Tell me about your Gyrodec turntable.

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by The Good Guy, Sep 30, 2014.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Pancat

    Pancat Senior Member

    Location:
    Merry England
    Had this combo just over a week : Gyrodec/Tecno Arm A/HR Power Supply / Orbe Clamp Kit /Dynavector 20x2L /P75 Mk3. I love it so much. Massive upgrade over my old Project 2.9 Classic Cherry and worth every penny. Just a couple of queries : 1. What is the best way to use the ring that came with the clamp kit? I've just left it flat side up. Is this right? Is there ever a reason to use it curved side up? Should it ever be left off for any reason. 2. Thinking several years in the future, and assuming I want to keep the P75 phono stage, what arm/cartridge combination would make a significant improvement? However, as I listen to it as I type, I can't imagine it being improved upon. But I know that one day upgraditis will strike. Thanks in advance for any suggestions. [​IMG]
     
  2. Dubmart

    Dubmart Senior Member

    Location:
    Bristol, England
    Congratulations on joining the Michell club and well done for going straight in with the HR and Orbe clamp, that will keep ugraditis away for a long time, to answer your questions I tend to not bother with the plastic ring on the clamp and haven't had any adverse effects, I'd suggest you experiment with a record or two and decide for yourself which way if any you prefer, I think the ring may benefit some pressings, but as I said I tend not to bother with it. I have a Techno Arm on my Orbe, my arm upgrade short list is: SME IV, SME V and Funk Firm FX-R II, there are other options, but those are three arms I'd happily go for although the Techno Arm is excellent in itself.
     
    Pancat likes this.
  3. Pancat

    Pancat Senior Member

    Location:
    Merry England
    Thanks for that. On the day I had everything set up by my excellent dealer there was a minor disappointment in that the HR didn't work and I had to "make do" with the standard power supply over the weekend. First World problems - what are ya going to do, hey? This gave me a chance to enjoy the deck without the HR for a little bit and then have that lovely upgrade thrill when the new HR arrived. My dealer also suggested SME, but that's what he sells. Do you have cartridge suggestions for the IV and V, preferably keeping my phono stage in the mix? BTW, I don't want to come across as already unsatisfied. I am thinking at least 5 years down the road. I never dreamt I would own such an incredible piece of kit and accessories but I was lucky enough to have a little windfall. If only my old car was worth as much as my vinyl rig is now!
     
  4. Dubmart

    Dubmart Senior Member

    Location:
    Bristol, England
    Getting to demo high end carts is a real problem in 2015, has been for many years, I remember the days when shops actually stocked a range of even expensive cartridges and you could actually get to hear some alternatives, all I can tell you is that I'm a very happy Van den Hul user, a MC2 in my case, other than that the only really high end cart I've actually tried on my Orbe is an Ortofon MC3000, I think you need to take every chance you get to listen to any top carts and take notes of what you like, it's an expensive choice to make and not easy to get the full picture beforehand.

    A SME IV or V would definitely be an upgrade and also are extremely suited to the Michell, I've heard them many times, they are the safe and classic choice , the arm Jon Michell used and I guess had in mind when he designed the Orbe, the drawback is they aren't cheap, I've never managed to save up enough funds to get one, the Funk Firm is cheaper, but more of an unknown, I still haven't actually heard one, but everything I've read suggests it's an excellent arm and will work well with the Michell, it's also cheaper than the SMEs. Obviously there are other good arms and I'm sure people will suggest their favourites, but I'd say the SMEs have to be in your short list.

    Did you have enough time without it to really hear the difference with the HR added, I went AC motor to DC motor to HR and was really able to hear the changes, I thought the HR was a genuine and noticeable improvement, especially in tightening up the bass, anyway you shouldn't have time for posting on here you should be too busy playing through all your LPs.:righton:
     
    Pancat likes this.
  5. Pancat

    Pancat Senior Member

    Location:
    Merry England
    Thanks for a such a detailed response and sound advice. Pun intended. Yeah, I got a sense of the difference. The bass tightened up even more and the top end became even airier. This is such a great record player and I look forward to the years of pleasure it will give me. It looks so kool, too.
     
    Dubmart likes this.
  6. Dubmart

    Dubmart Senior Member

    Location:
    Bristol, England
    Just to make things clear I've also tried my Van den Hul and the Ortofon MC3000 on my Gyros SE, your deck and arm are more than capable of handling high end MC carts as is, a better arm will just improve things further, although I'd upgrade the arm first rather than the cart, not that you need to worry about upgrading which is one of the nice things about owning a Michell you can happily play records and enjoy them without worrying you are missing anything.
     
