CLEARAUDIO Master Jubilee Limited Edition

MJ09.11.2025

Analog sources

German turntable leader Clearaudio has decided to take their Reference Jubilee (made to celebrate company’s 40^th anniversary) and revamp it into the new Master Jubilee LTD version to celebrate another anniversary. The redesign now provides a separate motor unit and the possibility to mount a second tonearm. This and many other improvements lead the manufacturer to claim that the Master Jubilee sets a new standard in measured performance of turntables.

Function and form

97%

Ease of use

96%

Sound

100%

Appearance

Decoupling the motor from the main chassis removes the resonances and enables to better balance the gravity of the main platter. The main platter system gains weight (it is 30kg heavy now) and runs on ceramic magnetic bearing in main platter and inverted bearing in lower drive platter. The upper platter is 70mm thick and is made of synthetic material with high-density and self-damping properties. The lower platter is 15mm thick and is made of CNC machined stainless steel. Its gyroscopic properties Clearaudio describes as “dreamlike”.

The motor unit weighs additional 4.6kg. It is a high torque 24V DC belt drive with fully automatic calibration. There is a 12-bit DAC inside the Clearaudio which generates reference voltage against which necessary compensation happens. The turntable senses even the smallest deviations in friction of bearings and belts that may happen e.g. by changing temperatures and automatically micro-adjusts the motor voltage for absolutely stable RPMs (33 ⅓, 45 and 78 rpm). Although the manufacturer does not publish measurements, it is said that wow and flutter values are beyond reproach and “likely not achieved by any other turntable manufacturer.” Considering the credit that the company owns in analog world, I trust the Clearaudio poeple know what they’re saying.

To set up the Master Jubilee LTD turntable a space of at least 495 x 428 mm is needed. The chassis is impeccably made of milled aluminium with wood accents, as you expect at this price point. When ordering, the customer may specify whether the table should have a radial or a tangential tonearm.

Not only is the Clearaudio Master a real state of the art system, it is comfortable to use too. The manufacturer even includes a remote control wand with the system. The volume is regulated in analogue domain via resistor array, with a 2dB step. If you use a preamplifier (or an integrated amplifier) in your playback chain, then you can make attenuations steps finer. However, I liked the option of not using any additional preamp (which also means another set of signal cables and a power cable) and we used the high gain of the Clearaudio phono preamplifier (+ 46dB for MM and + 66dB for MC) directly to the power amplifier for a purer signal path.

For the review, the Clearaudio Master Jubilee was provided with Unity Black tonearm and Goldfinger Statement V2.1 MC cartridge with the recommended retail price of 56k€.

Bass management

Weight

Slam

Articulation

Although we used relatively inexpensive 3-way speakers throughout the listening sessions, the sound was nothing but high-end. The volume, weight, and punch of the Clearaudio Master’s bass was the first quality that caught my attention. The electric bass in Hell Freezes Over (Eagles, Eagles Recording/Geffen, GEF 24725) was deep and powerful, and let the warmth of the analogue rig of Tim Schmit shine through (the bassist used Trace Elliot and Ampeg guitar amps on that tour). Also the kick drum was sending punchy kicks into the room, those that were felt physically in the body. The excellent bass fundament enriched other instruments too – for instance the keyboards in Wasted Time became more tangible and colourful. However, I feel that the recording’s applauding audience is one of the excellent tools for assessing the abilities of a playback chain. Technically, it combines midrange-centred pink noise and impulse response in one signal, but it is also the sound which is easy to relate to: each of us have an experience with clapping and cheering audience, right? It is not easy at all to reproduce it at home – try and invite a few friends or your family and let them applaud between the speakers. Does it sound like sea lions’ fins clapping, or like a slate slope landslide, or like several fly swatters in action? Then you may need the Clearaudio Master Jubilee to get it right. I loved how the turntable modulated the sound of many hands clapping.

Clarity & delicacy

Detail

Air

Transparency

The way the Clearaudio Master builds its sound – that is from its solid bass fundament – was also apparent on the hypnotic rhythms of Spiritchaser of Dead Can Dance (4AD DAD6008). The native drums were clearly differentiated by placement and tone, each occupying its own place in the whirling soundscape. The definition and colour of percussive instruments is in the midrange, where the turntable excelled too. The Brendan Perry’s vocal was like materializing a living being in the room. With my eyes closed, I was transported to the forest, under the tree foliage with bright stars shining through it. The Clearaudio knows how to emotionally connect the listener to the music, obviously.

