New TW 3 Motor Pod

My 3 motor pod upgrade should arrive in a week or so. I am very interested to hear the difference for myself. Jeff at HWS assures me that the improvement is significant and that seems to be confirmed by everyone who has made the upgrade. The Raven AC will be my last table so it makes sense to take it all the way :)

Hi Pcosta,

Yes, the BN platter would take it ALL the way! One step at a time :) I'm also in the process of adding a vintage Ortofon 309 RMG and 2 SPUs to the rotation - the new Silver Meister MKII and a 1990s SPU Meister (copper). Just waiting on the phono cable and the custom armboard for it. Totally different presentation and qualities vs. my 10.5/Windfeld combo.

I recently installed the new 3 motor pod and thought I would add to what other owners have said.

Going from the single motor to the 3 motor pod has been a very significant upgrade in my system, far more than a mere tweak. I admit that I do not understand exactly why 3 motors is better. More torque possibly, better belt tension? Why would this matter once the platter is up to speed???

What I can say is the improvement was immediately obvious on the first track of the first record I queued up. On large scale classical (the most challenging material for my system), I was struck by the higher level of articulation and realism of strings. The orchestra as a whole had an increased sense of scale and weight. Bass quality and definition were both notably better. The separation between instruments was another major improvement. Certain busy passages that were a bit congealed before were now more intelligible. Going through my favorites from classical, jazz and rock I am still amazed at what such a deceptively simple upgrade has done for the music in audiophile terms.

Leaving all the hyperbole aside, the biggest change is in the drive and swings of the music. The 3 motor pod adds a big dose of drama to the sound. With the single motor setup I often found myself increasing the volume in an attempt to add a bit more fire to the music but louder was simply louder.

If you currently have an AC1 I believe the 3 motor pod is a must have. I know that is a bit presumptuous but let's be honest - you already went far beyond "budget". In my system, the sonic improvement was greater than I heard from upgrading my cartridge to the Ortofon Windfeld from the Cadenza Black and the 3 motor pod adds things that I believe a cartridge alone will not do. This is a fantastic upgrade.

Really enjoying my recent 3 motor pod upgrade but I suppose I will have to spring for the BN platter eventually :) The 3 motor pod was a very big improvement for the $$$ so if the platter even gives another 2/3 of that it is certainly worth it.