TJN SlimLine Reference Lenco MKI with new Reference Grease Bearing

This record player was covered by Stereophile in 2023: "On vinyl and streamed tracks by Fink and Hooverphonic, the sound was engaging: rhythmic, real-life organic, texturally refined, with a tonal palette that walked the line almost dead center between natural and sweet. It lingered fondly in my mind long after I'd heard it."

https://www.stereophile.com/content/hearken-room-graham-audio-lejonklou-yeti-jean-nantais-aidas-cardas-graham-engineering


This is a single tonearm record player, clad in Orangewood with Wenge side panels with decorative Orangewood dowels in an homage to high end '80s Japanese components with wooden side panels held by four large bolts. The tonearm board can handle pretty well any shorter tonearm including the difficult Kuzma 4-point, Triplanars, Grahams, down to the SME Vs and  right up to the 10" Reeds etc. It comes with my new Reference grease bearing and all the upgrades included in my other Reference models (new slider, Ultra High Accuracy Idler Wheel, Reinforcement Ring, TJN Mod, special footers, metacrylate mat).

This is a new model announced on my Facebook page for Halloween 2020, never been sold (Ultimate Lenco sales and other models took over) only used as a demo, you can read the announcement on my Facebook page:

Jean Nantais - Happy Halloween all! I wanted to make a treat, and... | Facebook

There is a review on TNT Audio of this particular machine here: https://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/tjn_reference_e.html

"Over the years I have had quite a few hours of listening time with TJN Lencos. Most of those hours were listening to Arthur Salvatore's Lencos. But this is different, now I am in my listening room, with my system, my records and my tonearm and cartridge (with the exception of the first part of the test which was done with Jean Nantais' tonearm). This is a perfect setup to really understand the contribution and inherent characteristics of the turntable. It should come to no surprise to anyone that I found the performance of this turntable to be outstanding. The results speak for themselves. All of the good things about the original Lenco are still there and everything else has been improved to the point where it is difficult to find anything to critique. There is really no use listing characteristics, they are all great. At this point I asked myself, "what impressed me the most?" I expected slam and punch and I got it, no surprise there. What did surprise me was the deep, punchy, extremely clear and precise bass that was salient on pretty much anything I played. The TJN Reference MKI is truly a very high-end turntable."

Unlike my Reference Lenco MKIIs and above, this 'model has only one layer of special tonewood, this one chosen for its liveliness and verve and slight accent on the high frequencies. That said, it is still built according to the same recipe as all my 'tables, a foundation of Constrained Layer Damping plinth which ensures supreme PRaT, tonal accuracy, dynamics and bass. The tonewood in this case tightens the bass which doesn't have quite the reach of my upper models, but it will still embarrass competing belt-drives and Direct Drives with its reach, power and SLAM, a true party machine, not strictly neutral as my upper machines are, geared towards fun.

As always the noise floor is lower than most competing belt-drive designs due to the use of Direct Coupling in combination with a wooden plinth, the two working together to rival the very best of belt-drives in this respect, read Salvatore's review of the first Reference Lenco for more on this: https://www.high-endaudio.com/RC-Lenco.html 

"As it turned out, the Lenco's sound-floor was basically as low as the Forsell's (which has an air-bearing platter). In fact, I couldn't distinguish them. Since the Forsell had the lowest sound-floor I ever experienced, the Lenco's (highly welcome) achievement in this area is both surprising and unexplainable (at this time). In any event, with this highest of hurdles successfully breached, the next challenge was the Forsell's neutrality and/or lack of coloration/character. Once again, to my surprise, the Lenco matched the Forsell in this critical area (especially for those serious audiophiles who don't want a relentless "editorializing" or "bias" in what they hear). Further, in the area of transparency, the two turntables were also indistinguishable to me. In short, the two turntables sounded very similar in "the basics", which is something I hadn't experienced before at this high level."

This model is sonically above my Classic Lenco MKII as reviewed on Positive Feedback which you can read here: https://positive-feedback.com/reviews/hardware-reviews/tjn-mkii-turntable/

"No matter what I played on the TJN MKII it just presented itself with more life, snap, and detail than any table I have had anywhere near the price since I have been reviewing over the last twenty years. This turntable is a must audition if you can swing the price and are looking for a turntable to last a lifetime and never find it disappointing."

Does not include tonearm, will mount any tonearm sent to me and can provide a large variety of high end tonearms myself.

Buyer pays actual cost of shipping, can be shipped anywhere in the world by air for a few hundred dollars provided you can offer a business address.

Prefer bank transfer and personal cheques as no losses on the exchange and minimal charges.