    Pancat likes this.
  7. Pancat

    Pancat Senior Member

    Location:
    Merry England
    Great advice. Thank you.
     
  8. GyroSE

    GyroSE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
    Very nice setup! :righton:

    Are you still happy with it now 6 months later?
     
    Pancat likes this.
  9. Pancat

    Pancat Senior Member

    Location:
    Merry England
    Cheers. Yes, I still love it and it never ceases to amaze me with how good it sounds. I don't know how best to describe the sound but it's so fluid and rich without being overly polite and dull. I have a small room with largish speakers but the Gyrodec keeps a firm grip on everything with a tight, controlled bass, but it's far from lean. In a word, perfect.
     
    GyroSE and Dubmart like this.
  10. GyroSE

    GyroSE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
    Sounds great! I've a GyroDec SE + SME IV & HR PSU and I'm very happy with its performance. I agree about what you describe and would also like to add that the Gyro is revealing and unforgiving.
     
    Pancat likes this.
  11. ehtoo

    ehtoo Forum Resident

    If your Gyro doesn't have the Michell marketed Densodamp applied then get some. For a very modest price of $40 CDN, it turned out to be a significant improvement on an already fine table.
    Firmed up the bass, darker backgrounds, more air and better separation between musicians/instruments which made everything a little more 3D and more solid.

    It's easy to apply. Just follow the instructions as directed and bring two strong thumbs.

    Next up for me is the Pedersen arm board tweak. More of the same improvements as noted above - or so I've been told. Unlike yourself, I do not have the HR PSU, rather the VC and the DC motor. My source here has advised I would only achieve subtle improvements with the HR. Right now I'm looking for larger performance tweaks.
     
    Pancat likes this.
  12. chili555

    chili555 Forum Resident

    I recently sent my old, beloved Rega P25 to my son. I ultimately decided to fill the empty shelf space with a Michell Gyro SE, Audiomods Classic II and an AT33PTG/II. For now, at least, the AT33PTG/II goes in to a Denon AU-320 step-up transformer which I originally bought to use with a Denon DL103R. From the step-up, the signal goes to an Audible Illusions Modulus 3B, a variety of amplifiers in rotation, including B&K ST-140, Audio Research D-76a and Marantz 8b, and then to Vandersteen 2ce's.

    Since this an entirely new setup, I can't really say that, compared to my old arm, the Audiomods is better in this or that way. Differences could as easily be put down to the table or the cartridge. I can say that, having been pretty serious about audio for forty years, this is the very finest sound I have ever heard. I don't spend much time prowling the audio salons like I did many years ago. I find that the few decent stores I've visited seem to adore what they sell and hate what they don't. Follow the money.

    Although I still have some OCD tweaking to do, I am, so far, amazed by this new setup. I hear depth that I've barely heard or not heard at all. By depth, I refer to not just soundstage, but placement, front to rear and left to right. I hear details that I never heard before, fingers sliding along the strings of a guitar; breath, tiny echos from the room and more. I hear it all emerging from complete silence. There is no sense that a stylus is scraping along a vinyl groove. There is simply music until there is not.

    The bass is quite remarkable. Although the native bass of the Vandersteens can only be described as pretty good, not great, the bass I hear is defined and tight, not flabby. There are bass notes, not just thumpa-thumpa.

    I am pulling out record after record, direct-to-disk, 180 gram reissues and everything else and enjoying vinyl like I never have before. [​IMG]
     
    Twinsfan007, dmckean, Dubmart and 4 others like this.
  13. GyroSE

    GyroSE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
    I can tell that the HR PSU are among the larger performance tweaks you can do to a GyroDec. The HR PSU and the Orbe clamp kit are no brainers IMHO, the GyroDec really shines when you add those to the setup. The GP armboard upgrade is making an already fantastic turntable even more fantastic- go for it!
     
    Last edited: Dec 30, 2015
    Pancat likes this.
  14. Pancat

    Pancat Senior Member

    Location:
    Merry England
    I totally agree on the HRPSU. There's nothing subtle about the upgrade - it's a significant leap.
     
  15. Pancat

    Pancat Senior Member

    Location:
    Merry England
    'Sounds' awesome.
     
