cnx_vinyl/docs/suppliers/vendor-landscape.md

# 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 Pricing is unpublished almost across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).

## 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.