Miniot is a tiny family-run company in Holland, known for its meticulously handcrafted cases for phones and tablets. Now, the designers at this Dutch company find a way to bring back the elegance of playing music, which has seemingly become lost with its digitalization. Their minimalist device, called Wheel makes listening to vinyl records very easy and pleasant.
This turntable is fully controlled by a central stick. Essentially an upside down record player, the Wheel plays the bottom of the record instead of the top—each one comes with a transparent record of Dutch music so that users can see what happens inside of the player.
Miniot explain that ‘everything happens behind the scenes,’ meaning all technology is neatly built into the round plate below the record and you have an unobstructed view of whichever album you choose to spin. Since the interior workings of the player are fully enclosed, all technology is hidden from dust and accidents.
Wheel works both vertically and horizontally, playing equally well whether placed atop a table, upright on a stand or hung elegantly on the wall. The device itself is an analog player, but can also be used in tandem with a wireless speaker.
The device updates the classic record player with advanced modern technology, using the AT95T cartridge. Together with the tonearm, the player offers a warm, rich sound with optimum clarity. The entire arm is sculpted out of a single piece of laminated mahogany to match the player’s wooden base, and each tone arm is fine tuned to its cartridge.