Got My Spacedeck :) Sonics and Aesthetics

You boys still haven't got it!
Clearaudio decks are the way to get unqualified WAF - after all even Lara Croft has one
When you have a Clearaudio you can get away with any other box no matter how ugly, simply cos the Mrs will only have eyes for that lovely lump of plastic.
Why d'you think I bought one over a Verdier?

 

I preffered Lara's other assets.

 

Like her 2-dimensionality
I only had eyes for the Master Reference, honest..

 

:shame:

 

Or her suspended chassis.

I don't like Clearaudio decks. They look silly.

-- Ian

 

'cos you hadn't heard a dias
WAF be damned. Aesthetics be damned. The NAS sounds bloody fantastic, satisfies "local" build standards, and all for a very reasonable price.

Merlin,
I do have an excellent VPI: a 16.5. I hope you've one, too. They are indispensable.

 

Nope.. But it would have to go some to beat a Verdier.
Sounded even better than a Simon Yorke, and cheaper..

And I'm not sure about Clearaudio decks looking silly! At least they haven't got crap gold plate like a Michell
And they sound like music rather than music replay

 

Come off it, this is the very essence of silly:



-- Ian

 

Uncle Ants,

Congratulations on your new deck. Although I passed up on it when I auditioned it, I still think it makes good music. Btw, I do agree with you on the tacky plastic stickers and the large bluey plinth. On the aesthetics front alone, they were a no, no for me as well. Also, I think a touch of chrome/silver to certain parts of the deck as with the Dais deck would not have gone amiss. http://www.aslgroup.com/nottingham/NottinghamDaisPhoto.jpg

However, whilst on the subject of Nottingham Analogue, the best NA deck I have heard is not surprisingly their top of the range model, the Anna Log. What superb sound and it's not just for lumber-jacks either despite the woody aesthetics. Do I want one - you bet, but I'll have to save up for a while longer. Enjoy your new deck.


Anna Log TT



Enjoy the music,

Lawrie.

 

To be honest I suspect Auntie would love the look of the TNT (though probably not as much as the Clearaudio. Or at least she would until she realised it was the size of small car

Joel,

On one level I agree - An extended listening session last night has now put me firmly in love with my Spacedeck - But on another I disagree, the aesthetics of the thing are important and not just because Auntie says so. I know I've been poking a bit of fun at her, but I actually agree with her to a large extent. Having had a good poke around with it now, I think its fair to say the aesthetics of it could be radically improved with no effect on its sound and probably not a huge effect on the price.

Of course one person's "improved" might not tally with someone elses tastes, But from an aesthetic point of view I like decks where the materials and engineering are there to see rather than hidden behind black paint and faux marble The NAS Dais is a case in point - the finish of the platter sides looks fantastic and you can see what its made of (well not specifically, but you get the point).

I love its sound so I can forgive its shortcomings and there's no question its beautifully made and engineered, but put it this way - the thing costs a grand - that may be relatively cheap next to some high end decks, but it sure isn't cheap in absolute terms - why not make it look a million dollars - it might not sound different but the perceived value goes way up.

Some folk have a real hairshirt approach - so long as it sounds good, it doesn't matter if it looks like it was knocked together in someone's shed, I don't (I know the Spacedeck is far, far from that bad). If I'm spending a fair bit of wedge, I want it to sound fantastic and if possible look and feel fantastic too.

Same thing applies to features - I know there are compromises to be made, but if it didn't affect the sound my perfect Spacedeck would have button controlled speed change, a finger lift, calibrated VTF and bias adjustments and an on/off switch (even if you still have to spin the platter to get it going - I like that bit ).

Bottom line - I love the thing, but I also think Mr Fletcher could improve the aesthetics without compromising the sound or the budget. He could even charge an xtra couple of hundred for it and call it the Spacedeck Custom .

 

Well, it's good to know that I'm not the only one who feels this way when it comes to hifi. As the vast majority of music lovers & audiophiles have their hifi set-up in their living-rooms and many do live with spouses who treasure their living rooms, then aesthetics does play a crucial part IMO. No one (well that I know anyway) goes out and buys the most ugly and horrible piece of furniture for their living rooms in the belief that if it is ugly, it must last longer and be more comfortable to sit on or use than good-looking furniture so why should hifi be any different? Bear in mind that you have to look at that piece of hifi equipment (or furniture) every day.

