SP10 Mk II vs Mk III

Nice thread - I am the proud owner of the SP 10 that John "sold locally" that has the working strobe! The table came with this very heavy metal Mcurdy plinth and I have the table screwed into the top of that plinth, dispensed with the very large Mcurdy frame and set the top plate and table into heavyish plinth of rosewoods and maple, with an arm board arrangement that is mechanically isolated from the table. I can swap arm boards in a flash. I will endeavor to put up some pics this weekend.

I have experimented with various mats and use either an SAEC SS-300 metal maat or a very rare Audiolife gun metal mat that weighs 10 kilos and was originally designed for the Micro-Seiki RX 5000. This mat gives high rotational stability I imagine, BUT - I am concerned that the significant weight might strain the motor, although on start up the high torque of the SP 10 shows no sign of stress and it hits full rotational speed as fast as without the mat. I also found that the table performs best with total isolation from the room and to this end the heavy plinth can sit on a sprung subchassis arrangement, similar to the AVID or Oracle tables. I am convinced the sprung system is superior to the heavy plinth on cones.

I can compare my SP-10 with a Micro-Seiki RX 5000 and a recently acquired Oracle Delphi MkV anniversary model with turbo. They are all discernibly different different, no winners, but if pushed I would say the Oracle is the most all around best - but it is frustrating that you can only use light 9" arms on it - I use a Dynavector 507 Mk2 that I used on all three tables for comparison with either a Sony XL-55 Pro, Technics 205 Mk3 MM, or ZYX UNIverse SB copper coils.

Based on the comments here I need to call John and get my SP10 power supply caps updated as well -joint Ottawa project John?

More to follow - have to hit the (ski) slopes now

Lewm, my plinth would qualify as a CLD heavy plinth (50lbs) a la Johnnantais so I am not sure there would be much benefit from anything much heavier, but a slate job would definitely look nice - it is something I might think about.

I believe if the Oracle is set up properly, which is not that difficult, it can be incredibly open, dynamic, with a big soundstage, and truthful in pitch. Some say it is a bit ligh or dry in the lowest bass registers - which is analagous to the same characteristics I found in my old Quad 63's. I put that down to accuracy or quality over quantity. Anyway, I cheat, because if I want more low end I just turn up the volume on the crossovers on my transmission line loaded woofers!

I also find the SP-10 is also very accurate in the low end, no bloat or overemphasis here.

One of the great virtues of the SP-10 in a heavy plinth is that it seems to be agnostic to different tonearms and makes every kind of arm perform as it should. I did not find any particular synergies or mismatching with various arms I have tried. My old Triplanar worked nicely as did a Fidelity Research FR64x. Based on the arms I put thru their paces I would settle on the Dynavector 507 Mk2 as being a really good match.

I should also add some fuel to the fire here ... I forgot to mention that my SP-10 was outperformed by my Victor TT-101 in a very heavy japan designed lead plinth. Unfortunately when I went on a business trip I left the TT-101 on for a week and when I got back it failed to go around anymore!

I don't know if it was the the table or the lead plinth that made the difference, but the 101 was just sublime. I might just try the SP-10 in the lead plinth next week - but that is a major decision to cut out the lead to fit the Technics.

Anyone have any ideas what might have burnt out on the circuit board?

Raul, if you cruise around the vintageknob website you can see some great DD tables from Japan in the 70's and 80's. All of which attract horrendous prices these days if you can ever find a good one. As an indicato,r one of supposed greats is the Sony PS X9 - and recently I acquired a PS X-70 as a cheap and cheerful table for my upstairs second system and while I am sure it is not in the same league as the big Sony, you get a flavor for how good these decks and arms can be.

Here is a quote off the vintageknob website (a good place to cruise around and experience the feelings of audiolust):

"Myth has it that there were only fifty PS-X9 ever made but that is myth and myth only - even if not as succesfull as Denon's DP-100M or Pioneer's Exclusive P3a, many X9s found their way into radio stations and in a few audiophiles' rigs. I know of someone who has critically listened to all of the usual suspect (L-07D, DP-100M, Tt 1000, PD-555, SP-10mkIII, EMTs et al) and finally sttled for his own deck on... a PS-X9."

Interesting ....... As you say Raul, there is no "best" - like art or ballet we should appreciate each for its merits and our own perceptions of its beauty and performance. And like the ballet, audio systems and performance are a synthesis of individual components and the synergies between them. That is why it is so hard to get into rating the performance of an arm, or table or cartridge, because there are usually a lot of variances in the total system. That's why I am suspicious of equipment reviews as a finite mark on a product. I know that in my system, the final sound from a cartridge might be subtly changed by the capacitance of a phono cable.

But you know all that already Raul, so apologies for the Sunday morning philosophy rant!

Steve

Lewm, the plinth is made of a combination of solid birds-eye maple and brazilian rosewoods. I did not weigh it, but based on my gym workouts, ha-ha, I figure around the 40lb mark +/- 5. My japanese lead plinth for my TT-101 is about the same at 20Kg.

I have tried it with various cones, no cones, sorbathane and the sprung version just seems to have better clarity and defintion to my poor ears. In that sense the SP-10 plinth then is a combination of mass loaded and sprung isolated. Interestingly the japanese heavy leaded plinth was designed as far as I can tell from surfing Asian websites for either Sony, Denon or Victor direct drives and I have sen a Garrard 301 also on one. I used to live in Asia and still travel there now on business and if I have time look / shop for audio goodies.

My floor is carpet on ply on sub floor nailed to concrete in a purpose built H/T & Audio room in the basement. I don't particularly suffer from floor resonance but would also prefer to have the turntables isolated on shelving attached to the wall if I could - another project waiting to happen!

Steve