In Use
Once everything is up and running the Droplet 5.0 MKII is a pleasure to use. There is no suspension so it makes cueing the tonearm a relatively uneventful affair. Simply flip the motor switch, which is actually located on the top of the motor unit in easy reach, and the turntable spins up to speed quickly and quietly. Speed stability is reached almost immediately. I tend to turn on my table and let it run for a while before playing any records on it just to be sure it has had time to settle in and stabilize the speed.
Well, who can do a review without finding some little niggling annoyance to harp about? Me? No way. So here is the first little gem. No record clamp! Personally I believe that even the most modest table deserves a puck. A day without a puck is a day without proper flattening of the record, which in turn decreases the enjoyment of my record playing. At this price, throw in a nice record clamp and charge another $100.
I have also heard that there can be clearance problems with some arm-boards. As I understand it, the fitment with SME arms can be extremely tight and some arms like the Dynavector 507 will not work at all. If interested in this table, make sure you speak to the dealer about arm compatibility before you purchase it. Since mine was mated with the ST600 I experienced no issues with clearance whatsoever. In use, the tonearm performed flawlessly. It mated extremely well with a number of cartridges I tried including the Koetsu Azule Platinum, Koetsu Tiger eye Platinum, Koetsu Urushi Vermillion, Dynavector 17D, Goldnote Tuscany and the Benz Micro Ruby. All tracked well, even standing up to the torture tracks of a couple of test records.
Once up and running with my Koetsu Azule cartridge mounted, it was time to get down to the business of playing vinyl. Paula is not much for the ritual of playing vinyl but she found the Consonance not only easy to operate but also very easy on the eyes; especially after I lit the platter with blue LED light from behind. This is something Opera might consider making as an option for the table. With such a large mass of acrylic the idea of offering colored lighting options seems a natural.
In addition to the beauty of the table with its sleek and flowing lines the sound of the Droplet 5.0 MKII is simply outstanding. Over the 6 months I have lived with this table it has all but replaced my Nottingham Analogue rig. I have played not less than 200 records on this table and what is immediately noticeable is the completely silent and black background that it has. I recently reviewed the Montegiro Lusso table and remarked on how totally silent it was, even when listening for noise with a stethoscope. The Droplet is not a Lusso but it is every bit as quiet as one! Considering the $45,000 price difference I would say that is fairly impressive. There is no rumble, no low frequency nastiness, nothing at all. It is actually kind of spooky. You have a better chance of hearing the stylus making contact with the grooves of the record than you do of hearing inherent noise in emanating from the table.
I never stop getting a kick out of hearing new things in a recording. One area of significant improvement in sound seems to be bass guitars. The Beatles’ “Something” from Abbey Road has some of the most melodic bass you will ever find. Paul McCartney’s playing is just superb. With the Droplet 5.0 MKII that bass becomes more tightly focused and there is an added dimension of lyrical musicality in the notes.
Most anything I threw at it seemed to simply be “better”. Micro dynamics were coming out in places I had not noticed before, especially with live cuts. I have amassed a pretty large collection of Art Pepper and Chet Baker recordings, many of which were recorded live. I hear more of the club ambiance. The clanking of glasses, the small talk, footsteps of people moving about and at one point I even caught the sound of someone taking a drag off a cigarette and then exhaling it all very close to the recording mike. It was so clear that I was certain that it was a woman who was the smoker. If that does not make you sit up and take notice then my guess is that nothing will. Yes I am absolutely certain that credit for the incredible detail goes in large part to the Koetsu Platinum Azule cartridge. However I am also certain that if the table did not provide an absolutely black and silent canvas to start with, those details would simply be lost.
Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” from their double album The Wall is another example of fine detail that lies in the grooves of an album I have heard at least 500 times. The subtle way in which the changes in bending of strings by David Gilmour during both solos just jumps off the record, now it also catches you off guard. His gentle harmonic overtones actually reveal the slight sound difference in the string making a light contact with the flesh of his right thumb while he is picking the string. That is some incredible detail. Again that would not be possible to hear this without the sounds emanating from a totally silent table.
These are just a few examples of what the Opera Consonance Droplet 5.0 MKII turntable and ST600 tonearm provide the user. Could it offer more? Yes. As I said earlier a nice record clamp would be good as would a record matt, and while I am at it, a nice acrylic dust cover would be nice. If you are not going to buy the dedicated stand make sure you have a very stout rack and provide some type of isolation for the table.
And In The End…….
The love you take is equal to the love you make! (Apologies to John, Paul, George and Ringo.) Clearly a lot of love went into the design and building of this turntable. This is not a radical re-invention of the turntable but rather a well thought out take on an old tried-and-true design philosophy. It exhibits a lot of pride and an eye for delivering it in a beautiful and artful package. There are more expensive tables. There are less expensive tables. There are a number of solid competitors in this price range that must be taken into account. Clearaudio Master Solution, Nottingham Analogues Hyperspace, Acespace arm combo, Trans Rotor, Final Tool, Avid and many other makes of fine tables in this price range. All of them are gems in their own right and worthy to sit on anyone’s rack. If you consider the Opera Consonance Droplet 5.0 MKII as a system with the integrated and matching stand, then you are talking about a more unique offering. This is a table that sits at the top of my list for a second turntable and would most likely become my main table, relegating the Nottingham Hyperspace to second seat. Yes it is that good! I highly recommend taking a look at it if you are thinking of buying a mid-level turntable that will accept almost any cartridge with ease, provides silent running with extremely stable speed control and aesthetics that will score you big points on the W.A.F.
