A 60 year old turntable design is still going strong!


Way before my time but an interesting take on a classic table!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOlhiZ902hY
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Showing 6 responses by millercarbon

Right. That's why I said it isn't a weight, and put scare quotes around "weight". Technically it is a weight. It has mass. Or it would float away. But only a little. So not a weight. Not in the normal sense everyone means.  

Origin Live https://www.originlive.com/ has a number of interesting products besides turntables and tone arms. https://www.originlive.com/hi-fi-accessories/  

Technically the Gravity One is a damper. But to call it that is only about as accurate as to call it a record weight.   

As Mark Baker told me, the key to both the platter mat and the Gravity One is to achieve a balance between holding the record firmly and at the same time allowing vibrations to flow into the mat and weight. Even more  important and even harder to achieve is to have this happen uniformly across the frequency band.     
So the Gravity One is a complex design. It feels funny in your hand. It looks normal, but look underneath- https://www.originlive.com/hi-fi/turntable-upgrades-modification/turntable-record-weight-best/ That is NOT normal! Impossible to tell from the pictures but those pieces are not rigidly attached. The three rings are not rigidly coupled but move slightly. The hole in the center is quite a bit larger than a spindle. It is designed to help center but to be uncoupled from the spindle.   

Another interesting feature, the Gravity One touches the record only at a small triangular area near the center. This review has some of the best images. Scroll down to check out the side view showing how little area touches the record. https://www.originlive.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Paul-Rigby-Record-Weight-Review-2020.pdf 

I used the Gravity One on my Teres Miller Carbon table before setting up the Sovereign. I have tried a lot of other record clamps and weights. The comments in this review are right on. The Gravity one is on another plane.


itsjustme-
MC - you are saying just use a record weight correct?
First I said:

Let me share just one thing, one tiny little thing: the record weight. First, it isn’t a weight. Barely 2oz, if that. It doesn’t weight, or clamp. It isn’t even one solid piece. It moves around and feels like several pieces. It doesn’t contact the spindle. It touches the record at only a small triangular area near the center. Compared to my carbon fiber clamp that securely flattens the record to the platter it looks and feels like a joke. But the sound is so much better it is hard to believe! Attack is faster, decay and detail more resolving, tone and timbre a lot more lifelike, on and on.


And then I said:
I would not worry about holding records down. My Origin Live Gravity One record "weight" disabused me of all that in no time flat.

From all that to, "just use a record weight correct?"    

If you want to simplify, "Just use the Origin Live Gravity One." Which I clearly said, "isn’t a weight."
I would not worry about holding records down. My Origin Live Gravity One record "weight" disabused me of all that in no time flat. It was the general I-beam design that caught my eye, not the details of how it was implemented way back then. The Sovereign turntable I have now is light years more sophisticated in materials and construction, but it does share this one feature of design. Which I find fascinating. 


I am not that familiar with AR, certainly not this one, just studying the exploded diagram on the video. https://youtu.be/NOlhiZ902hY?t=25  

It is not shown on the diagram but he explains that it is "suspended from the top plate" which is another thing not shown. It looks like the big "T" piece is attached to the top plate at the 3 points shown. But there is no way to tell for sure. A better schematic would sure be nice.

Thanks. Not only my Teres either. It started with a Technics SL1700, then Basis 2005. The Basis used belt drive with the motor in a pod along side. This enabled a few different mods, first adding a better power cord to the Basis motor, then replacing the whole Basis motor with the original Teres motor pod. The original Teres motor used a belt.   

A lot of this has been covered in The Miller Carbon Story https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/the-miller-carbon-story and no point repeating it here. Even though it is relevant.   

The Origin Live Sovereign does follow this AR design, the bearing/arm plate anyway, but only in the most superficial or general sense. The Miller Carbon was and is a fine table. I was real happy with it, and still quite sure it will go up very well against a lot out there, at least in the under $5k or so area. But the Sovereign, it is kind of like the Herron VTPH2A, there is so much more going on, so much better than you would think from the price.   

Then there is the technology. Which even after reading and watching everything I could find, even after talking and emailing Mark Baker, still I get the darn thing and immediately a whole bunch of things are catching my eye. Things I immediately get the significance of, but only because of having done so much stuff myself over the years.   

Let me share just one thing, one tiny little thing: the record weight. First, it isn't a weight. Barely 2oz, if that. It doesn't weight, or clamp. It isn't even one solid piece. It moves around and feels like several pieces. It doesn't contact the spindle. It touches the record at only a small triangular area near the center. Compared to my carbon fiber clamp that securely flattens the record to the platter it looks and feels like a joke. But the sound is so much better it is hard to believe! Attack is faster, decay and detail more resolving, tone and timbre a lot more lifelike, on and on.    

The whole table is like this. So many clever little vibration control techniques no way I can cover them all. Even the most thorough reviews I have seen so far have missed a ton of stuff. The general design principle is very close to the AR, but even so has come a long way in 60 years. This thing is a monster!
This design that he talks about, mounting the bearing and arm on the same beam, is used on Origin Live turntables like my Sovereign MkIV. https://youtu.be/8ZkOzh9GFHk?t=5  

Follow the video as it goes around the turntable. The bearing and arm are mounted on a plate that is attached to the plinth. It looks like the bearing goes into the plinth but really it is just a hole, the bearing does not touch the plinth at all.   

The Sovereign has a lot more going on, but in this main design principle is exactly the same as the AR. I had no idea it went back that far. Thanks!