  16. Pancat

    Pancat Senior Member

    Location:
    Merry England
    Great recommendations. I do recommend the HR PSU as a significant upgrade rather than a minor tweak.
     
  17. ehtoo

    ehtoo Forum Resident

    I always thought the HR would be a major upgrade however, even the distributor told me, with my DC motor and VC, it is less of an upgrade vs. if I were moving from the QC PSU and standard motor.
    I was wavering between the HR upgrade or a new arm for now. I presently using an Origin Live Encounter which is a stellar arm for the price but, I'm now leaning to either The OL Conqueror or the Meorch DP8.
    That Audiomods arm sure looks purdy!
     
    Pancat likes this.
  18. Dubmart

    Dubmart Senior Member

    Location:
    Bristol, England
    That arm really does visually match the Gyro SE doesn't it, I thought that when I saw the picture in the other thread, the combination looks beautiful and the arm also looks very nicely engineered just like the Gyro.

    I think your dealer is correct about the HR not being as big an upgrade if you have the VC, maybe keep an eye out for a used HR so the upgrade to price ratio is better balanced.
     
    Pancat likes this.
  19. ehtoo

    ehtoo Forum Resident

    One thing I wouldn't do is the Pedersen suspension upgrade. Firstly, drilling through the plinth to install the screw for running the stabilizing line is not for me at all. It no longer looks like a Michell!
    Besides, I already have the two piece supports and more robust springs. As well, it all sits on a Symposium Ultra platform so it is well isolated.

    I've had mixed responses over "Gorbing" my Gyro SE. Some say great tweak (you get the Orbe screw clamp) others dismiss it as "its not an Orbe" . Still it is offered as an upgrade which, is supposed to get you about 95% there at a lower cost.
     
    Pancat likes this.
  20. Dubmart

    Dubmart Senior Member

    Location:
    Bristol, England
    I like my Gyro SE as a Gyro SE, although getting the Orbe spindle so you can use the Orbe clamp does make sense, I have no interest in the Pedersen mods, a bit too drastic and although some people seem to prefer their decks afterwards I'm not sure it's a Michell anymore, as for adding additional Orbe parts to the Gyro, each to their own, some people swear by it, personally I don't think you are getting an Orbe and you are losing the essence of the Gyro, but at least you can reverse any changes and if it works for people good for them, my approach was to buy an Orbe to compliment my Gyro SE, that way I can enjoy both as they are meant to be. Now I just need to really focus on making 2016 the year I upgrade my arms, I'm still sorely tempted by the Funk Firm and have a donor RB-300, wouldn't hesitate to grab a SME IV/V at the right price and I need to check if I can get my Roksan Xerxes upgraded and serviced which would be the cheapest option and should be an improvement on the Techno Arm which could move over to the Gyro. Anyone heard an Artemis on an Orbe?
     
    Pancat likes this.
  21. Dubmart

    Dubmart Senior Member

    Location:
    Bristol, England
    Just to correct my post, I meant Roksan Artemiz, NOT Xerxes, that's what happens when you post late at night.:oops:
     
  22. bryn

    bryn New Member

    After trying Rega and Rega based arms on my Gyro SE, I'm very pleased with the simple, but highly impressive Nima unipivot from Roksan. I'm also using the high definition tonearm cable.
     
    Cyclone Ranger and Pancat like this.
  23. ehtoo

    ehtoo Forum Resident

    I have a friend who for years was trying to convince me to use the RS Labs RS-1 - a hair shirt arm if there ever was one. I'll admit, after hearing the thing I can say it is the best tone arm ever made and an incredibly simple thing. But, as my years advance and my not so steady hand becomes a factor, manually dropping a stylus on every record without the benefit of cueing is a hard sell.
     
    33na3rd, Pancat and chili555 like this.
  24. bryn

    bryn New Member

    Cueing is easy with the Nima as it has a lift/lower device fitted. As with all unipivots though, it is a little wobbly to use.
     
  25. Dubmart

    Dubmart Senior Member

    Location:
    Bristol, England
    Back in the eighties my local Hi Fi shop was busy selling high end decks and arms which meant they always had interesting things in that they'd let me listen to, I could compare a Rega to a Linn, to an Alphason to a Roksan, to a SME and get an idea of how they sounded and their strengths, I really miss those days, now it's a quick listen at a Hi Fi show with other components you aren't familiar with or take your chances with reviews, I'd love to be able to properly demo the arms I'm interested in and a few more besides, I do miss my local B&M store even if my bank account doen't.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine