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Turntable for life
I know the question has been asked before but it’s worth asking again. Many change equipment frequently, but have you found your turntable for life? One that you’ve had for years and still pleases you so much you are going to keep it forever? Price is irrelevant--it can be 300 Dollars or 30.000 Dollars
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All about the music for me, now. I might go for a higher end cartridge at some point, but I'd have to do speakers to make that worthwhile. More cubic dollars than I'm comfortable with at the moment. So, searching for new and used vinyl is back to the magic quest I'd enjoyed as a kid in SoCal. Full circle, I guess;-) |
My dream table for life is a Galibier Gavia it’s been my life blood to a rich world of music conveyed effortlessly incredible table to me it is all about the music love music tolerate equipment but great equipment can take you there i had a good table before i took the step i was definitely missing something I have had my Gavia table since 2008 and it was immediate - the totally captivating sound the speed is rock solid no resonance from the platter full bodied heft and resolution (the mylar belt doesn’s behave elastically and slow down and speed up. Subtle thing until you hear it, but it will be readily apparent when a table truly handles this correctly Thom Mackris is hands down one of the greats in customer relations and very personable beyond that. He not only is passionate about music and gear but also pushes it to the limit in Colrado mountain sports. Thom has a new Eiger "rim drive" table in development RMAF reviewers spent a night and drove up to his home north of Denver. Each person there was very overwhelmed by the table. Thom drills each armboard personally with your tone arm and sells or has affiliations with a wide range of the best arms. He has an encyclopedic hands on knowledge and that is conveyed to someone looking for ideal synergy. Not just the analog source. He has been incredibly helpful with refining my system. Thom is always trying out refinements. He had a new arm mount several years ago that tightened up the sound / synergy with the arm and he also developed new refined offset motor pod with corresponding power supply that takes that even farther as well. I was very pleased with these and they weren’t break the bank expense wise. this is great value as you are not having to replace a whole table I have used a triplanar vii arm on my Gavia with a ZYX universe and it was wonderful. then went to Durand Talea and all the magic of the table came through even more the highest of recommendations thank you Thom galibierdesign.com |
If you can muster $30K maybe another $10G's wouldn't be that big of a stretch. http://audio-union.com/Helix.php A knowledgable friend returned from the Rocky Mountain Fest extremely impressed by the Helix 1 but wondered how his Kazuma 4 Point might sound with it. Cartridge and turntable development has progressed a great deal in the recent past and well worth looking into. |
Dchang1981--I owned one of the original Well Tempered turntables for about 3 or 4 years before I got my Basis. Excellent turntable and an ingenious design. A good deal lighter in the bass than the Basis, so the tonal balance was on the lighter side, and despite the mass and constrained layer damping it really had to be kept on a well isolated platform, as I occasionally could get some footfalls coming through if a lot of people were dancing.. The new top of the line ones are reputed to be excellent--check the archives, there are a lot of happy owners. With the original table you could really only use the Well Tempered arm, which might be a drawback if you like to mix and match arms--not sure about the new models, but they are designed around their own arms. |
If I could ever land one of these I would never look at another TT again.....http://clearaudio.de/en/products/turntables-statement.php |
dchang1981, I owned an original (square motor) WTTT many years ago. I was a good basic table but I added a few modifications. The original platter was replaced with their later (black) version, and I added damping to the arm stand and silicone cup. But I had two issues. One, after setting the VTF I could move the arm to its rest, then measure again and find a different reading. So I was never sure what tracking force I had. Second, motor torque was not as good as some other tables. That was particularly noticeable on piano recordings. I replaced the WT with a Kuzma Stabi/Stogi Reference which provided greater satisfaction. |
@dgarretson I did try a variety of alternative mats for the Luxman PD44X turntables over the years, but always constrained by the need to stay very close to the weight of the original mat, for the magnetic repulsion load reduced spindle to function properly. If you use a too-light mat, like cork or foam, the bearing will not be properly loaded. If you use something heavier, like machined copper, it will be excessively loaded. I always returned to the stock mat, and eventually added a very thin leather mat on top of it, and use the lightweight Michell Delrin clamp. Phil |