The Funk Firm - Funk V (GBP 750.00 but excluding arm, cart, and VTA adjuster)

Once upon a time there was a British turntable manufacturer called Pink Triangle, which acquired fame and notoriety throughout the 1980s and 90s for totally original design and innovation and fine sounding products which were capable of standing up to the best of the day. OK, they occasionally had their problems (the turntables, that is), but most innovative products do, and it didn't deter the many thousands of Pink users. The brand sort of acquired cult / legendary status, something which persists to this day, even though the company is long gone.

So why the preamble? Arthur Khoubesserian, one of the two founders of Pink, is now the man behind Funk Firm. In my opinion, the link is obvious in the quirky design of his new product, possibly the first in a forthcoming line up.

What I love about products like this, is the apparent simplicity of design. There doesn't seem to be anything special about it. Sure, the visuals are very appealing and quite unlike anything else on the market. Yet, there is no sign of any cutting edge must-have technology which could potentially raise it sonically above the ordinary. When you come to play it though, it's a different story. The sound is brilliantly integrated - everything in its place - but the individual details in the music stand out for you to follow as you wish. The phrase which keeps coming to mind when I hear it is "musicality", something you only understand when you hear a product like this. It's like you could listen to it all day, exploring anew your record collection without once being aware of the machine doing it, a true sign of a product designed by someone who knows exactly what they're doing. So, yes, you can take it that we like the Pink, er, Funk turntable very much indeed!

Any variation of that old faithful, the Rega arm, suits it down to the ground, from the humble bog standard RB250 through to a top of the line full Origin Live modded version, or perhaps a Michell Engineering Tecnoarm. I'm sure other arms would also work very well too, but we haven't had the opportunity to try yet. Highly recommended.