The Mk II turntable series represented a shift from pivoting (rotating) armboards to sliding armboards.
After the production launch, we looked into the possibility of this sliding armboard architecture trickling down to our Mark I series turntables
The result was the Mk 1.5 conversion.
The only downside to this conversion is the sacrifice of dual tonearm capability, and we've recently developed a solution to this problem.
Planned obsolescence is not in our vocabulary, and we do everything we can to ensure current performance levels in our legacy turntables. The shift to sliding armboards was not a trivial improvement.
The platinum gray metallic, Gavia shown, is a prime example of a Mk 1.5 conversion (as a single tonearm implementation).
Note in the design drawing below, the armboard on the right is the Mk 1.5 conversion, and you can see how it anchors to the mounting base via both bolt holes.
For reference, you can view single and dual tonearm implementations of the Mk I turntables in the Galibier Museum. Each pivoting armboard mount uses one of the mounting bolts.
The right side shows a Mk 1.5 armboard - the standard conversion.
The left armboard is a Mk II. Supporting it, we designed a moveable wing which nests into the facets of your Mk I Gavia or Stelvio.
Normally, we’re not fans of moveable arm pods for exactly that reason - their tendency to ... move.
When designing for Redpoint, I developed an indexing system to address this issue. After all, a few thousandths of an inch can wreck your cartridge alignment.
The design has proven itself over the years, and this nesting concept is a variant of that 2001 design.