# 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 Pricing is unpublished almost across the board, the Sillitoe lathe being the one exception: everything else is a quote-on-request conversation.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. ## Mastering and cutting: Sillitoe Audio Technology (Australia) [Sillitoe Audio Technology](https://www.sillitoeaudiotechnology.com/) builds the **Sillitoe Disk Mastering System (SDMS)**, which is a complete cutting system rather than a bare lathe. Per the vendor's system page and its 2021/2022 hardware reference manual: - **Turntable**: direct drive, 16/22/33/45 rpm, 355 mm vacuum platter adjustable for 7", 10", 12" and 14" disks - **Cutterhead**: MMFB Mk3E moving-magnet feedback stereo head, helium cooling capability, stylus heating - **Master Control** (19" 2RU): USB DAC (44.1 to 384 kHz), closed-loop analog cutting preamp, 350 W per channel cutting amplifier, VU/PPM metering, phono stage for playback checks - **Space / Time Control** (19" 2RU): turntable, pitch, depth and head drop/lift, each switchable between manual and software control - **QC**: groove inspection microscope at 200x and 40x with a measuring graticule (5 µm divisions) and a C-mount for a camera; a 12" tonearm for test-cut playback - **Vacuum**: one pump for platter hold-down and chip suction, chip jar included - Half-speed cutting electronics are an upgrade, not in the standard system What sets it apart is the software. **Space / Time Control (STC)**, Windows and macOS, licensed only with an SDMS, computes a "Virtual Groove" from the audio before anything is cut, analyses it, and drives pitch, depth and head lift automatically during the cut. The vendor's claim is 20 minutes at 94% disk capacity at +5 dB (NAB) with no capacity tests or dry runs. Trade press describes it as the first cutting lathe with integrated software automation. Timeless Mastering in New York (founded by a former Sterling Sound cutting engineer) cuts on serial number 6, which is also a fair measure of how small the install base is. **Published price: USD 125,000** for the standard system, excluding tax and shipping, built to order (vendor order page, October 2026). Sales run through a contract the buyer signs first and Sillitoe countersigns at its discretion. It is the only lathe in this landscape with a public price. Points for the decision: - **It closes most of the gap the Agnew route leaves open.** Cutting amplifier, preview and pitch automation, vacuum and microscope are in the box. Still needed: the mastering console and chain, monitoring, room treatment, lacquer blanks and styli (Neumann SX-type styli per the manual). - **It is a closed system.** The cutterhead is excluded from warranty, has no user-serviceable parts and works only with Sillitoe's own amplifier; most subsystems in the hardware manual are marked "factory calibrated" with instructions to leave the screws alone. Service depends on one small company, so spares (a second cutterhead) and support terms belong in the quote. Australia is one to four hours ahead of Thailand, which helps remote support. - **It produces data, which the Agnew route does not.** STC exports a master cue sheet (artist, title, label, catalogue number, side, matrix number, engineer, groove diameter per track) as HTML or PDF, exports the groove as an **Open Groove** file (an open-source virtual-groove format in development), keeps a stylus-hours counter, and stores each project with its audio and settings. The cutting session in the factory application can attach these files instead of relying on manual entry (see [digital factory](../digital-factory.md)). - **Lacquer and DMM.