Perpetuum Ebner PE 6060 Turntable

Perptuum Ebner is not a name familiar to many audiophiles. Indeed, I was not aware of the brand until the offer to review this turntable came from the publisher of Audiophilia, Anthony Kershaw. Yet as I started my research, I realized the name has a rich legacy and played an important role in the history of turntable design, a role that goes back over a century.

Perpetuum was started by Joseph Steidinger in 1911, in the small town of St Georgen, in the Black Forest area of Germany. After World War 1, Perpetuum merged with Albert Ebner & Co. under the name Perpetuum Ebner. By 1951, the company was producing more than a million units of the PE REX turntable.

A milestone was reached in 1957 when Perpetuum Ebner was the biggest turntable manufacturer on the European continent. 1967 marked the year of the debut of the PE 2020, fine examples of which are still desirable today. Another merger happened in 1971, this time with the famous Dual brand.

2015 saw a reactivation of the PE brand, with the introduction of the PE 1010 and PE 4040 models, which are produced by We Audio Systems, with former engineers from Dual participating in the project. The company is still located in the same town of St. Georgen, not far from the original location.

The modern-day Perpetuum Ebner line includes nine turntables, at all price points, eight belt drives, and one flagship direct drive model. The PE 6060 is the top offering within the belt drive models and is the unit under review here. The PE 6060 retails for €4925,00. The turntable comes outfitted with a factory-mounted Ortofon Quintet Black S Moving Coil Cartridge, which sports a nude Shibata stylus (€5675,00 with cartridge fitted).

My thanks to Angie Lisi of American Sound for shipping the turntable from Toronto to Miami.

I have to admit, when I saw the advanced pictures of the PE turntable lineup, I petitioned for the gorgeous two-toned wood and black PE 6060. It hits all the right elements—timeless, modern, and sophisticated, with a hint of nostalgia.

The setup was a breeze. No advanced audiophile credentials are needed. The packaging was extremely robust, and the instructions were clear and straightforward. As I lifted the plinth from the box, I was impressed with its hefty, solid feel. Unwrapping the plinth revealed that the pictures, beautiful as they are, could not hold a candle to seeing the finish in person. The satin finish of both the wood and black sections of the plinth is perfection.

Three screws brace the suspension for transportation. Once removed, the small armboard and bearing are freed and move in unison. Next, the sub-platter is dropped into the self-lubricating bearing bush. The wide belt is placed on the motor pulley and positioned on the lower area of the subplatter. From there, the beautifully machined, damped aluminum platter is placed on the sub-platter. The machining is so precise that even when spinning, the platter appears still!

Levelling the table is a simple affair too, as this design uses three feet rather than four, making quick work of getting it right on point. The table is powered by a sophisticated external power supply, which is attached to the table with the included umbilical cord. There are connections for both RCA and XLR interconnects. I used the included RCA interconnect, which has the ground wire wrapped within its braided jacket. Once connected, there was a noticeable absence of hum, buzz, or anything but the faintest hiss. Well done!

The PE 6060 is delivered with a pre-installed tonearm, the PE TO 2018. I double-checked the setup of the cartridge, and it was spot on right from the factory, a blessing for a stylus shape that is known to be demanding of precise setup. There is an electronic stylus force scale included to set the tracking weight. This can be accomplished by simply turning the counterweight. Although other adjustments are available, none were needed. VTA and anti-skate are perfectly dialled in at the factory. If needed, these settings can be changed via set screws on the tonearm base, or the anti-skate dial on the tonearm.

This is as close to plug-and-play as it gets.

The last setting to check was the speed, which can be adjusted via two knobs on the rear of the plinth. Using a strobe disc, a slight turn of the knobs got each speed steady and precise. This is a very welcome feature.

Two other settings are available but were not needed. The sub-chassis drive can be adjusted so that the sub-chassis only oscillates vertically in a limited and controlled way. The platter bearing adjustment is to fine-tune the distance between the bottom of the platter and the plinth. Both of these adjustments are on the underside of the plinth.

The table is supplied with a felt mat. An additional vinyl mat was included with my sample, but I conducted my listening tests with the felt mat. There is also an acrylic dust cover included, but I chose to listen without it.

Operation is simple. Power and speed selection is via a well-designed lever on the plinth. The speed ramps up slowly, and once reached is steady. There is no fussing with belts and pulleys. Unlike my reference, the VPI Scout, and my previous Basis 1400, there is no clamp or weight used with the PE 6060. Although I wondered if I would miss this, the table performed very well without one. One nice touch I appreciated is that the record just exceeds the platter diameter, which made picking up a record after play easy and secure.

