Looking for thoughts from Nottingham Analog table owners
Really like the looks and the build quality of the Nottingham tables, and it does not hurt that I am originally from Nottingham, England to start with...lol But I have read a few reviews that claim they are pretty tricky to set up and some suffer 60hz hum fairly easily? Would like to hear from actual owners, your arms, carts etc Would be upgrading from a Funk Firm Vector with Grado Gold which is deathly quiet as far as hum and in its own right is very musical in my rig. Thank you
Have you lifted the motor pod by the motor pulley? If so, the motor may be gone.
If not, carefully position the motor where it's accessible, LIGHTLY grasp the pulley and LIGHTLY try to move it back and forth. Do not attempt this unless you can use a light touch, what engineers call 'good hands'. If there is discernible play then the motor sleeves are worn and it should be replaced.
I own the interspace junior. Lately, the motor is generating loud clicking sound. Do you guys have similiar issue? Anyone can tell me how to fix this problem?
I've got a client with a Space deck and arm demoing the Sensitive Sound ART mc (which I sell) at the moment. And he is replacing a Shelter 501. So pretty relevant. He's not on forums much but will see if he wants to hop in...
Even though I am "done" making huge upgrades and changes to my system, this next item has been on radar for quite a while and now thinking about it seriously.
Do not want to change out more than once!
Tonearm, running standard Spacearm.
Have a few carts, running Scheu Analog MC SL right now and have an Ortofon Cadenza Black to test.
Looking for thoughts/opinion of a good replacement arm for the Spacedeck. Not really interested in going with linear tracking or air bearing at this stage, just do not want or need all the extra hardware that goes along with it.
So a regular arm that would be a fair improvement on the Spacearm if that is feasible at a sensible budget and I do not mind used / vintage at all.
Have heard good things about the Audiomods arms from back in England too.
Tangramca, that would be the Ace Space arm, the Space Arm is 12.5gr. from the dealer's manual......
Set up Specs
Distance from Tone arm center to spindle Interspace and RB-250 - 222 mm Space Arm - 210 mm Anna (10”) - 222 mm Anna (12”) - 294 mm
Effective Mass of Tone arms* RB-250 - 11.25 grams Interspace - 11.25 grams Space Arm - 12.5 grams Anna (10”) - 13 grams Anna (12”) - 15.5 grams * All measurements are approximate
Part of the trouble is finding one, I missed one here on the gon by a few minutes about 3 months ago. Hardly ever see them come up for sale. Will have to see if they still make and sell them new.
About 3 people have recommended the Walker so it is an avenue I need pursue.
I skimmed this thread to see whether it's been mentioned before. I don't see it. But I owned a Notts Hyperspace. Its performance was improved by a quantum leap when I added a Walker Audio Precision Motor Controller. Inner detail and bass response were much much improved. These changes were very easy to hear. I don't necessarily recommend ONLY the Walker, but I do recommend a motor controller for the Notts. Huge upgrade.
Hi Uber, I have a Nott table and just love it. Larry at Hollywood Sound Fl has a lot of experience with our tables. Maybe he could help. He helped me recently. He really didn't like my choice in phono carts for it. But there's that old saying about opinions and hey he might be right. Time and more money will tell.
Well last night I experienced exactly what my original OP had concerns about.
I got set to play vinyl last night but before I had even sat down I could hear a fairly pronounced hum that was not there a couple of days ago.
Now yes I had been around the back fitting a newer Pioneer cdp in the rack so obviously had disturbed the cable runs somewhere. But here is the odd thing I had never paid any careful attention to how I had run cables from the tt to phono to amp previously as it never suffered any hum at all.
To fix though I had to remove tt to phono cables and very carefully reroute away from anything else at all AND add another ground cable from the phono to the amp to clear up the hum.
Now is it possible that the new Pioneer cdp has a noisier power supply or similar? No idea tbh, just very odd. But shows that anything can happen in this wonderful hobby of ours!
So I have just seen a Nottingham Hyperspace deck for sale here and it says it has the Ace Anna carbon tonearm on it. Looking at the close up pictures that tonearm looks absolutely identical to the tonearm on my Spacedeck. Although I really do not see the difference visually between the Space arm and the Ace Anna arm just by pictures What tonearm would have been standard on the Spacedeck or was there no such thing as a standard tonearm from Nottingham? Very interested as would really like to know what tonearm I have.
I am pretty sure there is not much wrong with my present setup but you know how the grass is always greener..... But my recent upgrade to the phono stage did pay off big time imho so there could be more to have in the arm/cart area for sure.