** The vendor's social posts say the newer suspension cuts both lacquer and DMM (direct metal mastering) on one lathe under software control. Unverified; worth asking, because a copper DMM master needs no silvering and is not on the one-to-three-day plating clock that a soft lacquer is. - A used 2023 unit was advertised for resale in New York in August 2025 (lathetrolls.com classifieds), so second-hand units exist; a used purchase would need the vendor's transfer and support terms in writing. ### Agnew or Sillitoe | | Agnew Analog Type 612 | Sillitoe SDMS | |---|---|---| | Origin | Greece | Australia | | Scope | Lathe and Type 602 head, turnkey or as components; amplifiers, automation and console sourced around it | Complete system: lathe, cutterhead, cutting amplifier, automation software, vacuum, microscope | | Pitch and depth automation | External preview/automation solution needed | Integrated (Space / Time Control, Virtual Groove) | | Price | Unpublished | USD 125,000 standard system, ex tax and shipping | | Build | Bespoke, long build times | Built to order, contract at the vendor's discretion | | Lock-in | Component route, to be confirmed | Head and amplifier only work together | | Data out | None (station check-in only) | Cue sheet, Open Groove export, project files, stylus hours | Ask both for a quote and a cutting demonstration with CNX's own audio, and compare the **whole room**, not the lathe: amplifiers, automation, console, spares and service terms. At the Sillitoe list price the cutting room is a smaller decision than the 290k to 580k USD line in [total investment](../finance/total-investment.md) assumed, which makes it, alongside galvanics, a candidate for moving earlier than Phase 5 in the [roadmap](../roadmap.md). A second-hand route exists too: [used lathes and cutting-room contacts](#used-lathes-and-cutting-room-contacts-via-oms). ## Lacquer cutting service: Schallplatten Schneid Technik (Germany) [Schallplatten Schneid Technik](https://www.sst-ffm.de/) (SST, Frankfurt am Main) is an independent cutting studio founded in 1969 by Albert Brüggemann and run by Daniel Krieger since 2011. Per its website (checked October 2026): two cutting rooms on last-generation Neumann systems, one of them the last Neumann ever built; lacquers in 7", 10" and 12" for industrial pressing and dubplates in 10" and 12", at 16⅔ to 78 rpm; half-speed, locked-groove and inside-out cuts; mastering only as moderate corrections in agreement with the customer. The site lists lacquer, not DMM. SST is already a Poy Records supplier: Daniel Krieger found in SST's archive that it cut the lacquers for POY003, 005, 006 and 013. He met Simona and Alexander in Haarlem, offered to help with the plant (email, 7 October 2026), and is on good terms with ResurRec's Sarit and his mastering partner Chalotorn. What it means for the plan: a known lacquer source for the launch phase, when cutting is bought in and stampers come from the bridge supplier ([production timeline](../production-timeline.md)), and a long-running cutting room to ask about Neumann-era equipment, room design and engineer training before the Agnew or Sillitoe decision. Lacquer travels worse than nickel (production timeline), so a Frankfurt cut fits a European stamper service (Stamper Discs, OMS) better than plating in Thailand. ## Used lathes and cutting-room contacts (via OMS) Lou Wullms' introduction letter (9 October 2026, filed in [`../equipment/oms/`](../equipment/oms/)) closes with five contacts for buying a cutting lathe, a second-hand route next to a new Agnew or Sillitoe. As the letter gives them (phone numbers and emails are in the letter): - **Railroad Studio Tracks** (Germany, between Cologne and Aachen; owned by John Cremers, with his son Moritz Cremer in charge): selling its complete cutting studio "at this very moment". The website (railroad-tracks.de) did not load for checking (October 2026). - **Mike Papas**: sometimes has a cutting lathe for sale. - **Andreas Bauer**, AB Mastering (Andreas Bauer Medientechnik, Tiefenbach, Germany): could help with a lathe. His site (abmastering.com, checked October 2026) offers lacquer cutting on a Neumann VMS-80, master checks, one-off dubplates, and help choosing a pressing plant with quality control. - **Flo Kaufman** (flokason, Switzerland; spelling as in the letter): very highly respected in the cutting world and, Lou warns, always very busy. His site describes handcrafted audio gear. - **Martin Sukale**, Ramona Records GmbH, Hamburg, a good friend of Flo Kaufman's. ramonarecords.com led to the site of Discosville, a vinyl pressing plant, when checked (October 2026); confirm his current company before writing. What it means: a complete used studio could put a working cutting room in place well before [roadmap](../roadmap.md) item 27, at a price still to be asked. A used lathe still needs a head, amplifiers, service and a cutting engineer, so compare it as a whole