DPS/Ayre Turntable does anyone know anything

I have owned this turntable with a RB300 arm modded by Mr. Bauer for several months now and I am thrilled with it. I am using it with an EMT JSD5 cartridge and Aud23 SUT into a Shindo Masseto. This is vinyl heaven! I recently heard the table set up with Mr. Bauer's newly released arm and the result was an even better musical experience! For those that buy the DPS/Ayre with the standard RB300 arm as I did, should they choose to upgrade to Mr. Bauer's arm, which is exactly what I will be doing ASAP, you get a full refund for the $700 that you paid on the modded RB300 arm when you trade it in against the purchase of Mr. Bauer's arm, which currently retails for $3500. That works for me!

Just an incredible turntable and tonearm. I purchased mine from Don Better of Don Better Audio in NE Ohio, who is a fantastic person to deal with.

I've heard the DPS/Ayre turntable twice, both during mfr's open house demos hosted by my local high end dealer, one Feb 2009 and the other last month. The first demo had the modified RB250 arm; the second a DPS arm. The turntable sounded great both times and I think a little better the second time with the DPS arm.

Thing is, this 'table is targeted for about $10K and it reminds me strongly of a $30K SME. It's a *really* good-sounding turntable, neutral in all the right ways. Great delicacy and nuance, but outstanding pace, bass extension, and slam as well. Both rigs had a Lyra (Helikon?) cartridge, which was a good match.

Nice review of the Ayre/DPS by Art Dudley in the latest Stereophile...

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Yes, but we will have to work out the details. One issue is that the drive level of each phase is adjustable. By carefully trimming the drive levels to each phase, the motor vibration is significantly reduced.

So maybe we will be able to figure out a way for the end user to do this. Another possibility is that you would send your motor to the factory so that the power supply could be properly adjusted to optimize it.

Give us a while to figure this out -- we're still just getting started with the whole project.

Charles, thanks for the helpful update. And again congratulations on picking one of the best tables around for your lineup. Everyone I have had over to listen to the DPS was always highly impressed.

I am looking forward to hearing your 3 phase power supply. Any chance it will be offered as an upgrade option separately?

With best wishes,

Rene

As MMike84 noted, we are preparing the first batch of turntables for production. We have finalized all the details of the new power supply design and they should be ready to ship to the dealers by early August.

The main impetus for designing a different power supply was simply to reduce the cost. We felt that the existing 3-phase unit was too expensive to sell well in the US, especially given the weak dollar. We have sent a prototype for Willi to compare against the original 3-phase supply, but he has been too busy with a show in the UK to have a chance to listen to it yet. (However, it is clearly better sounding than the 2-phase unit that we have in-house.)

Even though the official DPS website is in German, they have the Hi-Fi+ review (in English) of the DPS that includes both the 2-phase and 3-phase power supplies.

We will stock the turntable with the DPS/Rega arm. It will also be available pre-drilled for other arms, but these will be special orders with a wait involved. Final pricing is yet to be determined.

Mike,

I guess I really can't tell the difference between the German and English anymore. I can read both fluently ;)

Anyway, that is the official website. Soundscape in Singapore has some pretty good info up as well:

Soundscape DPS info

US$9000 is pretty good if this includes Ayre's 3-phase powersupply. The DPS 2 sold before for around $7000 with 2 phase powersupply and modded Rega arm and for around US$11500 with 3-phase powersupply.

The only change seems to be Ayre's powersupply, the rest of the table used to be available in this form already. The Rega arm is pretty good modification, although I do prefer a Schroeder arm on the DPS, which will up the price by another few $k.

Hope this helps.

BTW Restock did you know that website is in another language?

Here's the answer to my own thread. That's a new one. Straight from the horses mouth.

So I was up at Ayre today for an upgrade to my preamp (I live in Denver and Ayre is about 30 minutes away in Boulder). They are awaiting a shipment of tables from Willi and then they'll be modified and eventually offered through Ayre retailers. They'll cost just under $9000 w/ arm. I think he said the arm is a highly modified RB-250. Sounds like it might be later this summer before they are available.

The website for DPS is here:

DPS website

Very nice table and excellent design. Last time I talked to Willi (the designer of the table) the judgement was still out whether the Ayre's solution is actually better than the current, very excellent (but expensive) power supplies.

Already the current version of the DPS plays in the top class of tables, and I have no doubt that it favorably compares to a Verdier, Galibier, Brinkman or other top tables, I heard so far.

Thanks for the comments. I have heard the same thing but I am wondering if these tables are available at this point? Yes I agree the prospect of an Ayre tweaked turntable is exciting!

What I have head is that DPS has a very complex power supply. When Ayre saw what DPS was doing, Ayre said...Hey = why don't you do it like this. So the result is that Ayre will make the power supply which is much cheaper enabling DPS to price its product more competitively.

I have heard about this also but am not aware of any further information. Exciting prospect though.