Surprisingly, the Master Jubilee system was amazing while playing the modern recordings too. For example, Dominique Fils-Aimé’s variation on John Lennon’s Stand by Me was a real audiophile treat. The female vocal, the double bass, the piano, all superbly clean and well contoured. Despite the studio tricks and dynamic compression, the listening was comfortable and embracing, with tons of detail and resolution.

Tonal accuracy

Timbre

Dynamics

Temporal resolution

For the Clearaudio Master Jubilee is a turntable built to entertain, it pushes you to dig deeper in your record collection. Everything sounds afresh and anew. Take Sonny Rollins and his The Bridge (LPM/LSP-2527), recorded in RCA Victor Studio B. Through the Clearaudio, it was a very cozy and relaxing track with excellent musicianship. Another album, New Moon Daughter of Cassandra Wilson (Blue Note, 724383718313), will be forever connected to dark True Detective series in my mind thanks to the brooding Death Letter song. It is a bluesy slowburner with no light in it. Southern guitars and the tenor banjo dancing on top of crushing boogie-woogie, that could be a precursor to Depeche Mode’s Personal Jesus, or vice versa. The separation of individual instruments was superb, the sound was solid and smooth, without grain or glare, unachievable by any streaming service. Analog could hardly sound better than that.

Fine Days of Hattler (found on the Clearaudio’s vinyl compilation 46 Years Excellence Edition, in Direct Metal Mastering, InAkustik INAK78211LP) exhibited with its brutal bottom end. I know I am like a broken record, but the low frequencies are the real strength of the Master Jubilee and compared to it many competitors sound lightweight and incomplete. It as if a blacksmith, after hours using a sledgehammer, time-travelled to a Temu world where hammers are made of aluminium.

Spatial resolution

Holography

Soundstage width

Soundstage depth

Clearaudio had produced 45 chassis units of the Master Jubilee. The one we auditioned was serial number 14. It came with a sustainable carton box with all the necessary accessories that were needed to set it up and maintain, including a bottle bearing oil and a stroboscopic record. The auditioned unit was decorated in high gloss wooden veneer; Clearaudio is ready to make almost any finish you may want, for added cost. The Master Jubilee is not a cheap affair, yet it is a superbly voiced system that includes external power supply, phono, motor, etc., and that is easy to set up and easy to use. Dropping the needle into the groove is the only chore that you will do every 20 minutes or so.

Sound wise, there is nothing left to desire. If you decide to buy it, you can enjoy it at least for five years, before Clearaudio reaches 50 years anniversary and launches a successor. Until then, it is one of the best vinyl playback solutions.

Note: The Clearaudio Balance Reference Phono and its symmetric powers supply were not the subject of the review, yet they significantly contributed to the result. The phono is a very well designed preamp – please check its manual if you want to know more.

Price as reviewed:1 400 000,- Kč

Recommended resellers

High-End Audio Studio, Praha, tel. +420 224 256 844

Manufacturer's website: http://www.clearaudio.de

Associated components

Sourcest: Clearaudio Master Jubilee Limited Edition, Unity Black tonearm with Goldfinger Statement V2.1 MC cartroidge, Clearaudio Professional Power 24V PSU
Amplifiers: Clearaudio Balance Reference Phono with Balance Reference Phono Power Supply, symetrically connected to CARY AUDIO CAD-120S MkII power amplifier
Interconnects and speaker cables: Clearaudio, Kubala-Sosna
Loudspeakers: Morel Sopran 634
Power conditioning: Torus Power AVR Series, Kubala-Sosna Emotion

Gallery

Mark Levinson is not a turntable brand. Several years ago they introduced their first attempt, the praised № 515 turntable, so going another mile and making a statement vinyl deck was the logical next step. No matter how modern and ...

Recommended resellers

Absolute Audio s.r.o., Praha, tel. +420 777 739 377

Nisel SK, Bratislava, tel. +421 905 203 078

Sound

84%

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