# Vendor Landscape

Research on candidate vendors for the production chain beyond the Newbilt
pressing line (from vendor sites and trade press; capabilities are claims
until quotes and visits verify them). Pricing is unpublished across the
board: every one of these is a quote-on-request conversation.

The tabular needs-and-suppliers map lives in
[`equipment-suppliers.md`](equipment-suppliers.md); this document is the
narrative per vendor.

## Mastering and cutting: Agnew Analog (Greece)

[Agnew Analog Reference Instruments](https://agnewanalog.com/) builds the
**Type 612 disk mastering lathe** (unveiled 2023, billed in the trade press
as the first all-new lacquer cutting lathe since the mid-1960s) and the
companion Type 602 stereo cutter head, sold turnkey or as components. Bespoke,
low-volume manufacturing by J. I. Agnew, so expect long build times. The
lathe is only the platform: a working cutting room additionally needs cutter
amplifiers, a mastering console, a preview/pitch-automation solution, vacuum
and swarf handling, plus lacquer blanks and styli as consumables.

## Silvering and electroforming equipment: Plating Power / Digital Matrix (USA)

[Plating Power](https://www.platingpower.com/) is the vinyl brand of Digital
Matrix Corporation (Farmingdale, NY), the dominant turnkey vendor for vinyl
galvanics. Their line covers silvering (VLSS station), nickel pre-plate
(VLPP), production electroforming (VLFP 2/4/6-cell system), and
electro-clean/passivation (EC-1000), all built for clean-room use with fume
extraction hookups. Two gaps matter for this project: they supply **no
closed-loop water treatment or metal recovery** (a separate industrial
water-treatment vendor must deliver the zero-discharge system; the
zero-discharge plating room at Gotta Groove Records in Ohio, built around a
wastewater evaporator, is the reference model), and no stamper
punching/finishing equipment (see Sibert below). No Southeast Asia
distributor; contact is via the US factory or their Japan/Korea distributors.

## Stamper preparation: Sibert Instruments (UK)

[Sibert Instruments](https://www.sibert.co.uk/) (Hampshire, in this niche
since the early 1970s) makes the machines that turn a raw electroformed
nickel shell into a press-ready stamper: the VSP center punch, VSF
back-finisher, and VSC coiner (trim and form in one pass). One-off capital
equipment filling exactly the gap between the plating line and the presses.

## Stamper service, as a bridge: Stamper Discs (UK)

[Stamper Discs](https://www.stamperdiscs.com/) (Sheffield, founded 2018,
family-run) is a trade galvanics service: send lacquers or DMM masters, get
back press-ready 1-step or 3-step stampers in 7"/10"/12", explicitly made to
fit Viryl, Toolex, and **Newbilt** molds. They ship to 30+ countries and can
broker lacquer cutting through European partners. Natural role for CNX
Vinyl: stamper supplier while the in-house galvanics line is being built,
then overflow capacity and a quality benchmark. Watch-outs: a small
single-site operation, no documented Asia customers yet, and two
international freight legs per job.

## Fully automated presses: Pheenix Alpha (Sweden)

[Pheenix Alpha](https://www.pheenixalpha.com/) (Solna) is the direct
successor of Toolex Alpha, founded in 2006 by former Toolex staff. Their
**AD12** is the continuation of the original 1977 fully automatic press:
24 to 26 second cycle (roughly 140 records per hour), one operator running
up to four presses, 7"/10"/12" up to 200 g, about 3.25 m² per press. Each
press has 25 kW installed electrical power and consumes per cycle roughly
1.2 kg of steam, 12.5 L of chilled water in a closed platen circuit
(compatible with the zero-discharge goal), and compressed air. Deepgrooves
in the Netherlands runs its AD12 steam from wood-fired biomass boilers, a
working precedent for the renewable-steam question. Pheenix also offers the
**AD12 Manual**, a semi-automatic press on the same platform aimed at
splatter and short runs, which makes them a possible single-vendor
alternative covering both halves of the 50/50 fleet; that option should be
weighed against the Newbilt plan on price, spares, and support.