On the other hand, if one had a dedicated listening room, then it would not matter one bit what the equipment looked like as long as it sounded good. However, I am one of those who believes that fine aesthetics and good sound (form & function) can co-exist side by side. There is just no room in my house for ugly looking kit - unless I get a dedicated listening room of course.



Enjoy the music,

Lawrie.

 

As I understand it Tom will build the deck pretty much to order – if you wanted a bright green one I'm sure he would oblige, I've certainly seen white ones which do look pretty cool. I had no choice as I bought second hand so ended up with a totally stock Spacedeck. You certainly get used to the quirky looks over time, the tacky 'Space Acoustics' sticker causes me no offence, and apparently the slightly blue paint effect was chosen as it shows up dust the least!

The baseboard is purely an option – Tom just provides it so you have something to stand the deck on if you want to. I'm still using it with mine, but it would be interesting to see what it looked / sounded like on a really nice thick bit of well finished wood, slate or marble. Tom's view is the deck just needs a massy and inert material to stand on, though I know of one of the Mana crowd who uses his Spacedeck straight on the Mana glass.

Tony.

 

Didn't know about the customised finishes - sounds cool. Wonder how much he charges for that service? I'd like mine with a machined metal finish on the platter sides, gloss black on the thing the bearing sits in and machined sides to the pods please ... and no sticker

Re the blue finish as not showing up dust. That made me laugh. I take it not many NAS owners are keen on housework

Having removed the baseboard and sat it on my homemade fairly massy inert base, I think this sounds right. No difference that I (or Auntie who has keener ears) could tell.

 

Im not 100% sure (although about 85%!), but I believe the 'chrome' platter shown on the dais is an earlier version of the platter.

The ceramic and black painted iron shown on the anna-log with a ceramic top plate (also on my own Mentor) is what you find on the Dais.

So, if Im right in this case we have an aesthetic which is prefered of an older and superceded platter.

Guess you cant win !

(personally I prefer the jet black of the newer platter, but theres nowt more fickle than taste)

 

as far as i know this chunky plinth was developed to address Far East customer desire to have a heavy deck.


2 my pals that tested it said that this plinth actually detiorates space deck's sound.

i have the space deck too and i think it's fantastic.
some-what dark and closed sound but it has many other great advantages.

in the bottom line i don't frrl like i need to spean all my time on its tuning - ut just plays so good.

 

Oh well - bit of a shame. Still one of these days I might see if I can go for an upgraded platter - my Spacedeck was secondhand and I think the latest models have a thicker, heavier platter. I'll ask Tom Fletcher if he can do one with the finish on the edge of Dais ... and make Auntie pay for it :MILD:

... No only joking, I suspect this would be an expensive and not very effective "upgrade" ... anyway, now its off the plinth and the plinth is safely hidden in the attic room, Auntie is warming to it looks wise and soundwise, Especially after I gave her the XTC treatment on it last night (English Settlement - excellent album, superbly recorded - go buy it now!!) - she was smiling from ear to ear.

Croc I think you are right (though not sure about making it worse, I'm guessing it'd depend on where it was sited minus the plinth) - from, what various folks have said here and over on vinyl asylum, some of them even quoting Tom Fletcher himself, the plinth is extraneous or replacable so long as you don't site the deck somewhere daft or do replace it with something reasonably massy and inert.

In order to please Auntie further I was considering alternatives and she was interested in a big thick slab of polished perspex sitting on some compliant rubbery blobs (like on the stock plinth) or try out some of the flat Michell tenderfeet and see what, if any, difference spikes make. From what I can gather, cast acrylic is if anything more inert than the MDF the stock plinth is made from and so shouldn't be problematic. I got a quote for a suitably sized piece of 20mm polished cast acrylic for £28 and am getting extra quotes for 25 and 30 mil - should be massy and inert enough I'd have thought.

 

sorry, i probably missed it from before, but what phono stage are you using?

 

I'm using a Densen DP-01 which is installed in the B-100 (though it can be had in a sperate box).

 

i also suggest you to make an acrilic cover for it.

mine costed me about 40$.