Sound

Patricia Barber’s Cafe Blue (Premonition Records 90760-1) is an audiophile delight and for good reason. Admittedly, it can make almost any system sound good, but this was on a different level. On the opening track, “What A Shame,” bass notes reach down low, giving this track real weight and gravity. The vocal sound was impressive too, with a realistic presence and just the right amount of detail. Bongo strikes were vivid and had the distinct sound of the hands hitting skin. The soundfield was vast and deep, with the images nicely arrayed across the stage. Hearing this track on the Perpetuum / Ortofon combo gave me a feeling of sitting in the studio rather than looking at the stage from a distance. The leisurely pace and timing were spot on, and the smoky, late-night vibe was perfectly captured.

Kraftwerk’s The Mix, an album of remixed Kraftwerk classics, is a great workout for any front-end. These tracks are all given a heavy electronic dance beat and what was then state-of-the-art sound. The pace and timing were right on point. The heart-stopping transients and otherworldly spatial effects were conveyed perfectly, with the bass on tracks like The Robots reaching deep, subterranean levels. The Perpetuum never lost its composure, even at deafening dance club levels. The table can transmit this record with rock-solid authority and Swiss watch precision.

Viewers of my YouTube channel, The Pressing Matters, will know that I am a Living Stereo enthusiast. I decided to break out the big guns and play the fourth movement of Rimsky-Korsakoff’s Scheherazade with Fritz Reiner conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Classic Records LSC-2445-45). This glittering spectacle of a performance was rendered with an iron hand, keeping the incredible dynamics under control, yet unleashing remarkable power and crushing weight. The sweet violin solo that closes the piece is conveyed with delicacy and finesse.

To get a sense of speed stability, I broke out an old TAS Superdisc, Ikuyo Kamiya performing Beethoven’s Appassionata (RCA Japan RDC-4). I hadn't heard this in years, and not only was there rock-solid speed stability with no wow or flutter detectable, but the powerful performance had shocking dynamic shifts that made your hair stand on end. Rich, warm, and resonant with gorgeous sparkle and clarity on top. Not a hint of distortion, and Kamiya is punishing this Bosendorfer! While there are better performances, this record is a sonic masterpiece. It shows that vinyl is capable of much more than we imagine.

Breaking out the MOFI One Step pressing of Donald Fagen's Nightfly, the track “The Goodbye Look” had a huge, expansive sound with excellent layering and space. The tonality was spot on, and the groove intoxicating. The bell trees used at the conclusion were distinct, with no smearing, and Fagan's voice came through without a hint of glare. I was able to turn this up to the maximum my amp will allow and had no acoustic feedback due to the excellent isolation built into the Perpetuum Ebner PE 6060.

You might be wondering how the PE 6060 deals with rock music. To test this out, I chose Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsys [sic] (Classic Records ST 472.) Even though this is not an audiophile recording, the Perpetuum / Ortofon combo made it sound like one! It locked right into the soulful groove of “Who Knows” and gave a great showing of the brilliant “Machine Gun.” I've been a little hesitant about tracing back to the rock records of my youth, fearing that they just won't sound that great, but the performance of the PE-6060 has me rethinking that. The table can rock in a way that's addictive.

Comparison to my reference, VPI Scout with Classic Platter, was interesting. The basic Scout went for about USD 2,500 new, and the Classic Platter brings it up to $3,500. It did have a Hana ML on it at first, which brings it to about $4750, a bit less than the PE 6060 package. The Scout pretty much held its own against the more expensive PE, but I felt the Hana was holding it back. A week after the PE 6060 arrived, things got shaken up with the installation of the $4,000 Phasemation PP-500 Cartridge (review forthcoming) on the Scout. This addition brought the Scout up considerably and pushed its performance slightly ahead of the PE 6060. Would the Phasemation push the performance of the PE 6060 even higher? Certainly, but the fact is most people shopping in the 5,000-6,000 dollar price range are probably not going to drop $4000 on a cartridge. So, while the brief comparisons were interesting, we are talking about two superb-sounding setups.

A couple of things to note before concluding are that groove noise was so low as to be inaudible except on truly poor pressings. I also noted that the suspended design provided excellent isolation from footfalls. No need to tiptoe around this design, even on a suspended wood floor as I have here. I feel that the Ortofon Quintet Black is an ideal mate for the Perpetuum’s tonearm. A lot of thought went into maximizing value and performance.

Summary

In conclusion, the Perpetuum Ebner PE 6060 performed well beyond my expectations, and its simple, no-fuss design was a joy to interact with. The ‘table sounds as good as it looks and should be on anyone’s shortlist of candidates in this price range. It's the perfect step up from entry-level audiophile turntables and is sure to win over seasoned audiophiles as well.

Further information: Perpetuum Ebner