Integrityhifi OPEN BOX Tru-Lift3 - A Grade

$70.50 ~~$235.00~~

Qty. :

Category : Turntable Setup Tools

Company & Product Overview

The Canadianbased company, Integrityhifi has come up with a patent pending widgetthat is sure to make vinyl enthusiasts fall in love.

While we love manual turntables, our customers are constantly asking us about tables with an auto-lift at the end. Meaning, when the record ends and youre not in the room (or youve fallen asleep to the sweet sounds of vinyl), the tonearm will lift on its own. To be honest, this isnt a very common feature these days, especially in high-end manual tables.

Enter the Tru-Lift!

What Problem Does This Solve (AKA - Why We Want One!)

If you care about getting the best sound from your records, you probably have a manual turntable. In fact, if we had to guess, wed say something like 99% of the turntables available over $299 are fully manual.

With a manual turntable, you push a button to start the table, move the tonearm over the lead in the record groove, lower it down (typically with a cueing lever), and enjoy the music. When the record ends, you use the same cueing lever to lift the tonearm back up.

The benefit of manual tables is that by having less moving parts, there is less of a chance of noise from these parts dragging under to tonearm and getting to your stylus, which can negatively impact the sound.

The downside is that if youre not there to lift the tonearm when the record ends, you will hear a ker-chunk, ker-chunk sound as your precious stylus sits in the lead out groove, bumping over and over against the last groove in the disk.

Whats the Solution?

Over the years there have been a few products that have come out that use a trigger mechanism to sense when the arm is at the end of the record lift it automatically. Audio-Technica had one 30+ years ago that worked reasonably well, but could be very temperamental. Others have been so strong that they would sometimes launch your tonearm in the air.

When we first found out about the Tru-Lift, we have to admit that we were somewhat skeptical. It looked a lot like that super finicky one we remembered from Audio-Technica. However, once we had it in our hands, we could tell this was the real deal.

How Does the Tru-Lift Work?

There are several size options for the Tru-Lift, which we will go over later, but they all share the same lifting mechanism. First, when you hold the Tru-Lift, you can tell this is not a toy, it is very heavy and built with precision. It comes with a bit of this sticky stuff called Blu-Tack. Youll see a little round rod which runs parallel to the surface of your turntable. This rod is in a cylinder that allows it to move up slowly, just like the cueing lever on your turntable.

You press down on it to put it in the armed position and its held there by a small piece of wire that then goes up at a 90 degree angle. When this trigger gets moved by about 1/16, it unlocks and the lifter rod slowly rises. What we love is the fact that you do not get any false triggers. It only engages when it should.

You basically position it on the surface of your turntable so that when your tonearm goes into the lead out groove, it hits the trigger and the rod lifts your tonearm up off the record. Simple, but its exactly what were looking for!

How Do I Install a Tru-Lift on My Turntable?

This is where the various sizes come into play. The lifting mechanism is a fixed height, but if you have looked at many turntables you know that the distance between the tonearm and the plinth can vary quite a bit due to the various heights of turntable platters. We can help you determine which model you need for your specific turntable.

Some turntables have very tall platters and may require a Tru-Lift with a more robust base to keep it stable. This is what accounts for the jump in price. For most turntables, one of the four standard sizes at $209 will be correct.

Once you have the right size you simply find the spot on your turntable plinth (the top of the base) where it will engage the arm at the right spot. This step takes most people 2-5 minutes. Every size Tru-Lift has a pretty decent vertical range adjustment (about ). Once you have found the right spot, you put some of the Blu-Tack on the bottom, push down to make it all stick, and youre done!

At this point all you have to do is press down on the rod mechanism, sit back, and relax! Youll never have to hear that ker-chunk sound again!

Overall Recommendation

If you are like us and hate getting startled or having to run into the room to stop that awful sound at the end of a record, youll love the Tru-Lift. Its a bit pricey but is built to last. We think its a small price to pay to solve a problem that plagues many vinyl lovers.

If this has never been a problem for you and youre always around to lift the tonearm yourself, just take that $200 and add to your record collection!

Model Sizes for Popular Turntables:

Model #1