Andover Goes Direct Drive at $999: the Andover-One DD Adds a Carbon-Fibre Arm, 78rpm and Optical Auto-Stop — but No Phono Stage

Andover Audio has built its name on record players that keep the fuss to a minimum — all-in-one decks, powered speaker bases, lifestyle vinyl systems. The company's latest announcement moves in a different direction. The Andover-One DD, announced on 1 October 2026, is a conventional component turntable with a digitally controlled direct-drive motor, a carbon-fibre tonearm and a US price of $999. It does not have a phono stage, and that absence tells you most of what you need to know about where it sits.

As eCoustics points out, direct drive itself is hardly a new idea — but it is a departure for Andover, a company whose catalogue has leaned heavily towards integrated and lifestyle products rather than separates. The Absolute Sound's coverage carried Andover's own framing of the deck as its highest-performance component turntable to date; that is the manufacturer's positioning rather than an independent assessment.

The drive system

The motor is a digitally controlled direct drive, with Andover quoting speed accuracy within 0.2% and wow and flutter below 0.15%. Three speeds are offered: 33 1/3, 45 and the increasingly welcome 78 rpm, which puts shellac reissues and older pressings within reach without a separate deck or a pulley change.

Underneath the record sits a damped cast-aluminium platter topped with an anti-resonant silicone rubber mat. The plinth is thick MDF in matte black, standing on adjustable rubber feet intended to absorb vibration. A hinged dust cover is included. The whole thing measures 16.5 x 4.875 x 14 inches (420 x 124 x 355mm) and weighs 12.8 lb, so it is a standard-footprint deck rather than a compact one.

Arm and cartridge

The tonearm is the part that most clearly signals the step up from Andover's lifestyle range. It is an 8.8-inch straight arm with a carbon-fibre tube and a cast-aluminium removable headshell using the familiar SME-style twist-lock connection. Tracking force, anti-skating and VTA are all adjustable, and the arm accepts cartridges weighing between 2.5 and 6.2 grams, according to specifications printed by eCoustics and TrackingAngle.

That removable headshell matters more than it might sound. It means swapping cartridges — or keeping a second one mounted for 78s — is a matter of a twist rather than a realignment session, which is a sensible pairing with a three-speed deck.

A cartridge is fitted at the factory: an Audio-Technica moving magnet, printed by every source as the AT-VM520xEB. eCoustics lists it with a 0.3 x 0.7 mil elliptical stylus, a recommended tracking force of 2.0 grams and 5.0mV output. TrackingAngle describes the generator as a four-coil design, and HiFi Pig notes the stylus is replaceable — a detail worth knowing for anyone planning to live with the deck for years rather than months.

Semi-automatic, optically sensed

The Andover-One DD is semi-automatic, and the way it handles that is a little unusual. Optical, contact-free sensing starts the platter and stops it when the record ends. What it does not do is lift and return the arm — that remains a manual job, as does cueing the stylus at the start of a side.

So this is not a fully automatic turntable, and shouldn't be read as one. It is a manual deck with an automatic shut-off, which spares the stylus an indefinite run-out groove if you leave the room, without the mechanical linkages a full auto mechanism requires.

What's in the box, and what isn't

HiFi Pig is explicit about the omissions: no phono stage, no amplifier, no speakers, no Bluetooth transmitter. With no built-in phono preamp, the Andover-One DD needs either an amplifier with a phono input or an outboard phono stage to produce sound at all. That is standard practice for a component turntable, but it is a genuine change of expectations for buyers coming from Andover's plug-and-play products — and a line item to budget for.

Andover does sell the pieces to fill those gaps. eCoustics notes that the deck sits above the company's $729 SpinPlay all-in-one record player in the range and is compatible with the Andover-One SB powered speaker base; the company's catalogue also includes the SpinStage phono preamplifier and the SpinBase MAX 2.

Bob Hazelwood, Andover's Director of Engineering and Product Management, summarised the company's thinking in a statement carried by TrackingAngle: "Our approach has always focused on products that look great, perform well, and are easy to live with." The Andover-One DD reads as an attempt to hold onto that ease-of-living brief — optical auto-stop, factory-fitted cartridge, hinged cover — while handing the user the adjustments a separates deck is expected to offer.

Availability

The turntable is on sale through Andover's own website and selected retailers, with HiFi Pig reporting that shipments begin the week beginning 5 October 2026. The $999 figure is a US MSRP; no other currency or territory pricing was published with the announcement.

No review has appeared yet — eCoustics notes its own sample had not arrived at the time of publication — so there are no listening impressions in circulation, and the speed and wow-and-flutter figures above remain manufacturer specifications rather than measured results. What is clear from the spec sheet is the shape of the thing: a three-speed direct-drive deck with an adjustable carbon-fibre arm and a removable headshell, pitched at someone willing to supply their own phono stage.

This article was written by an AI system from Into The HiFi AI Desk, generated from the following sources, with no human editing pass before publication: eCoustics — Andover-One DD Direct Drive Turntable Has More Tech Than Your Average $999 Deck, HiFi Pig — Andover-One DD Adds Direct Drive To A Starter-Friendly Turntable, TrackingAngle — Andover Audio Introduces Andover-One DD Direct Drive Turntable, The Absolute Sound — Andover Audio Introduces Andover-One DD, Its Highest-Performance Component Turntable to Date.