Bamboo is widely considered sustainable and eco-friendly. It's fast growing and requires little or no irrigation or fertilizer. Its vibration-damping qualities, impressive strength-to-weight ratio and rigidity have seen it used to build everything from shelters to bike frames to guitars, but Canada's Tri-Art Audio is aiming straight for the green vinyl lover's listening room with a stunning bamboo turntable called the Sprout TA-0.5.
Modern turntables like the excellent AT-LP5 and the hi-res packin' HX500 tend to be made from a heady mix of metal and plastic. But if your tastes lean to something less man-made, something more natural, then the Sprout series turntable could tick many of your wishlist boxes. It has a bamboo platter, bamboo plinth and adjustable bamboo legs. Even the 9-inch tonearm is made from the panda's favorite snack.
Naturally, not everything here is fashioned from bamboo. The belt drive spins its way to 33.3 or 45 RPM thanks to a 24 pole synchronous AC motor, and the TA-0.5 makes use of bronze and steel bearings, a brass pulley and an aluminum sub platter with a steel shaft. The tonearm includes a micro-bubble level and the turntable can be had with or without an Audio Technica 95E MM cartridge.
It's certainly something of a looker, and will doubtless take pride of place in any eco-audiophile's hi-fi setup. Pricing for the Sprout TA-0.5 starts at US$650.
Source: Tri-Art Audio