Metal 2000, an Italian-based company, has launched a new record press called Futura – Rav Italy 22 Hydraulic. A rare enough development, despite the growing market for vinyl, and this promises to be an innovative venture due to its simple disc extraction, an unrivalled electronic processor, and competitive pricing.
Metal 2000’s staff have been manufacturing injection and extrusion presses for the plastics sector for over 30 years. Following careful studies in the vinyl manufacturing sector, the company started work on the product in 2021 due to the great demand for presses in the vinyl record sector. In the UK alone, vinyl sales increased in 2023 by 11.7% year-on-year to 5.9 million units (source: BPI), while in the USA sales increased by 21.7% in the first half of 2023 (Source: Luminate).
Metal 2000 developed, designed and manufactured Futura using its own technical office made up of a staff of over 20 people, including engineers, mechanics, electronic engineers, designers and programmers. This resulted in a modern machine that aims to satisfy all the needs of a vinyl record pressing plant.
Futura is simple to install, capable of producing 2-3 discs per minute and can change colour extremely fast. Its technical qualities also include simplicity of moulding, regularity in moulding without machine downtime due to the vinyl record extraction pliers, and great compactness of the monobloc engine structure. Users can operate Futura safely as it has an in-built alarm system for the maximum opening of the fairing. It is also designed for users to be able to insert a double extrusion system.
Interest in the Futura vinyl press is already high with thirty sales already made to customers ahead of the official public launch. It comes with a three-year warranty and production times are around five months. Interested parties, can contact Metal 2000 via email.
Elisabeth Nosel, manager at Metal 2000, said: “We are extremely happy to be able to finally launch Futura. This has been in the works for a long time with years of research and experimentation to create a best-of-breed vinyl record press. The music vinyl market has been experiencing a great resurgence for years now but due to many factors, the demand is outstripping the supply in pressing plants.
“With Futura, we are aiming to alleviate some of that pressure by delivering to the market a machine that is not only fast but also produces high-quality records so that the end users can enjoy their music as it should sound on vinyl.”
