Alexey Kornienkov, seen here at center, appeared at Audio Expo North America’s (AXPONA) 2026. That’s one of his tonearms being held by his acquaintance, Stephen, at right.
Before making his mark in audio, Alexey Kornienkov was truly a rocket scientist – make that an engineer – in the Soviet Space program. Now an oil industry executive, he’s also applying that research and development acumen to creating superb tonearms, headshells and turntable products with his company, Korf Audio, which he co-founded with his wife, Irina Kornienkov, in Austria.
Since the USSR collapsed, Alexey has logged over 30 years experience in the oil industry, buying, selling, and transporting crude oil products in the U.S., U.K.,and Vienna, Austria, and in October 2023, he co-founded TENCITY Energiehandel GmbH, a Vienna-based energy trading company that specializes in the wholesale distribution of fuels and lubricants across Central and Eastern Europe, where he’s the head of Strategy and Business Development.
At Korf Audio, Alexey focuses on research, development, and production of different tonearm types, ceramic headshells, turntable accessories, and recently, they released a new direct drive turntable prototype for sale at HIGH END 2026 in Vienna.
At that same show this past June 6th, Alexey presented alongside the acclaimed audio journalist ,Michael Fremer, in an expert panel presentation entitled, “Frontiers in Modern Groove Extraction‘ (you can watch the replay HERE).
Having reviewed and greatly enjoyed their Korf Audio HS-A02 Ceramic Headshell (which I use in my. reference system), I interviewed him at AXPONA 2026 this past April.
On Tube versus Solid State Equipment for Reference or Pleasure:
“We need our equipment to switch on every morning and to perform exactly the same way as it did yesterday and, ideally, the same way it did a year ago, otherwise our measurements will make no sense. So, although personally I prefer tube equipment, tubes drift. Tubes drift a lot. So, because of that, it’s all solid state, and we use Acuphase because we know that they are super reliable. They work…without drifting.
“Can you do better for the same price as Acuphase? Yes, of course you can, but it will most likely be tubes and it will drift out. So, at the moment, we’re all Acuphase from the phonostage to the power amps, and I’m really happy about the way it performs.”
On Turntable References He Uses:
“For the turntables that I set up, I’m a huge TechDAS fan. But again, we have to have different references, so we also have a Garrard 401, which I think is a very typical idler drive turntable (An idler drive turntable uses a rubber wheel to transfer rotational force directly from the motor’s capstan to the inside of the platter. Highly revered for their heavy torque(Google AI search, July 1, 2026)). It’s very musical, very propulsive in a way. And we also have Technics. We used to have an SP-10 Mk 2 but that’s unfortunately very old, so we had to sell it. We’re using an SL 1300-GS at the moment.
“We are coming up very soon with a tonearm mount for the Technics turntables – for the SL 1200, 1300 so we can mount Korf tonearms on any of those.”
On Korf’s TT-101 Turntable Prototype
“We are a hundred percent focused on the turntable. A Korf turntable will hopefully be introduced at the HIGH END in Vienna. So, it’s getting really close. There’s a lot of stress, but I think we’ll make it.
“It’s going to be a direct drive turntable. We hope to bring it under $5k – without the tonearm, of course! It’s going to be more classically styled: Wooden box, nice finish, acrylic lid, because many people really want something that you can close.”
(Editor’s note: the TT-101 Turntable Prototype was released in limited qualities and displayed at the Munich High End show in late May 2026, with features including a coreless direct drive motor, feed forward control, a heavy platter (7.5 kg for the prototype and 5.5 kg planned for production, polymer-lined bearing, 5 mm thick steel brace between the bearing and the tonearm mount, and a veneered MDF plinth (read more HERE)).
JBL Synthesis 1400 Array Loudspeaker (Image courtesy of usatubeaudio.com Pintrest page)
On Alexey’s Favorite Speakers:
“I’m a big fan of Greg Timbers. He used to be a designer for JBL, and he’s basically the father of JBL Everest. Everything that he designed, I like. I resonate with his thinking and his voicing of the loudspeakers. And it was always a balance between what you want and what is domestically possible, because my listening room, where I could put large loudspeakers, is also my living room. So my wife gets a say. Because of that, we are using a JBL Arrays 1400. I really like them. It’s a three-way horn design: Supertweeter, midrange horn, and a large diameter bass drive – I think it’s 14 inch. So, they’re not critical to placement, they don’t need the bass traps or anything, and they image really well, which is important to me. To me, dynamics are important, and of course, you get that, and the imaging, and the tonality. And these speakers provide all three – enough for me to make critical listening decisions.”
On What He Looks for at AXPONA
“It’s my first time at AXPONA, so I’m really looking forward to seeing everything. I did a short walk through the 16th floor and everything I saw was just “Wow.” I want to take a couple hours and go through it all. I don’t know. There’s definitely a lot of stuff I look forward to seeing. I need to catch up with Mark Neuman. He’s going to be introducing his new Helix turntable with the vacuum hold. So, I really want to see that. It’s a bit out of my price range, but it would be great to have.”
Even for an oil industry executive and analog audio company CEO, a price tag of $100,000 for a turntable is a hefty sum, but like us common folk, he can dream and aspire. And in the meanwhile, he continues enjoying the music and producing high quality hi-fi turntable-related equipment that help make discriminating turntable enthusiasts’ journeys glorious.
