J.Sikora Standard Max
2023 Editors’ Choice: Best Turntables $10,000 & Up —The Absolute Sound
“A turntable that is as visually appealing as it is sonically. Few, if any, ’tables in this price range can boast this level of precision machining, which extends to everything from the platter to the weighty damping puck. The result is superlative sound. With the proprietary Sikora tonearm, the ’table delivers effortless and snappy vinyl playback. It also produces a soundstage and bass that are particularly winning on orchestral pieces. Its wealth of impressive attributes mean that the Standard Max cannot be deemed anything other than a top contender.”
J.Sikora Standard MAX Turntable
J.Sikora Reference Turntable
3 J.Sikora Models Make Stereophile’s
Recommended Components List!
The J.Sikora’s Reference turntable, Initial turntable, and KV-12 Tonearm are all featured in the Fall 2022 edition of Stereophile Magazine’s
Recommended Components List.
J. Sikora Reference Turntable
Class A+
Stereophile Recommended Components Fall 2022 Edition Turntables
J. Sikora Initial Turntable
Class A
Stereophile Recommended Components Fall 2022 Edition Turntables
J. Sikora KV-12 Tonearm
Class A
Stereophile Recommended Components Fall 2022 Edition Turntables
NEW! J.Sikora KV MAX Kevlar® Tonearm
see more
Stereophile Cover!
The J.Sikora Reference turntable is on the cover of Stereophile Magazine! Michael Fremer reviewed J.Sikora’s flagship model for the July issue.
Another Award!
Congratulations to J Sikora for yet another award, this time a 2022 Editor’s Choice from The Absolute Sound for the Standard Max!
J.Sikora Standard Max | $19,995
A turntable that is as visually appealing as it is sonically. Few, if any, ‘tables in this price range can boast this level of precision machining, which extends to everything from the platter to the weighty damping puck. The result is superlative sound. With the proprietary Sikora tonearm, the ‘table delivers effortless and snappy vinyl playback. It also produces a soundstage and bass that are particularly winning on orchestral pieces. Its wealth of impressive attributes mean that the Standard Max cannot be deemed anything other than a top contender.
AXPONA, 2022
Joseph Audio, Doshi Audio, Cardas, Aurender, J. Sikora, Command AV
It was Sunday afternoon, and Nick Doshi (Doshi Audio), Jeff Joseph (Joseph Audio), and Jeff Fox (Notable Audio, J. Sikora, Command AV) were relaxing. It was all smiles, jokes, and laughter with this crowd. I scanned the room for illegal substances. Then legal substances. Nothing. Nada. Finally, I got it. It’s the music!
Analog glory came in a J. Sikora Standard MAX turntable ($19,995/$20,995 starting 6/1/2022), J. Sikora KV12 VTA tonearm ($8495/$8995 starting 6/1/2022), Lyra Etna SL ($9995) and Benz LP-S ($6000) cartridges. There was digital too, in the shape of an Aurender A20 Server/DAC ($14,000), streaming files from a laptop. Tubed goodness was translated by the Doshi Audio Evolution preamplifier ($19,995), Doshi Audio Evolution class-AB monoblocks ($43,995/pair, 160Wpc into 4 ohms), Doshi Audio Evolution phono stage ($19,995), and a Doshi Audio Evolution tape stage ($19,995). Jeff Joseph’s Joseph Audio Pearl Graphene floorstanding speakers ($43,999/pair, specified sensitivity of 86dB/2.83V/m and impedance of 8 ohms), and Cardas Clear Beyond cables (prices vary) finalized the rig.
I’ve heard Jeff’s Pearl Graphene speakers a number of times, and this was undoubtedly their best performance to date, confirming the fantastic synergy of this well sorted system. The sound was resonant, big, clear, and beautiful.
Playing Dean Martin’s Dream with Dean LP, Dino’s every inhale and exhale blew through the small room as if meant to extinguish our flames. If we’d been smoking something. Which we weren’t. With music this beautiful and hi-fi this wonderful, the music is all you need.
Stereophile Class A!
Stereophile includes the J.Sikora Initial in Class A in the magazine’s
2020 Recommended Components List
… the J.Sikora sounded conspicuously unmechanical, unnervingly dark, super quiet, noticeably dynamic, and unbelievably micro-detailed, wrote HR. “J.Sikora’s Initial gave me what I consider to be a majority portion of what the Porsche-Maserati turntables do at a Cadillac-Oldsmobile price.”
—Stereophile, October 2020
Mono & Stereo Best of 2020!
Mono & Stereo includes the J.Sikora Standard MAX and KV12 Tonearm in the magazine’s Best Products of 2020 List
“Like the rest of J.Sikora’s turntables, the Standard Max Black is a masterpiece in its own right, designed as a stand-alone analog device without compromises.
J.Sikora Standard Max Black turntable sets a standard for how 21st high-end audio should be executed and more importantly, how it should perform. Jan Sikora made an ode to the analog and undoubtedly proven maturity of J.Sikora turntables with its Standard Max Black.
In a highly competitive high-end audio market, the J.Sikora Standard Max Black turntable offers more than just a captivating and engrossing look at what the analog cosmos has to offer. Standard Max Black provides surprisingly effective levels of clarity, accuracy, and upper-level music data headroom.
No wonder that in a relatively short time J.Sikora turntables were embraced by so many analog enthusiasts and connoisseurs around the world.
With the analog playback quality it offers at a given price, it is not difficult to recommend this excellent turntable from Poland. Compared to the many high-end audio turntables Standard Max Black the price tag does not only seem reasonable. The price-performance ratio is far above expectations. J.Sikora Standard Max Black turntable represents an epitome of contemporary high-end audio turntable design and raises the bar with its quality, performance, and value.
For which I reward the J.Sikora Standard Max Black and KV12 tonearm with the 2020 Mono and Stereo Highly Recommended Product Award and Best of 2020 with all my heart.”
—Matej Isak
Mono & Stereo, October 2020