntables. Getting deep down can be open up a pandora box of an endless discussion, but listening results are easily obtainable and more then worthy of pursuing. 

There is something inherently right about timbre, tone and color when it comes to the wooden plinths combined with the solid mechanic solutions and Jean Nantais Reference Lenco MKII turntable speaks for it self…  

In part two I’ll explore the familiar vinyl albums and highlight what makes this turntable so different and special. Stay tuned…