Turntable choices

But I think you guys would like Bob. A quick search shows that he even uses expensive cables! Though it seems he no longer uses ATCs.

http://www.soundstage.com/music/features/interview_bob_ludwig.htm

 

Well if bob is using expensive cables, then surely you need to as well because bob knows about these things

 

Oh I forgot!

Big & Black

Come to daddy

 

Merlin, that looks like a TT for pimps.

Bub, I'm using a Gyro I've upgraded to Orbe spec and like it very much. If you get one, you need to prepare for various daft comments about it sounding like a CD player, but it's safe to ignore those, Orbes sound great, are dead reliable, beautifully engineered, and look ace too.

-- Ian

 

No question Ian. And at that price it's likely those of us with more conventional professions are unlikely to be able to afford it anyway.

Still have to say, I don't feel I'm losing anything quality wise with the baby Vpi compared with that very expensive Orbe I had, and it doesn't wobble like a jelly mold when cueing up!! Maybe it just suits my tastes more.

If the baby Vpi is this good, maybe I fancy hearing what the pimp deck can do

 

I don't think I've ever heard a VPI. Must gatecrash your place sometime and give it a go.

-- Ian

 

Actualy guys, one thing we haven't done is a TT bake off, been nice to hear some set up ones playing that black pizza properly, how about it guys? then you can demostrate to us poor digital boys what were missing, might open a few ears I reckon Wm

 

If the album is well-produced in a decent studio, then the faults have been taken out (using things like ATCs or Dynaudios, for instance, to spot them) by the time we get to give the album a spin.

There is also a difference between hearing something with crystal-clear, er, clarity and hearing the same thing with colorations and distortion thrown in.

This is the entire point of this silly hobby - it's not about the music*^, we all got into the music before the silly gear came along - it's mainly about clarity (amongst some other things).


*despite people whining on and on about how deep their lovingness of music might be.

^registered trade mark, hifinerdsrus.com

 

Hi,

That big VPI that Michael has noted was used by Kevin Scott in the Living Voice room at the Bristol Show last year. A number of people enjoyed the music from that room.

Hi Devil,

As for which turntable to go for, it is down to personal choice. To be truthful, you have to live with a deck to get a feel for it's strengths & weaknesses. The easy option, would be to paint the deck black or get a black plinth. as suggested.

The Orbe is a very good deck & will last a long time. I do think there are better new decks but they cost more. But an Orbe fitted with a Morch arm would be very nice.

Other black turntables include the SME 10/ 20/ 30, a very well built deck.

http://www.sme.ltd.uk/html/model30.html

The Simon Yorke S7 which is very rare.

http://www.recordplayer.com/series7.htm

The Roksan TMS which will put in a very good performance.

http://www.roksan.co.uk/

The Verdier turntables look real old school but I have heard them performing well.

http://www.gtaudio.com/analogue.html#verdier

The Well Tempered turntable has a lot of ex LP12 fans & maybe this is the one.

http://www.welltemperedlab.com/

The Kuzma Stabi reference with the new Airline arm may take your fancy.

http://www.audiofreaks.co.uk/news.html

This should keep you going. The Nottingham decks are good, they are not in black anymore but dark colour. The Avid has some black but mainly silver or gold.

How about a 2nd hand Voyd reference or ref 0.5 in black or an older 2nd Nottinghan Mentor in black.

The big downside is trying to get to hear all these decks. Time comsuming.

Here is a site with most of these decks & more. Turntable porn. A site for sore eyes.

But the deck you really need is this one.

P.S. What is the Ninja LP12? There must be someone who has looked at one in detail. I have heard one at a hifi show in london some years ago.

SCIDB

 

Hi there, thanks. Ninja is a modded LP12.

 

Sorry to hark on..
But there is nothing blacker than the old NAS Mentor... (hello SCIDeanB!) - a massy lump of lots of metal and some wood and very very, very very sturdy.

FYI (imao) Acrylic tends not to be black! It is also just a fancy name for yet another plastic and is not particularly solid. Would you buy a plastic midi system? Why buy a plastic record deck?
Opinionated? Moi!
The Mentor just needs to be placed on your 'best' level surface and fed with as much vinyl as you can afford, after suffering the tweaky bounciness of a Thorens and then a Kondek this property is not to be undervalued.

