This is the Miniot Black Wheel turntable, it’s a newer version of the classic Miniot turntable design, still using the company’s patented “hidden tonearm” that plays the record from the underside.
These unusual turntables can be mounted vertically on the wall, placed flat on a surface, or mounted at an angle on the stand. Due to the fact that the upper part of the record isn’t covered by a tone arm or cartridge it can tend to baffle people as to how it actually works.
This is the Miniot Black Wheel Turntable, it’s a newer version of the classic Miniot turntable design, still using the company’s patented “hidden tonearm” that plays the record from the underside.
History Speedrun: Miniot Turntables
Miniot is a small Dutch design and engineering company based in Schagen in the Netherlands. It was founded in 2005 by brothers Peter and Marcel Miniot, who initially combined their backgrounds in mechanical design and woodworking to create high-end accessories for Apple devices.
Early products included wooden iPhone and iPad cases, docks, and smart covers – all made from single blocks of wood using CNC machines. The company quickly built a reputation for quality good craftsmanship, and for their minimalist design, as a result they were soon supplying boutique retailers and online customers around the world.
By the mid-2010s Miniot began shifting toward audio design – the result of this was the Miniot Wheel released in 2017, a turntable that reversed the traditional layout by placing the tone arm and all other working components on the underside of the record – integrated into the platter.
Each Miniot Wheel was (and still is) handmade in Miniot’s workshop – continuing the firm’s focus on in-house production and low-volume manufacturing.
The Miniot Black Wheel Turntable
The Miniot Black Wheel is a minimalist “upside-down” turntable that was developed by Dutch company Miniot. Each is handmade in Schagen, the Netherlands, in small monthly batches of around five to ten units, it’s very much a bespoke audiophile turntable rather than a mass-market record player.
Miniot first picked up global attention with the original Miniot Wheel, a turntable that flipped the traditional layout by placing all working components on the underside of the record. The Black Wheel refines that concept into a revised design built around a brushed aluminum chassis with black accents. Due to the fact that it plays from the under the record, it leaves only the label visible, and it can operate flat or mounted vertically on a wall or stand.
The tonearm is fully linear and hidden beneath the record surface. Its cartridge, an Audio-Technica AT-VM95 with a nude Shibata stylus, tracks the grooves with high levels of precision while helping to minimize wear. The built-in preamplifier is located within the tonearm to reduce noise and distortion. Drive comes from three closed-loop motors that maintain constant groove speed, using data from the tonearm, stylus, and drive position to ensure rotational stability.
These unusual turntables can be mounted vertically on the wall, placed flat on a surface, or mounted at an angle on the stand. Due to the fact that the upper part of the record isn’t covered by a tone arm or cartridge it can tend to baffle people as to how it actually works.
The turntable’s visible control is a “Slide Track” slider with integrated buttons and an line display that manages playback and volume. With pricing at the upper end of the market the Miniot Black Wheel sits firmly in the high-end turntable arena, appealing to industrial design-focused buyers who value rarity, design, and engineering and are happy to pay for it.
The Miniot Black Wheel is now available to order on the official Miniot online store here, lead time on orders is around four wheels as they’re each made by hand.
Images courtesy of Miniot
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