I reviewed Wilson Benesch's first turntable in 1996, and the second two years later. Getting hold of the third for a review shouldn't have been a big deal, I thought. But it was – for several reasons: It's a really big thing, weighing over 350 kilograms, and the accompanying white paper is 138 pages long.

The fact that the Prime Meridian system, if I remember correctly, is the most expensive product ever tested by hifistatement.net is just a side note. This doesn't make writing this report any more difficult, but the information provided by Wilson Bensch's design director, Craig Milnes, on the numerous innovations in the three white papers certainly does. As grateful as I am for technical explanations not found on the website, fully appreciating all the turntable's unique features would exceed even the fairly generous length limits of an online magazine and render the article virtually unreadable for anyone but serious buyers – and how many of those are there in this country, I wonder? Therefore, the challenge is to filter out the truly compelling aspects and present them appropriately when discussing the various considerations and resulting solutions.

It's fortunate that I already introduced you to the TESSALLATE Ti-S Sapphire Cartridge, installed in the headshell of the GRAVITON® Ti tonearm and part of the Prime Meridian system, some time ago. Nevertheless, it's virtually impossible to do justice to Wilson Benesch's exceptional turntable in a single article. This topic will certainly occupy us more than once, and in the second part, you'll find images in the usual studio quality, though these weren't taken by Helmut Baumgartner, but rather by the manufacturer according to our specifications: Dismantling the 369-kilogram component in the listening room, setting it up in our photo studio, and then dismantling it again for transport was simply too much for anyone involved. The first part of this article is interspersed with photos taken upon delivery of the Prime Meridian system.