PS - I have never seen a NAS advertisment and am almost ashamed that I am writing one (albeit for a deck that is no longer on sale!).

PPS - I was almost tempted by all those 'accurate' reviews of the stiffly bouncy Orbe until I found and heard my used, armed NAS at less than 2/3 of the price of a naked Orbe. Which of the PSUs and arms do the Orbe fans like?

PPPS - Excepting cartridge(!) can anyone recommend upgrades for my Mentor... Wave Mechanic PSU or a different Motor... the generic 'whizzer' mentioned somewhere above also intrigues.

 

You may well have a point there!

 

Hi Dean,

did you get a listen to it? I would be interested in your thoughts.

 

This myth that ATCs mostly expose the inadequacies in a recording and only shine with good recordings really ought to be laid to rest. My record collection is probably made up of more ropey lo-fi than most peoples' here, and I have no problem listening to any of it through ATCs. Unlike some people, I never choose to play something because it sounds good through my system, I'll always play something I actually want to hear, whether the recording is good, bad, or utterly appalling, stereo, mono, binaural, whatever. ATCs let me do that, I've heard plenty of speakers that only sound decent with audiophool dreck, but not ATCs.

-- Ian

 

Ian,

What I was suggecting was that just because an engineer uses a particular loudspeaker for mastering work does not mean that everyone will neccessarily enjoy listening to music on them. It was not a snipe at ATC, speakers are a very personal thing.

FWIW, Hugh Padgham hates the idea of using studio monitors at home to listen to music. So my point was simply that professional recommendations mean nothing, and I could not see the point of the original post.

Cheers

 

Hi Devil,

Do you know what the mods are? Have you look inside it? Does it have a different power supply? There have been a number of LP12 mods over the years producing different levels of performance, I'm just interested.

Hi Micheal,

I had a listen to it. It was running through a SJS Electroacoustic phono stage, Border Patrol pre & Power amps & Living Voice Avatars OBXs. The music had a seemless quality to it. Good top to bottom consistency, so no part of the frequency spectrum seem to over power another. The music had excellent definition & detail and was enjoyable to listen to. It did grab my attention. The turntable is not cheap but if I had the money, it would be one I'd look at.

Hi Lord,

Good to see you over here. You don't get many turntables blacker than Nottingham Mentor. Different materials have different properties. They all have strengths & weaknesses. Acrylic has properties similar to vinyl. So some of the vibrations may transmit from the record into the acrylic platter & into the bearing. It can also vibrate the same as the record & this vibration could be picked up by the stylus.

A heavy platter like the mentor will have a good flywheel effect & will be less effected by the drag caused by the changes in the groove. The high mass will have a lower resonant frequency but the material & shape will still determine it's how (& what freq) it resonates. The stylus again could pick up these vibrations.

Too be truthful, there are a number of very interesting designs which will work, some better than others, but some will be more to peoples choice than overs. I have heard some very good designs with acrylic platters.

The good thing about the Nottingham decks is that they don't need a lot of tweeking to get them going. But it is the same for a number of non solid decks. The Voyd stays in tune once set up as does the Avid Acutus. The Voyd, for example, get high torque from using 3 motors while the Avid uses a heavy platter & a high torque motor.

Nottingham analogue are a credit to the Hifi industry as Tom Flecther is nice chap to deal with and talk to.

SCIDB

 

Hi SCIDB,

It has an Avondale-modified Naim Armageddon PS.

The top-plate has been removed & replaced with a thicker, stronger one, without any 'cut-out' for the power switch. There are additional bolts which brace it to the plinth.

The motor has been changed and its position is re-located to 7 o'clock.

The construction of the plinth has been altered.

The suspension has been modified.

Damping has been applied in some areas.

Naim Aro tonearm.

ESCo retipped Linn Troika.

 

So James,

Is it just the Name that remains?

How do you get on with the Aro when you've had a few sherberts?

 

BTW James, I bet JW's thrilled that the Ninja will fit so well into Kathie's Marantz CD 63, Pioneer A400 and Wharfedale Diamonds system.

 

Hi Merlin,

Armboard still says 'Linn Sondek LP12', which makes me smile. Original platter, belt & bearing, too!

Hi Alex,

I think it would fit in to many a system. That Pioneer amp is an absolute cracker, btw. Your nail's still going strong.