Nottington Ace Space question, motor placement.

At the point where there is enough tension so the belt doesn't slip. It will look tight, but don't overdo it.

I little more that the width of a finger is about right.

I learned that I was stretching the ring on my VPI. It does indeed take very little force . So whatever you do start with as little stretch as will drive the table to propper speed.

Anyone with a Nottingham turntable ever tried the Wave Mechanic (Speed Control). Can the Pro-ject speed control do the job for less than half the price of a Wave Mechanic. My Ace Space sounds spectacular, with warmth, detail and transparency. Would the "Wave" be overkill?

I purchased a wave mechanic from Devine audio in UK, positive upgrade. I also tried a Walker, also positive, went with the wave mechanic due to cost. The heavy kit was a bigger improvement. I ordered the Wave mechanic from Devine on a sunday evening and it was at my door on thursday. I also upgraded the base with a custom base from Silent Running audio, all good things.

Hello Zeal.

The Wave Mechanic (at least the model which I have) is a high quality power filtration device. NAS takes the position that filtration of line power makes an improvement in the sound, a position with which I concur. I would be hesitant to put a potentially noisy controller in front of the motor, so, absent a trial in your system, I would stay with power filtration.

Wave Mechanic as overkill? It depends on your POV. I used to run my NAS Mentor/ Mechanic through a prior isolation transformer. When I added a CVT (constant voltage transformer), it SEEMED to improve further. So I use all three: a 500VA medical isolation transformer from Plitron, a 30VA CVT from Sola, and a Wave Mechanic.

One other argument for the Wave Mechanic is that, as a power filtration device, it protects the motor, which is a high value item.

Good luck!

Terry,

Thanks for the response. Do you really need all that equipment to get the sound you like on your Nottingham? I've been using "Tice" power filtration for 17 years and it has served me well. It's also has serge protection. I have the Nottingham motor plugged into the the unit with the least filtration.Am I going in the wrong direction?

Hello Zeal.

I'm rather a perfectionist, and that colours my judgement. Most sane people would think that one power filter of the Wave Mechanic's quality was enough.

As to your Tice filter, I'm afraid that I don't know the brand. But I do know and recommend the Wave Mechanic, and, guided by what I hear, have gone even further. I doubt if the Wave Mechanic would be overkill.

Terry,

Thanks for the reply. The table sounds fantastic without the Wave Mechanic. The tonearms are super adjustable and not to difficult to set up. I watch people's jaws drop when I show them the player. I only could find one questionable review saying the Wave Mechanic deaden the sound. I don't believe what I read anyway. I just wondered where other Nottingham owners placed the motor.

Try placing the motor up front on the left corner on the plinth. This does have a slight improvement on the sound.

You have a good table. Just don't audition a Well Tempered Amadeus and you should be all set.

Shakey

Shakey,

I have the motor up front on the left because I have two tonearms. Well Tempered turntables are suppose to be good. Am I wrong?

"Well Tempered turntables are suppose to be good. Am I wrong?"

No, you are extremely right....

Shakey

I don't know, this Nottingham is fantastic. I like the golf ball tonearm on the Well Tempered , neat.

Yes I know the Nott is a good table, I had two of them. But in all honesty, the WTA made it sound like it was broken.

But I'm not hijacking this thread. Enjoy your Spacedeck, it is a great table.

Shakey

The Well Tempered looks like a Pro-Ject or a Rega. Perhaps you didn't have the Nottingham's set correctly.I never heard a Well Tempered but look foreword to the experience. I have 2 tonearms on my Ace, the Analogue and Ace arms. Sounds great.Had to tweek it and got it right.

I owned an earlier version of the Spacedeck initially with an OL arm. Then I moved to the Spacearm. Later I had the Ace-Space with it's arm. I am pretty sure both were set up correctly, and I am not throwing Nottingham under the bus. I loved the Spacedeck for many years and it's a fine sounding table. I just think the WTA is a level above.

Shakey

I think a turntable only sounds as good as your whole system and as good as your phono stage.So your turntable sound depends on all the rest.

Sure it does. So you can't listen in a vacuum. But if turntable A sounds better than turntable B in the exact same system, then I gotta go with A.

You are correct though. I couldn't compare my TT in my system to the way yours sounds in your system. THEN we are comparing systems and not tables.

Shakey

Shakey,

What kind of phono stage do you have?

Shakey,

When you say the WTA is better then the Nott in what way, Sound stage, warmth, detail?

I have a K&K phono stage. You can see the rest of my system listed.

The biggest improvement I noted was the superior dynamic range of the WTA. The difference between soft and loud and the increased "jump" factor.

I wouldn't say the tonal balance or soundstage is any different. But the music sounds more "live", like it just jumps off the record and into the room. This also gives an increased perception of detail.

Shakey

That phono stage looks cool. Did you build it yourself? Which model do you have?

I have an earlier version, not the maxxed out. Kevin Carter built it for me ~2001. I had one update performed since then.

Shakey

I have a rebuilt George Wright 200, it's very transparent.Are the K & K's giant killers?

Are the K & K's giant killers

Some would say so. I like mine. I haven't felt the need to look further.

Shakey

Shakey, did you have a Wave Mechanic?

No. I tried the VPI motor controller once, but that only affected the sound negatively. I sent it back to the dealer. I understand from other Nott owners that the Wave Mechanic is a nice improvement.

Shakey

Updated the Wave Mechanic and motor to the latest versions. Big improvement.

My old Wave Mechanic was just filtration and voltage adjustment, but the new version is much more complex, and sounds far better (smoother, stronger, cleaner).

Terry9 - "My old Wave Mechanic was just filtration and voltage adjustment, "

I have a copy of hand written notes and a schematic sent from the designer Martin Bastin. These were dated 3/17/00. The unit described was a power regenerator. That is, an oscillator feeding an amplifier connected to a transformer to set up the output of the amp to line voltage. It was not just filtration and there was frequency adjustment, no voltage adjustment.

These notes were sent to a friend of mine so he could repair a malfunctioning unit. They were sent to me years later for the same reason. Turned out we both suffered from the same problem, a blown output transistor.

Shakeydeal - Glad to hear that you like your K&K Maxed Out. You might want to check out Kevin's new TT motor controller. There may still be a beta unit available. I got rid of my Wave Mechanic in favor of Kevin's.

beta TT controller

John,

That looks very interesting. I am a big fan of Kevin's work. I am actually using something similar with my WTA, but probably not quite as effective. It is the DPS outboard power supply that they sell. It has speed adjustment too.

I will have to check out Kevin's motor controller, thanks for the heads up.

Shakey

Hello John.

My Wave Mechanic was 1997 vintage. Mr. Bastin is of the opinion that what I received was not a true Wave Mechanic; I expect that Tom F simply pulled an early prototype off the shelf and sent me the unit in good faith.

I am exploring a more exotic motor controller based on an HP signal generator (which is gathering dust) and some 6090 op-amps. If it works, I'll let you know.