first (moderately expensive) turntable advice needed :-)

[tyranniux42]

Hello all,

first time posting in the vinyl section (i think) but after a permenant(ish) loan of a 30 year old Thorens TD160B mk2 from a mates dad i think i want a new deck!

bearing in mind the cartridge and even the stylus is 30 years old the Thorens still sounds great, so I am wondering how good a decent deck (upto £2000 ish) would sound like.

I already have a CA 640p pre amp but am guessing this will need upgrade at some point, but hopefully will do for a little while.

my current fav (havent listened to any as yet so purely based upon review and pictures) is the Michelle Gyrodec with the Technoarm. - cartridge advice would be great!

problem is I have no way of listening to one with my kit as my usual dealer only stocks Rega and Linn, neither of which inspire me visually, although if I dont listen to the LP12 before I buy I will no doubt regret it, so I will, I promise!

Any other suggestions as to specification of the Gyrodec to go for, or any other decks to consider bearing in mind my partnering kit in my sig?

music taste ranges from classical to house, with the usual suspects as Pink Floyd getting regular air time, so pretty varied to be fair.

Advice greatly appreciated

regards

Dan

 

[shropshire lad]

I have recently bought an Origin Live Calypso and have had a second hand Tecnoarm fitted and that does me fine , and in my opinion , is one of the better looking turntables at this price . WHF recently reviewed it and only gave it 4 stars , but their reasoning for marking it down seemed dubious to me as I didn't recognise the faults that they put forward as being negative ones . They didn't seem to criticise the way it performed just the apparent issues with the quality of finish .

I couldn't tell you how it performs with the rest of your kit but I wouldn't have thought there would be a problem ,

Nick

 

[Frank Harvey]

my current fav (havent listened to any as yet so purely based upon review and pictures) is the Michelle Gyrodec with the Technoarm. - cartridge advice would be great!

I've always wanted to own a Gyrodec, and managed that finally last year when I bought one of the limited Gyro SEductions, which is a beautiful deck. I haven't yet decided on a cartridge, but I'll definitely be going for a moviing coil as I find moving magnet cartridges a little too soft for my tastes. It'll more than likely be an Ortofon.

They look beautiful as well as sounding great. At some point in the future I'll add an SME V to it, and that'll be me done for the rest of my natural! 🙂

 

[stevieg330]

Hi Dan,

I have a Gyrodec with the HR PSU and RB300 (modded by Origin Live, rewire, counterweight etc). I've never heard the deck with the standard PSU so can't tell you how much difference the HR supply makes and I use a Trichord Dino Phono Stage.

Cartridge wise I have used the following:-

Ortofon 540, Kontrapunkt B, Kontrapunkt C and currently a Cadenza Black. I also have a 2M blue which I bought as a spare due to some problems with the 'B' a while back.

I think for the money, the 2M blue is a great cartridge, but as you would expect it can't hold a candle to the MC's. I thought the Kontrapunkt C was a large step up from the 'B' but the Cadenza black is at another level again. Admittedly it is a very expensive cart but with a good recording it can sound absolutely wonderful.

IMHO the Gyrodec is a great deck. Instruments sound very realistic and you can get a real sense of being in the same room as the musicians, again with the right lp. I have to say I don't think it's a warm sounding player, at least not with the cartridges I have used.

Also the guys at Michell Engineering are a pleasure to deal with so you can be sure that there is great backup for the product if you need it.

I have to admit I have heard only a few record decks so have nothing really to compare the Gyrodec with but I don't think you will go far wrong if you get one.

If you need any further info then let me know.

Hope this helps

Steve

 

[Lost Angeles]

I’m envious,OP has a Cadenza Black, would certainly go well with my arm.

Back to the question. Lids. Regas and Linns come with decent lids, the small lids with Michells and Roksans etc are rubbish and the large lid I have looks like it was designed to go over a cake is cumbersome and ugly which does not bother me but will not suit everyone. Having said that the Gyrodec does sound good.
My point is how much room you have may dictate what you can buy and you may need a decent wall shelf to mount it on.

