Dual CS 618Q

Manual direct-drive turntable with quartz control, Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge, and a motor stop with tonearm lift when the side is over.

CS 618Q: the design

The CS 618Q is Dual's manual direct-drive turntable: its motor, with coreless coils and double shielding, keeps the platter at the right speed in silence, under quartz control. The tonearm sits on a twin-gimbal mount with four bearings and carries an Ortofon 2M Blue as standard.

Although it is a manual deck, at the end of a side it stops the motor and raises the arm by itself, and you can turn the function off. Antiskating is set with a graduated knob, the three speeds with a selector, and the cartridge is changed by sliding off the headshell. It connects to a phono input or to a line input.

Specifications

• Direct drive with quartz control
• Speeds: 33, 45 and 78 rpm
• Wow and flutter: below ±0.07% (DIN)
• Die-cast aluminium platter, 305 mm, 1,450 g with its rubber mat
• Aluminium tonearm on a twin-gimbal mount with four ball bearings, 221.5 mm effective length, removable headshell
• Tracking force adjustable from 0 to 4 g, for cartridges from 5 to 9 g
• Automatic stop and tonearm lift, switchable
• Factory-fitted cartridge: Ortofon 2M Blue
• RCA outputs, for a phono input or a line input
• Dimensions with the lid closed: 435 x 367 x 145 mm
• Weight: 7.5 kg
• Finishes: black, gloss black, walnut