Dual CS 418 Review

The Dual CS 418 turntable is a robust, stable, and wobble-free model with a solid MDF plinth and high-quality bearings. It features a reliable Ortofon 2M Red cartridge, offering clear and detailed sound. However, it lacks adjustable feet and can sometimes produce a sharp sound, especially at higher speeds.

Intro

The long history of the Dual brand is getting a new chapter: With the Dual CS 418, Dual GmbH is appearing for the first time as a manufacturer of upscale turntables. The Landsberg company has held the rights to the traditional name for decades but had granted Alfred Fehrenbacher GmbH in the Black Forest the license to manufacture the classic hi-fi turntables. The Landsbergers have now collected this license again – and with the CS 418 and its bigger brother CS 518 presented the first two models manufactured in-house.

 

Construction & Design

The developer of the Dual CS418 is very well known: among connoisseurs and collectors of the traditional brand, Alfred “Dualfred” Langer is considered a technology visionary with a special weakness for direct drives. Nevertheless, he designed the 418 and 518 models with belt drives – simply because serious direct drives are more expensive than the budget for these models allows.

After conscientious calculations, the Landsberg company also had to reject production in Europe: CS 418 and CS 518 are assembled in China. Of course, Dual is in the best of the company: in addition to dozens of other brands, the old rival of Dual, Thorens, for example, also uses large OEM specialists in Asia. Ultra-high-end models like the TD 124 DD also show the perfection you can get if you order and pay for them.

When I unpacked the CS 418, I immediately noticed how stable and wobble-free it felt. It’s impressive compared to the “golden” Dual era 40 or 50 years ago, even with models that were significantly more expensive back then, adjusted for inflation. The turntable is built on a generously sized box with clear edges, made entirely of 12.5-millimeter thick MDF, reinforced with additional MDF blocks. The back of the case is also constructed from thick medium-density fiberboard, ensuring robust construction.

The platter bearing consists of a brass bushing in which a steel axle runs. With a diameter of 10mm, the axle is surprisingly big – especially because of the relatively light plate – and should probably retain its honey-fine, smooth-turning feeling forever. Only during the first few hours of operation did the tightly tolerated bearing make a very slight grinding noise, which then disappeared and never came back.

The Dual CS 418 is powered by a small DC motor. The unit runs very quietly at 33 RPM and is significantly louder at 45 and 78 RPM. Thanks to the elastically decoupled assembly of the motor, the running noises do not find their way into the music signal. The unusual placement of the motor also contributes to the decoupling: It sits on the front left instead of the usual rear left on the frame. This is a well-known design trick that is intended to improve smoothness.

Speed Smoothness

The Dual CS 418 seems to be superior to competitor turntables in terms of smoothness – despite or because of its very simple drive concept. Unlike the AT-LPW-50PB from Audio-Technica, for example, the Dual CS 418 does not constantly measure the actual platter speed. He merely keeps the voltage for his DC motor as constant as possible. And at three different values, depending on which speed you have selected with the cleanly latching selector switch. There is a choice of 33⅓, 45, and 78 revolutions, and each one was spot-on in the test device. If this changes at some point, for example, because the belt loses some tension with age, you can readjust all three speeds individually.

Engine at Half Past Seven: Why the Old Pink Triangle Trick Improves Smoothness?

Every motor inherently produces vibrations during rotation, and in turntables, these vibrations are a significant threat to sound quality. The cartridge cannot differentiate between the groove-induced needle movements and unwanted mechanical vibrations originating from the motor. In belt-drive turntables, vibrations can infiltrate the audio signal through two main paths: the shared frame that supports the motor, platter, and tonearm, and the drive belt itself, which establishes a direct mechanical link between the motor and the platter. Minimizing these vibrations is crucial for maintaining high-fidelity sound reproduction in turntables.

The elastic belt in a turntable transmits significant energy only when under tension, ideally in the direction of that tension. This characteristic can be leveraged against a key feature of MM and MC cartridges, which are more sensitive to lateral movements. By aligning the belt so that unwanted vibrations reach the cartridge from the front, their impact on the audio signal is minimized. Arthur Khoubesserian, a physicist and turntable developer, popularized this motor arrangement in the 80s and 90s with his company Pink Triangle, which also offered conversion kits for other turntables. While the behavior of vibrations is complex, this alignment can improve sound quality.

Tonearm

The tonearm bearings are a notorious weakness of inexpensive players. Precision bearings are expensive and need to be carefully assembled and adjusted – which again costs money. However, the straight tonearm of the CS 418 surprised me with really play-free running and at the same time very low friction – both excellent basic requirements for low-distortion sound.

