I have the Technodec and have upgraded it a bit over the last few months as the budget and my interest in vinyl has grown. Here are my observations
It plays music. What I mean is, that it is true to the album. No mid-bass bloat or etched highs. The table speed runs true at both 45 and 33 1/3 although table speed stability, while better than the regas and VPIs in the same price, still could be better. Friends own the Scout, P25, and P9 so we ran the KAB strobe disc on them. All had more variation than did the Michell. Maybe its the DC motor. Who knows? I was told by a Michell dealer that, the upgraded power supply would take care of what small stability problem there was. The power supply is next on the upgrade list. All and all the speed stability is good for the price and can only be bettered by decks costing much more. The SME20, Walker, and VPI Hotrod, all owned by friends as well and were spot on in stability and speed. I would hope so for the cost. They are nice!
I have experienced that the Technodec will bear fruit from a steady stream of upgrades. First was an Origin Live Encounter. Big improvement in low-level detail and dynamics as compared to an incognito wired Rb250 with Michell techno wt. There was just more there in every aspect. I know what youre saying right now
A $1450 tone arm on a $1000 deck! It made that much of a difference. Im sure that the OL silver would yield good results as well for less coin. Second
I added, or placed, the table on an HRS platform. Since the table has no suspension of its own I arranged a demo from my local dealer here in Boulder. Mike and Neli of Audio federation are wonderful folks and lent me a platform for an extended trial. Again, the bass, which I thought was respectable for such an inexpensive table, was much better and the midrange went from good to excellent. The depth of the soundstage and the soundstage stability were also better. You could better see the musicians. The cartridge Im currently running is a Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood. Ok, but not great.
To conclude
It is good in its stock form competing with others in that price point. Change a few things and you are rewarded with better sound (as you should be!). I believe my total cost for the table, arm and platform as it stands right now at retail is $3750. Can you get better for the price? I dont know. I am pleased with the results and think that you will have to spend a lot more to get little more in terms of performance. I believe that with the upgraded power supply and a new cartridge (Lyra Helicon) I wont feel deprived with my analog set-up, even when listening to a friends SME 20/SME 4.5/Helicon combo the little technodec holds its own, even being a bit more relaxed and natural in its presentation. Its that good. The Walker with a Lyra Titian (Mike and Neli have one on display and love playing albums) is still much better but your looking at a cartridge that costs as much as the Michell with all the upgrades. Anyway
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
