When I was a grade schooler, I relished listening to Motown and Top 40 music on a plastic tabletop tube radio, eating candy bars, and drinking Dr. Pepper on hot summer days. Now some 50 years later, my tastes have evolved. Whereas I occasionally enjoy Motown and Top 40 hits, my music repertoire is a little less provincial. Nowadays, I listen more to jazz, rock, Gospel, blues, folk, electronica, and even a little classical now and again. Long gone are the plastic tube radio and the cheap, solid state Sears-Robuck turntable/receiver/radio combo that followed. Now, it’s higher end gear like Pass Labs, ATC loudspeakers, REL subs, and Straight Wire cabling. For health reasons, I generally avoid candy bars and have cut back on sodas — diet or otherwise. However, the tangy effervescent Dr. Pepper has been replaced with another Doctor of sorts: That’s the Dr. Feickert Analogue Woodpecker turntable — or “Dr. Woodpecker” for short!
The Woodpecker arrived about a month ago for review. Highly lauded in some circles, it’s not inexpensive; sans the tonearm, it retails around $6,500. However, like a Mercedes Benz, it oozes German engineering excellence. Manufactured in March-Buchheim, located in the Black Forest region of Germany, it boasts a quick-release sliding armboard system that accommodates nine to 12-inch tonearms, a motor design created in close consultation with the world-renowned Pabst manufacturer (resulting in low jitter), and a poly-oxy-methylene platter with eight embedded brass weights that enhance the smoothness of playback. Two aluminum faceplates sandwich an MDF interior chassis that, in tandem with the platter, weighs roughly 40 lbs. As a reviewer, the quick release sliding armboard feature would make reviewing tonearms an easier task, I’ve been told. What’s not to like about that?
I already own a very nice, vintage Micro Seiki BL-91 turntable. It’s a beautiful and splendid, Japanese engineered turntable. Combined with the GrooveMaster 3 tonearm, Korf Audio HS-A02 Ceramic Headshell, the Dynavector XX-2A MC phono cartridge, and the Quadratic Audio MC-1 Moving Coil Transformer, it does a splendid job of delivering the wondrous analogue sounds of clean, high quality vinyl. That said, I am enjoying the Dr. Feickert Analogue Woodpecker a little bit more. Its heightened authoritative tone, a touch more refinement in the delivery, and its gorgeous, minimalist aesthetic, seated atop our BDI Corridor media console, brings me immense enjoyment as it conveys the magic of vinyl in the inner sanctum of our home.
I will be writing more about it in the coming months. So, until then, hold the sodas, cheap tube radio, and turntables! I’ll be listening to stacks of quality vinyl playing on the Dr. Feickert Woodpecker, if you don’t mind.
