@lohanimal I remember speaking to one very good dealer that due to their suspension an SME IV or V are a bit heavy. He preferred the various origin live variants (not the huge ones) |
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Michell supply armboards weighted for a specific tonearm. There was a chap who worked Saturdays at my local dealership, let’s call him Frank, in real life he was in IT so the hifi was a labour of love, alas he was lost to cancer a few years ago. He ran an Orb with an SME for a long time but became dissatisfied and started trying a few alternatives. I was looking for something to liven up my Townshend at the time and had quite a few discussions about tonearms with him and the shop manager, who was a Linn freak and not impressed my the Michells. Frank preferred the Wilson Benesch ACT1 to the SME but ended up working with Michell to produce an armboard for a Naim Aro and loved the result, even the Linn guy admitted he found it made the Orb enjoyable. Now you won’t find an Aro for reasonable money, nor a Tigerpaw Javalin which was based on it but the Roksan Sara is fairly close too and very much available, it started out as a project by Audio Origami. There are of course those who won’t touch a unipivot but if not one of them… |
I've been using a Graham 2.2 arm on my heavily modified (Pedersen) Michell Orbe SE for a couple decades; nice combo. Many folks like SME arms on Michell tables as stated above. With all the positive Zeta arm comments, perhaps the best route would be to perform a full Pedersen upgrade on your Gyro before playing around with different arms and cartridges. |
This is SayHi5. I have experience upgrading and adjusting a few tonearms, including the Zeta. But Audio Oragami has a truly fantastic reputation, with a wide variety of tonearms, including Zeta, Rega, and Dynavector. Personally, I highly recommend them, as have many other tonearm owners that benefited from their care and experience. You cannot go wrong choosing them. |
I would have to agree as I was a dealer for both of them then and often sold them together. A friend still has a Zeta and still likes it. They came in a nice wood case; this came in handy once when UPS left one under a bush in my yard and I didn't find it till fall when the bush lost its leaves; it was undamaged. |
I had a Zeta on my Michell Gyrodec for many years. Finally, I decided to upgrade the turntable but keep the Zeta. In my opinion, it is one of the best tonearms ever made. The Michell, on the other hand, is just a very good turntable. The Michell benefits from various upgrades to the platter, bearing, motor, power supply, etc, and gets very expensive after all these changes. The Zeta can benefit from a bearing check-up, because even the factory didn't bother getting them all adjusted just right. I remember that John Bradshaw of Reference Monitor (the USA importer of Zeta and Michell during the 70s and 80s) said the Michell and Zeta are an absolute PERFECT match for each other. He praised the very high quality bearings in both products, and claimed this is the most important single quality for good sound. But the Zeta factory did not take the time to adjust each arm's bearings carefully enough. Bradshaw used to carefully adjust the bearing clearance for every arm brought into the USA through his office. They need to be just tight enough for the arm to float freely, but not a drop looser than that. Arms that are not adjusted just-right sound different from the ones that have correctly tweeked bearings. The Zetas have a reputation for not all sounding the same, precisely for this bearing adjustment situation, according to Bradshaw. Contact Audiogon member "SayHi5" for a technician that can do this. |
I can't comment on the Gyrodec, but a good example of a Zeta I do have currently set up on a restored Thorens TD124. I think there is some good synergy between the TD124 and the Zeta. currently I'm using a modified DL-103R. (Uwe Ebony body) I've also tried a Shelter 501-II on the Zeta/Thorens combo. That worked to good effect also. Though the Shelter was/is due for a re-tip (lots of hours on the original elliptical diamond) I should note that my particular example (Zeta) has been rewired with an Incognito silver harness. iirc, the Incognito kit included silk clad silver wire from vdH. That could be part of my satisfaction. All in all, if I had to sell one of my tonearms, I'd likely part with the Graham 2.2 before letting go of the Zeta. What I like about the Zeta is its ability to allow power and dynamics to reach the listener. Yet it is also very good at extracting delicate fine detail. (as might be limited by the DL-103R) -Steve |
Melanco, Only Raul owns (2) 'perfect cartridges' but among his other 100. You may be enthusiastic but no need to overdo. You should look at Audiogon (market) by cartridges to get some impression about (MC) carts and their prices. Everyone of us can name 2 or 3 carts but this is obviously to restricted as well as to subjective. Look for your self, compare by reading about them. That is what we all do. Regards, |
Dear Melanco: Good that you improve what you have even that I don't know what dislike you on it. As Nandric point out: don't you think that an up-grade on the source is mandatory? as you know music comes from the source and IMHO ( everything the same ) as better it is as better system quality performance level you have. Regards and enjoy the music, Raul. |
Thanks to everybody. I will upgrade my Gyrodec with new bearing, suspension tower, and Never Connected power supply meanwhile the Zeta is been taking care by AUDIO ORIGAMI. I'm still holding on the aluminum platter because I manage to put first a layer of Herbie's Audio Lab Grungebuster, over that I use a the Way Excellent II mat. I will try to get the ORBE clamp for the future. GREAT!!!!! |
Dover, First thing first. Think of all those Linn-LP 12 mods. They are 'countless' in the meanwile. Do you want him to enter this 'labyrinth'? Nice to see that you know about Origami. The only problem with Zeta I know of are the bearings. A peace of mind has also value and this Johny is a decent guy. So if the bearings needs correction he will do just that. I myself am very skeptical about rewiring but this is also an option. Johny will never advise with the intention to earn money. I am sorry for you but my advise is much better. Regards, |
I prefered Zeta on the Linn LP 12 above FR-64 mainly because of weight. Though Zeta is also a 'heavy gun' . This 'factor' is related to the used springs. On Thorens 160 Super the Alphason HR 100 was a better match. Your own idea to send the arm to Johny of Origami is the best of all propositions. Your problem is the cart not the tonearm. The Ortofon Kontrapunkt C or Jubilee are much better. If you intend to experiment with MM carts then the Alphason is the best choice. On ebay the Zeta is slightly more expensive. I assume of course that the money issue is important. Regards, |
Thanks for your responses. I am currently using Ortofon Kontrapunkt A and I really love there Cadenza model. I bought this setup from a really good friend which took really good care on the unit. I was thinking of sending the Zeta arm to Audio Origami to have it check and re tune and re wire if need it. But in the meantime I would like a suggestion for another great tonearm for the Gyrodec. THANKS |
I use to sell these in the 80s,the Zeta still good for medium to low complience MCs. I would not be in a rush to change, might be different but not necessarly better. What would you like your system to do differently? This is always the first question to ask; there is seldom a change that produces an improvement in all areas when you already have a quality unit. |