I have a NAS Interspace Jr. with Ace Space 9 " arm and Audio Note IQ3 MM cart. I've been told that Goldring builds these cartridges to Audio Note's specifications.
Just looking for thoughts on my present setup. Nottingham Spacedeck with what I assume is standard Spacearm. On that point I am not sure as it came with the tt which I purchased used of eBay. Running a Shelter 501 mk3 cartridge through a Gold Note ph10 phono stage. Now I am very happy with the sq but as you know...changes are always calling out...lol. So what would anybody consider to be the weakest link here? The cartridge or the arm? And suggestions for either or just leave well alone. Btw I did research the air bearing arm and really do not want to get into that at all. Thank you
The change to my NAS Mentor (early model replaced by Dais) from NAS arm to Trans-Fi air bearing arm was dramatic. My NAS Mentor experience was, and is, very good, and only beaten out by my DIY air bearing TT. I have nothing but good to say about Trans-Fi and their air bearing arm - I now have two of them, one for each TT.
Uber, an alternative suggestion. Don't know if you use US cleaning, but if not, that would be a big improvement. Another big improvement would be the Trans-Fi arm; that would leave you with enough extra to get a torque screwdriver to optimize cartridge mounting.
So Notts owners, looking for some bang up to date information all in one place, here..lol.
Looking to change out the flavour a bit by buying another cartridge. Present is Shelter 501 mk3, no intention to get rid of it but would like to try something different. Budget say $1500 to $2000. Thoughts?
Found a used falcon psu. It had a c13 female power connection with which to connect to connect with the 294 so I had to get an adapter. Using an inexpensive strobe disc purchased from amazon I found that the The shapes were well defined at 33.3 and 45 but would move slowly around the platter. With a few adjustments I got them to remain in place. Haven't had the chance to really listen yet. Will report back when I can.
Having heard a noticeable improvement with the Boston audio mat1 I am definitely convinced that this table is the perfect platform for letting you hear improvements with tweaks and other upgrades. I definitely will be improving my cart and really want to try a Wave mechanic or similar external power supply, but I will be looking used as the new price is a bit too much to ask imo.
I'd love to try a moerch 12" arm when the timing is right financially and a used one pops up. For all the love the tables get, the arms seem to be constantly dumped on. They are pretty but seems very stable and for the price I'm not sure how much better you could do for sound quality.
Yeah, low noise and low distortion are really important. Overall, I think Nottingham owners are quite happy with the sound they get. They keep upgrading too but usually not the table itself.
The most unfortunate part of this entire hobby is we are limited by the quality of every source recording, no matter what the medium. We can ramp up the $, the technology, the expertise, the materials, the designs, the manufacturing, but in the end, if a mediocre source recording is our beginning, we can make it listenable, but rarely excellent. I’ve found both Sonus Faber and Nottingham products very adept at excellent reproduction of high quality sources, and at the same time able to make poor source recordings more than ‘listenable’. As is often said: it’s all about the music. I think Franco Serblin and Tom Fletcher are of similar philosophies; strip away what gets in the way, leaving only the music; much like sculptors - just remove the unnecessary material and leave the masterpiece.
Good point mark, I listen a bit louder than you most of the time but at night when the kids are sleeping I turn it down and notice what you are hearing. The combo of the notts 294 and the Nova 2 are lowered the noise floor exponentially. Also, I don't think the Nottingham is dull or overly warm at all.
@markmendenhall How long have you had the equicore 1800? I have on order and heard nothing but good reports. My noise floor is pretty low but any further help is always welcome!
I’m beginning to believe that another reason that components I own and enjoy which others claim to sound dark, veiled, imprecise, or short on detail, and which I find sound opposite those descriptions, has to do with the extremely low noise floor I enjoy in my system. Both my Nottingham turntable and my Sonus Faber Olympica III speakers have often been described by contributors on A-gon forums in terms I’ve listed above. Consider upfront components which are part of my system: a First Sound PD III linestage with dual mono construction, S upgrade, dual power supplies and NOS GE 5670 triodes; a Cary Audio PH-302 mk II phono stage with 4 NOS 1950’s RCA 6SL7’s and external power supply I had Cary build, a Core Power Technologies EquiCore 1800 power conditioner, plus a Pass X250.8, and I believe you have the makings for a very quiet, low noise floor system. First Sound’s Mr. Emmanual Go makes frequent reference to lowering the noise floor when discussing his products and upgrade paths; low noise floor is one of his primary objectives. My interpretation? Lower the noise floor and more music is presented. The music doesn’t ’compete’ with noise when signal meets speakers. At the loudness levels I listen to, (rarely an ’eleven’, sometimes just loud enough to clear the room, but usually just loud enough to allow for slightly elevated conversation in a fairly big room), now that I think of it, I’m not aware of noise in between cuts on albums. There’s lead-in noise when initially cueing albums, but after cut 1, I just don’t hear anything but music, and if there is surface noise, it is so quiet it draws no attention to itself. I’m certain this is not a new topic and much has been written about it, just thought I’d mention it given the comments re: Nottingham turntables’ sonic signatures.
