Mag Lev Audio levitating turntable

You must report back with your experience, once you get it.

 

Not for me - I'll stick with my Crossley

 

Update #18

 

hey
Claude did you receive the mag-lev turntable ? if yes, write about it, is it worth anything? if no, what did the write to you about delivery time. thanks

 

No I haven't received it yet, AFAIK, the production hasn't started yet.

Yo their credit they do keep a decent update schedule and today I received the latest (#25), discussing the availability of a dust cover and confirming that the first production run should start soon.

 

dustcover looks interesting and reasonably priced. Might fit around my Cliffwood.

 

great thank you a lot, so I've made my mind I'm gonna be another guinea pig

 

The hype in that video is a total turnoff.

 

Man if it works like it looks. Game changer. We'll see. I hope it is..amazing.

 

Levitating table with optical laser pick up. Now THAT would be a game changer.

 

Almost certainly eddy current levitation to provide the basic lift, and then some sort of magnetic patterning and a rotating field to make it rotate.

But dynamic stability is always a difficult nut to crack, because damping is likely to be low - so if you set the levitated platter wobbling, it is likely to wobble for a long time. The only real way around that is to use some sort of active damping.

So now we have three systems - eddy current levitation in a AC field, magnetic patterning to rotate, and vertical position sensing and dynamic damping.

The video, given its slick nature, is likely to to show a simulation of a levitated platter. Let's face it, if it looked like that, it would be production ready.

 

I've been peering at the detailed parts on their progress updates in what looks like a very decent start-up company. And I think it works the way I thought.

But is would appear to be real - there are photos several units working at last year's Munich high end show, with lots of people peering a them. Colour me surprised!

The next problem with a start up is keeping going and not going belly up. The audio industry is littered with casualties; hope it does not happen to these guys.

 

It's a good thing that I don't have any obsessions about turntables. I think that when it will ship I'll have a blast unpacking it and playing a record or two, and then I'll get back to my usual digital setup.

 

I just noticed that the folks at Mag-Lev published a new update and it looks like the TT is actually being assembled.
You can read the update here: Progress Update #11

 

Positive Feedback just posted a review of this turntable.

 

Holy cow, read the safety instructions. That thing has more side effects than my diabetes medicine! I will stick with old antique belt drive model.

 

Cool. I'll be able to start my own private MRI clinic!

 

I watched the video. That platter wobbles way more than you could ever blame any LP warping on (imagine adding LP warpage to that!) Pretty cool concept and implementation but LPs have always been played on a stable and motionless platform.

Vibration control is a relatively minor concern compared to the intangibles put at play here. The great turntables of the 70s-80s still had it right IMO. Just build a quiet drive system and isolate it properly. It’s such a simple idea that it hasn’t been beat yet IMO.

 

Well, since their latest update informed the backers that they are barely able to ship 3 units per month it looks like I'll be waiting a while until I'll get mine. OTOH, I could always throw away more money by pre-ordering their newer model which keep me waiting in suspense until I'll retire.

 

This was never going to be a trivial product (see my earlier posts) so it does not surprise me that they have had implementation problems and a trickle of shipments.

 

Does anyone have this yet?

 

Yeah powerful magnetic fields can effect implantibles like pacemakers. I did some research on this for my job and pacemaker Mfg recommend avoiding magnetic fields near the device of greater than betwen 5-10 gauss.

Since magnetic fields drop off considerably with distance this usually is not an issue even for product incorporating neodymium magnets. Usually a distance of a few centimeters from the field source magnet is enough for the mag field to drop off substanially.

For someone to recommend staying 1 meter away from the mag-lev table that must be one powerful magnetic field. Would be curious to know the field strength at less than 1 meter.

 

The bigger question is, if the recommended distance is 1 meter, then how are the carts not affected? They literally function because of magnets in the cart which will be elevated like 1/5th of a meter above from the table.

 

The unit almost certainly works by using a high frequency excitation. The platter is conductive (probably aluminium) and high frequency magnetic fields generated by static coils induce eddy currents in the platter. That is pure diamagnetic levitation. The idea is that you use a frequency well outside the audio range, and since a pure diagmagnet excludes the generating field, there is no magnetic field at the cartridge.

To make the levitated platter spin needs a separate set of coils to induce a time varying field that works like a linear induction motor - but arranged in a circular fashion.

The problem is that damping of the platter motion will be poor, and if it wobbles (up and down and/or side to side) it will continue to wobble for some time. The only way around that is active damping (where the position of the platter is measured in real time in six axes and feedback applied to cancel out wobble). This is basically how maglev trains work - active feedback so it never contacts the rail.

 

Yes, I have one, its up and running now. Its hooked into my Devialet 140 via Zu Mission cables, my speakers are Zu Omen DW's. It replaced a Pro-Ject Debut Carbon, which coincidentally had the same Ortofon OM 10 cart. Since I've listened to that table/cart extensively, I have no problem saying the Mag-Lev is a serious step up. Of course, that OM 10 has got to go soon.... I'm thinking an Ortofon Bronze or Black.

I'm getting back into vinyl after many years away.... no way am I going to declare this table is better or worse than anything else out there... I'm sure there are other tables for the price that have better measurables... but there's no table out there that is as cool as this one. I've had plenty of people look at it now, and they just stare in disbelief. Watching it play is mesmerizing. Flat albums don't wobble, but warped albums do a little.

Anyone else have one yet? I'd be interested in the impressions from other owners. I love mine