Gold Note Giglio turntable

The Gold Note Giglio turntable embodies the mid-range of The Italian Turntable series from the Florentine manufacturer which also includes the Mediterraneo and the Pianosa. The turntable uses some of the elements of the range, but it also comes with a lot of improvements.

GOLD NOTE GIGLIO: CHASSIS

The atypical appearance is a great success. The lower part of the chassis features a half-wave shaped curve. It’s made of 50 mm thick solid Italian walnut wood. This wood part is handmade by the best Italian craftsmen.

It’s associated with a 20 mm thick black Sustarin upper plinth. This is a composite material close to acrylic providing outstanding rigidity and vibration damping qualities.

Both parts sandwich a 3 mm thick stainless-steel plate. This assembly provides superb rigidity and increases the turntable’s total weight.

The turntable stands on three conical anodised aluminium adjustable feet.

GOLD NOTE GIGLIO: PLATTER AND DRIVE PRINCIPLE

The 33 mm platter is made of POM. The spindle is 80 mm long. It’s engineered for ultra-low tolerance. This allows to obtain precise rotation without any friction.

Gold Note worked at keeping an extremely limited gap between the platter and the plinth (less than 3 mm) of the turntable to suppress turbulence generated by the rotation. It enables optimising platter rotation stability.

The platter is driven at its rim by a 70-shore rectified EPDM belt. The motor has been developed via partnership with Mechtex. It’s manufactured in Switzerland. It consists of a 12 V AC synchronous model. The proprietary power control generator is based on a Quadral-Core micro-controller to effectively minimise vibrations and control speed stability in 33 and 45 rpm with high precision. Both speeds can be modified with precision, and the adjustment achieved is saved, therefore preventing the need to adjust the speed each time you switch the turntable on.

The motor is decoupled from the chassis using an elastomer material acting as a floating element. 18 V are supplied via a Gold Note PS1 external power supply.

GOLD NOTE GIGLIO: TONEARM AND ACCESSORIES

The Gold Note Giglio turntable features a superb Gold Note B-5.1 tonearm. This 9” model has a 242 mm effective length with a 19 mm overhang. This tonearm is designed and produced entirely by hand with high-precision in Italy to provide the best sound results.

The B-5.1 features a pivot with high-precision micro ball bearings exclusively made for Gold Note by GRW in Germany.

It has dual counterweights for the precise adjustment of the tracking force. Naturally, it can be associated with lots of high-performance MM cartridges and MC cartridges having a 15 g weight.

It is delivered with a good quality 1.5 m Litz OFC phono cable equipped with Hirschmann RCA connectors and an SME 5-pin DIN.

Just like all Gold Note turntables, the Giglio is supplied with an acrylic dust cover with detachable hinges.

GOLD NOTE GIGLIO: TESTING AND LISTENING

We’ve tested the Gold Note Giglio with two MC cartridges: one Italian (Gold Note!) and one Danish (Ortofon).

As a Gold Note product, the turntable is really easy to set up and to use.

The Giglio provides a particularly balanced and musical reproduction as well as excellent dynamics. We can hear the typical Gold Note sound in the high end of the spectrum.

Treble is precise and detailed, but it doesn’t try to overplay or clarify the signal. Vocals are reproduced with a remarkable substance and obvious realism. It plays a big role in conveying emotion.

Although the bandwidth of the Gold Note Giglio is very wide, no register is emphasised compared to the others. The bandwidth explores the low end of the spectrum with superb rigour and surprising swing but with a nuance, refinement and subtlety only the analogue can achieve!

The soundstage is just as excellent. There’s a highly precise 3D placement of the instruments in space. The whole set provides remarkable realism and lots of emotions to musical works.

The Gold Note Giglio turntable is as beautiful as it is effective! Musically speaking, it has nothing to envy to the competition. It is easy to use and offers outstanding musicality!

Our favourite!