NAS Wave Mechanic

Anyone on this fine forum upgraded their NAS TT with this box of tricks? Having enjoyed listening to my new Spacedeck over the past 5 days I'm left wondering what a finer PSU could do - certainly in the terms of pitch stability/solidity the NAS is hardly wanting (it's the first turntable I've ever used which doesn't allow any variation in pitch on piano music for example). It's a fair wedge of money to buy - but then again it's hardly the 2nd mortgage a Lingo 2 requires.

Thanks to anyone who can pass experienced comment

 

The 5 Day Itch...

Is this gonna be another one of them Jitter threads?

Did you inquire about one at Walrus? Why don't you do a demo shootout between the WM and the Heed Orbit (which offers the added facility of 33/45 speed switching). Would love to know how they compare.

Best, Dex

 

Jitter? I only Jitter when I've had too much vin rouge.

Les mentioned the Mechanic as one of the NAS upgrades, along with the Spacearm which'll be on the cards for a (much) later date. I'll be having a good decko at the Heed on friday - oh...nice review on the Heed btw. Enjoyed reading it

 

WOW. did'nt take too long for the upgrade bug to hit.

are you finding it lacking or are you just interested in the possible improvements?

personally i would give it a year as is then look at the broader spectrum of upgrade options: arms , carts, phono stages etc. and of course psu's.

i may seem a bit pushy but i really think you should just go and buy some records and enjoy your purchase for a while.

my gorb arrived yesterday - i have not had time to set it up - and i'm already looking at new carts - somebody slap me around the head please

 

I've thought about it - but mainly for the convenience of push button speed change (Auntie's gripe not mine - quote:"Ooooh, WHY can't it just have a button??!!). However £500 is a bit rich just for that convenience.

Asking over on the asylum I ascertained that both the Heed Orbit 2 (330 Euros, dunno in real English Pounds ) and the Project Phono box (£299) will do pretty much the same job - in the case of the Project with a neat LED display and adjustable speed settings as well.

 

Dreemer - sure, I totally agree with what you're saying (and you're not being pushy...just realistic). This was more a question of how would the WM improve the NAS - I'm certainly not in the market for such at the moment. The Spacedeck's got such amazing pitch coherence and stability (I've got perfect pitch which tends to be annoyingly sensitive to this sort of stuff) that I'd be surprised if the WM made a huge amount of difference, certainly for the money.

 

Hi Gomer. I have an early wave mechanic, but don't have the ability to play records without it.

I can't therefore give you a before and after scenario.

I can say that even with the WM micro adjustments of speed are occasionally necessary with the supplied controls.

If you can get one cheaply I'd say go for it - it can't do any harm.

A dealer would probably be the best bet for a before/after dem..

 

Nottingham Analogue Studios.

I tried the ProJect SpeedBox SE with my NAS Mentor and it made no difference at all. Pitch stability remained spot-on at 33rpm and 45rpm, and I did not need to use the ProJect's +/- 0.1rpm settings on either speed.

But I did hear from a fellow NAS convert who had this to say about the WM:
"I've just taken delivery of a Martin Bastin Wave Mechanic PSU for my NA Spacedeck. It brings about a rather wonderful transformation to the music, rendering all aspects most believable, yet emphasising nothing."
And also:
"The WM is £500, which is reasonable, I think. It's apparently the only third party product approved by NA themselves."
Suffice to say, I've been trying to borrow it for a while!

 

Interesting. If ever you manage to borrow the Wave Mechanic, let us know.

I suppose one of the factors which might affect how much of a difference any of these devices makes is the state of your electricity supply in the first place.

 

I'm surprised. In theory the WM generates a perfect 50Hz sine wave. Are you using a strobe disc and a mains light to test the speed? If so, it could be that what you are doing is slowing down or speeding up your deck along with the mains drifting above and below 50Hz.

 

Ants - you could well be exactly right there.

It goes to show how variable the mains is - almost everytime I try it its marginally faster or slower according to the lightbulb.

Everyone should therefore get a WM immediately

I suppose I should get a stroboscopic light thing. They're expensive though aren't they? I dont really want the expense right now.

Is there another way of doing it?

 

build your own. And you can probably print a strobe disc off on your pc if you can find a picture of one.

 

HI Anex

I already have the stroboscopic disc.

Building one escapes me unfortunately, Im not so good at that kind of thing.

 

Dos the WM have a setting for dead on 50Hz?

If you take NAS and Martin Bastin's word for it that the WM is generating a perfect 50Hz - then the other way of doing it is to set the WM to its claimed correct speed and leave it there ie forget about it - trust the WM and not your strobe disc and mains light. Any variation in apparent speed using the mains light and strobe disc will be down to variations in the mains freq.

But that said, I think if you want to test speed properly, then yes you need a strobe light. Haven't a clue what they cost though.

Its interesting because of course if you have no WM (or equivalent), then using a mains light and strobe, assuming your deck is corectly calibrated, will always "show" the correct speed, even if its actually varies due to mains freq variations. Motor and light both use mains freq so the strobe always shows the correct speed but actually drifts with the mains. Question is, does anyone actually hear these small variations?

I'm guessing that most people don't because variation happens over hours and that the real benefit, if there is any to be had from these things, is reducing motor vibrations as a result of a nice clean sine wave. Of course with a reasonably well isolated motor setup like on the Spacedeck, this may not be all that noticable either.

 

Not sure if this may be of use to you:

http://pinkfishmedia.net/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7141&highlight=strobe

Have fun,

Chris.

 

Using a mains strobe is somewhat defeating the object.

 

if anyone's interested, cheapest I can find is a Loricraft one for 49.99.

DIY is out for me, thanks for the link though