room, like the new systems above. Lou also recommended three sites for finding vendors and answers: vinyl-pressing-plants.com (directory of cutting studios, electroforming houses, pressing plants, brokers and machine makers), cdvdpacking.com (a dealer in used CD, DVD, vinyl and solar production machines; its categories include mastering and galvanics, and pressing lines, checked October 2026) and lathetrolls.com (questions on the process). ## 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. Pheenix Alpha (below) now offers a competing line unit for unit; the datasheets and the comparison are in [galvanics and stamper prep](../equipment/galvanics.md). ## Electroforming equipment and stamper service: Optical Media Services (Netherlands) Optical Media Services B.V. (OMS, Baarlo, established 1996) builds and refurbishes vinyl electroforming equipment, converts CD/DVD electroforming lines to 14" vinyl, and runs an independent stamper service from lacquers and DMMs. Sibert's Ian Locke named it after Haarlem as the alternative to a Pheenix turnkey line: Lou Wullms is "a long-standing industry colleague who makes good equipment" and very familiar with the Asian market. A directory listing points OMS's website at Newbilt's equipment page, which announces new Newbilt electroplating equipment; whether the two are linked is unconfirmed. Simona and Alexander met Lou Wullms in Haarlem; he wrote on 7 October 2026 and Alexander has replied. On 9 October OMS sent an introduction letter with reference prices: EUR 224,000 for a basic 4-cell wet room (two 2-cell EFS2-200 units) and EUR 311,000 for an advanced one (one 4-cell AEFS4-250 with PLC), installation and water treatment extra, used equipment also available. For stamper finishing the letter points to Sibert, as Sibert pointed to OMS. Details, company data and open questions in [galvanics and stamper prep](../equipment/galvanics.md). ## 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), plus a fully automatic VSPa punch. One-off capital equipment filling exactly the gap between the plating line and the presses. The current technical specifications (2022 and 2023) and a line-up drawing are in [`../equipment/sibert/`](../equipment/sibert/): all three run on single-phase power and 6 to 8 bar air, weigh 200, 250 and 1000 kg, stand in a 4958 × 833 mm row, and list no data interface; centring on the punch is manual under ×100 optics. Sibert has confirmed a budget of USD 250k for the three, with its time, spare parts, shipping and travel extra. Figures, mould fit and the service model are in [galvanics and stamper prep](../equipment/galvanics.md). ## 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 and electroforming: 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 made them a possible single-vendor alternative for the earlier 50/50 fleet. Since October 2026 the current plan is an all-Newbilt fleet ([pressing line](../equipment/pressing-line.md)), so the AD12 is the comparison for the Newbilt Classic rather than part of the plan. Pheenix also builds **electroforming equipment**: an automatic silvering unit (PASU), a four-position pre-plating unit (PPPU), a two-cell production plating unit (PDPU, up to 200 A per cell) and a passivation and cleaning bench (PMPB), the plating units PLC-controlled with network access (2024 flyers in [`../equipment/pheenix-alpha/`](../equipment/pheenix-alpha/), summarised in [galvanics and stamper prep](../equipment/galvanics.md)). It calls itself the only manufacturer of both electroforming and pressing systems, which makes it a single-vendor candidate for the whole chain from lacquer to record, not only for the presses. The flyers and the CEO's email signature give the company's address as Skepptuna Borgen 299, Märsta, north of Stockholm. After Haarlem, CEO Robert Gunnarsson wrote that Pheenix has more than 300 presses in the field (vendor figure) and supports start-ups and capacity expansions on automatic and manual presses and on electroforming; he offered a Teams meeting, reference clients and a visit to the factory with press demonstrations (email, 5 October 2026). We will call once our questions are concrete; Simona and Alexander plan to be back in Europe in February 2027 ([exhibitor briefing](making-vinyl-europe-2026-exhibitors.md#after-the-show)).