The headshell of the tonearm is removable but sits firmly and wobble-free at the end of the aluminum tonearm tube. Overall, the tonearm makes a very good mechanical impression. That allows the pre-assembled cartridge to show itself from its best side. Mounted on the CS 418, Dual uses the proven Ortofon 2M Red MM cartridge. A high-quality choice, which then also proved itself in the sound test with a precise, cleanly drawn sound.

Connectivity

The connector panel on the back panel of the Dual CS 418 presents gold-plated cinch sockets to which you can plug in the supplied cable or any other phono cable. The easiest way to do this is to use the built-in phono preamp. Then you can easily connect the CS 418 to a line input of your amplifier or directly to active loudspeakers with a stereo cable.

If your amplifier has a good phono input or if you want to use an external phono preamplifier, you have to think about the additional ground wire, which is necessary for hum-free operation. It connects the small screw terminal next to the cinch sockets to a corresponding point on your preamplifier. The built-in phono part is switched on and off with a small slide switch on the back.

Dual CS 418 Sound Test

I initially ran the CS 418 in my listening room for 48 hours to give the motor and platter bearings some break-in time. I also treated the cartridge to a few operating hours before making any critical comparisons. The Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo, one of the currently best-sounding mid-class turntables, served as a competitor.

The Pro-Ject has the same cartridge as the Dual CS 418. That makes the comparison even more exciting. Because everything I hear about the differences results from the qualities of the two turntables and tonearms, not from the cartridge.

The Dual performed surprisingly well in the listening comparison. It runs quietly, with stable synchronism despite its fairly light platter. With the CS 418, even difficult vinyl records such as Nick Cave’s solo concerto “Idiot Prayer” can be enjoyed from start to finish: piano chords fade away with stability, the recording room (Alexandra Palace, a concert hall in London) takes on realistic dimensions, the calm, concentrated atmosphere of the performance becomes noticeable.

The Dual’s handling of the album’s high dynamics is also impressive: poor tonearms quickly produce audible distortions when the grand piano is played loudly. However, the Dual CS 418 stays clean, even when Nick Cave hits the keys harder. It’s also nice that the spatial perspective of the piano is retained in the loud passages: Many beginner turntables get a kind of tunnel vision when it becomes dynamically demanding. The acoustic panorama then temporarily collapses in the middle.

Without a direct comparison, there are hardly any criticisms of the sound of the Dual CS418. In the silence between the songs, there is no motor noise, and the difficult-to-reproduce percussive character of the piano attacks comes across very nicely. The impression is similarly positive with other records – such as “Unsung Heroine” by Norwegian indie romantics Midnight Choir or the edgy UK post-punk of Shame on their 2021 album “Drunk Tank Pink”.

If the Dual competes directly against the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo, you will be torn: “Born In Luton” by Shame sounds silkier in the treble and at the same time more powerful in the bass with the Pro-Ject. The CS 418 looks a bit slimmer and more mid-range here. But it catches up even more guitar, vocal and keyboard tracks pile up in the track’s finale. He may not play quite as juicy and large-scale, but he always retains control and an overview of the musical happenings. In the end, the sound is of course always a question of taste, but objectively the Dual lets the Pro-Ject take precedence.

Dual CS 418 Video Review

Dual CS 418 Specifications

Motor

• Drive: Belt
• Speed settings: 33/45/78
• Wow & Flutter: < ±0,1 % (DIN WTD)

Tonearm

• Auto-Start/-Stop-Function: ✕
• Bearing: Ball-bearing
• Effective length: 221,5 mm
• Offset Angle: 25,6°
• Overhang: 19 mm
• Type: statically balanced
• Stylus Pressure Range: 0 g to 4 g
• Cartridge Weight Range: 5 g to 9 g
• Factory-installed cartridge: Ortofon 2M Red

Platter

• Material: Die-cast aluminum
• Mat: Rubber 2,5 mm
• Bearing: Hardened steel spindle, Brass bushing
• Diameter: 305 mm
• Weight (incl. Mat): 850 g

Plinth

• Material: MDF, folded
• Surface finish: Vinyl veneer / Black
• Feet: Ø 62 mm / Elastomer
• Connection: RCA socket
• Connection to Phono Input: ✓
• Connection to Line Input: ✓
• Digital Output: ✕
• Dimension, closed dustcover: 435 x 367 x 145 mm
• Dimension, open dustcover: D: 415 mm / H: 400 mm
• Weight: 5,8 kg
• Power plug AC/DC: External power supply

You can download & view the manual here->Dual CS 418 Manual

Final Verdict

An aluminum platter with a rubber mat, an angular housing covered with imitation of the wood, and the somewhat large nameplate give the Dual a striking, but also somewhat brittle touch. In terms of sound, the stately player is convincing with good dynamics and a clear definition. This is one of the most recommendable mid-class turntables: The CS418 means a good, sustainable start into the analog HiFi world for its future owners.