Purchase of Custom Turntable Spindles for Technics SP-10R Turntable Motor - Intent to Sole Source

Notice: This is a Special Notice for commercial products and commercial supplies prepared in accordance with FAR part 6.3 - Other Than Full and Open Competition (Sole Source Justification) and FAR part 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures, with additional information included in the Justification & Approval document. This Special Notice is issued as Intent to Sole Source.

The Library of Congress (Library) requires the modification of the newly procured Technics SP-10R turntables to upgrade the motor to enable the use of a removable spindle. This feature is essential for configuring a state-of-the-art commercial-grade turntable tailored to meet the Library's preservation standards. Without a removable spindle, proper disc centering is not achievable.

Many of the older discs in the Library’s collection require precise manual positioning on the platter, free of a fixed spindle, to allow for fine alignment using a microscope. This precision is critical to minimizing wow and distortion during playback, ensuring archival-quality results. A removeable spindle is a functional necessity for handling fragile, off-center, or rare discs with the precision required for archival-grade preservation.

No other vendor or company, including the motor’s manufacture Technics, offers this spindle modification except for Endpoint Audio Lab. The Library intends to fulfill this requirement by issuing a sole source contract to Endpoint Audio Labs. Any firm that wished to be considered for this requirement and believes this does not meet the sole source criteria must submit a capability statement that demonstrates its ability to meet the requirements. This Special Notice accomplishes the following:

Notice of the Library's intent to justify this requirement to as a sole source herein; Publicly posting the approved Justification & Approval document to the public in advance of the contract award rather than after the award. As a result of this, a second posting of the J&A is not required after the award has been made. As a result of this Special Notice, this shall be the only notice issued. A separate award notice shall not be issued, as all public information is being accomplished via this public notice.

The following attachments are included in this Special Notice: Statement of Work Document JA - Turntable Modifications_Redacted No further notices shall be pursued at this time in regard to this contracting action.