 

[altruistic.lemon]

You don't want a new deck! Your Thorens is as good as the other decks mentioned, if not better. An arm upgrade might be the only thing to look at, if it has the orginal arm, otherwise count yourself lucky, you have a classic :cheers:

P.S. You need a new phono stage. The Lehman black cube or one of the Clearaudio phono stages should fill the bill.

 

[Anonymous]

Phono stage wise you'd be hard pressed to better the Lehmann at anything near the price, I've listened to a few and have yet to hear something with similar speed or dynamics but a word of warning, warm sounding it is not. I like it that way because vinyl can be warm sounding enough in its own right, why colour the sound even more by adding more warmth? The Lehmann can make even the humble AT95 sound very good. Cartridge wise I have a Lyra Delos which is truly amazing and the best cartridge I've owned/ heard, are you intending to spend that much?

 

[John Duncan]

You don't want a new deck! Your Thorens is as good as the other decks mentioned, if not better.

Maybe so, but c'mon...

 

[tyranniux42]

Thanks for all replies so far.

The thorens has the SME 3s arm and an rtofon vm30 froom mory, problem is I think a service and a new cart would sort it, however I wont be able to use it forever, maybe 6 months if im lucky, its not actually mine at the end of the day. Despite not having a service or a new cart for 30 years it sounds fab.

Ill likely buy the michelle from vickers in York (if I take a plunge) who sell various ortofon cartridges, keep hearing mc is the way to go? I suppose advice from the dealer would be good too

Regards

 

[respe]

While you are in your, have a listen to the Gyro, technoarm and a rondo bronze.

then pop back down into town and get hamish to to let you listen to a P7 and a dynavector DV20 XL.

Very different presentations from the decks. One has soundstage width and depth that can be a bit superstereo, the other one cuts to the heart of the music, and involves you in a immediate way.

Have fun trying them out. It took me ages to decide which way to jump.

 

[altruistic.lemon]

Alternatively look for a secondhand Thorens. There's a few available, and they can be bought serviced and/or re-conditioned. As I said, in terms of sound they're hard to beat, although, if memory serves me well, the Nottingham Analogue Spacedeck is as good if not better, as is the LP12. Never heard a Michell, so can't comment.

 

[tyranniux42]

Thanks for all the advice, ill defo pop along and have a listen to the new suggestions, Ill give Hamish a call although its Bob who has set me up thus far with my gear, I usally call in for a coffee and a natter when im passing anyway!

as for the cart choice, what are the supposed advantages to the MC cart over the MM, so is the rondo bronze really much better than the 2M Black for example?

regards

 

[respe]

just listen, if the rondo doesn't give the black a seeing to for your ears, the stick with mm. The only diret comparison I can give was 2m blue against 10x5, then 10x5 v 20xl. The 20 xl just wlaked all over the others

 

[oldric_naubhoff]

if you're looking for a Thorens TD 160 HD (with TP 250 tonearm) theres one ex demo from Audio Oasis (UK) for just shy of 1600 GBP, if you're interested.

if I could use this opportunity to steer your attention to Clearaudio TTs. I have an Unison Research Giro TT, which is essentially moded Clearaudio Champion TT, with Clearaudio Satisfy CF tonearm. I don't have much experience with TTs but as much as I know this one offers mighty resolution. make sure you have your LPs in pristine condition 🙂. my phono stage gives great sense of space and dimensionality and also has great micro dynamics (but space and dimensionality will not happen without micro dynamics...). and all that with just an inexpensive Grado Gold1 cart. which is due to be replaced to some MC cart. this TT will definitely warrant a good low output MC cart. I'm toying with a though of trying out a Benz Micro cart. probably ACE for starters. I don't want to make a too expensive mistake 🙂.

a word of warning. if you go Grado way you may have problems with humming. some poeple have (myself including) some don't. don't know yet why it's so. need to ask Grado. but thought I would raise that issue just in case.

 

[gbhsi1]

I would still take the Roksan Radius 5 over the michell turntable....looks wise.

 

[Lost Angeles]

I would still take the Roksan Radius 5 over the michell turntable....looks wise.

Will JD agree or not?

 

[iceman16]

Michell gyro se/tecnoarm/denon 103R..looks+performance you can't go wrong IMHO.

 

[John Duncan]

I would still take the Roksan Radius 5 over the michell turntable....looks wise.

Will JD agree or not?

No.