Nottingham is by no means a dark sounding table, but it is on a warmer side of neutral. My Goldring 1042 fully opened up after 100 hours, I think it was 110 or 120. I am not surprised with the official Nottingham recommendation of Nagaoka. Nagaoka 500 is probably more refined than Goldring 1042, should be excellent choice. Yes, Larry of Hollywood Sound really likes Spacedeck and he's been dealing with Nottinghams forever.
Thanks for the info especially the comparisons between the kiseki and the ortofon. Though I was more inclined to get a blue NS due to price, the ortofon's less finicky nature seems better to me and every review makes it sound like just my kind of cart. I'm also interested in charisma carts and the audio Technica art9 and the clearaudio Charisma v2 MM if anyone has any thoughts on those.
The 2nd point I meant to make was that the Kiseki took at least 40 - 50 hours to shake the bulk of the zip out of it (my experience) - way too hot for my tastes to begin with; that's somewhere between 60 and 70 albums, then it begins to settle in. Both Upscale and Hollywood tell me that at 100 hours I can consider it 'broken in'. I also have a Walker Audio motor controller that the Nott motor is plugged into. I believe the motor controller helps with the overall analog presentation as well.
I have to say my brief ownership so far leaves me with a very warm fuzzy glow! The level of detail and soul extracted by this simple Spacearm and shelter cart is a huge leap ahead from my previous clearaudio tt. Years of enjoyment to follow. I would say my setup appears to be very neutral with solid organic bass and female vocals excell. Start of a long live affair hopefully!
Recently purchased a new Ace Spacedeck and 10" Ace Anna arm fitted with a Kiseki Purpleheart NS cartridge. Replaced a 15 year old original Spacedeck/Spacearm fitted with an Ortofon Cadenza Bronze cartridge which I donated to a good buddy in need of a quality vinyl outfit. Love both cartridges with a nod towards the Kiseki in that it provides more detail and a bigger soundstage than the Ortofon. Both are sweet, highly engaging, and musical sounding cartridges which in my experience work well with the Nott tonearms. From a practical standpoint though, the nod goes to the Ortofon. Two items of note re: the Kiseki; 1) the cantilever's low angle and proximity to the long and flat bottom of the wooden cartridge body creates issues with warped records which I never experienced with the Cadenza Bronze. The architecture of the Ortofon allows for warped records to pass underneath without touching the cartridge body, unlike the Kiseki. I've invested in a couple Vinyl Flat record flatteners and am much more careful when spinning records, being careful to check in advance if an album is warped. As far as reported 'hum' issues, I've never experienced that with either Nott. As far as set up issues? Not a problem! I have my very experienced dealer do that for me, way beyond my pay grade! As far as the Nott tables sounding 'dark', I can't really relate to that either, neutral maybe, but not dark. That said, my preference is towards neutrality, I don't like a tipped up top end because of the etched and bright sound often associated with it on certain recordings. I'll sacrifice the last "n'th" of detail if it means the remaining 99.999% sounds like music. The Notts paired with either of the above mentioned cartridges provide plenty of detail for my tastes.
When/if I feel the need to change from my Shelter 501 I might give classic mm a chance like a Grace or similar. Hours of listening to the setup as it is for now though lie ahead!
I bought a used Spacedeck one year ago in perfect condition, although it was already 25 years old! Was a great deal, ready to play with a Denon DL103 (MC). Talking with miss Penny Jones from Nottingham Analogue, she told me that their turntables are better matched with MM carts and she suggested the ones from Nagaoka. This is kind of the "official " recommendation from Nottingham Analogue. Meanwhile I got a nice deal on a Goldring 1042 that I'm planning to install soon.
Only cart I've used on my 294 is the clearaudio concept MC and it sounds really good actually but looking to upgrade so I'd be interested in suggestions too. Hwdsound recommended the kiseki blue ns and I've heard the purpleheart sounds great on a nott.
I have a 294, no hum. Switching from 33 to 45 is nowhere as difficult as some would have you believe. I bought a pre owned trade in from a dealer so I didn't have to install the arm but setting up at home was no big deal.
Yea, I am not too crazy on the xlr back to rca but wanted to get it up and running. I will likely get some high quality rca plugs and rewire the tonearm cable to these.
I quite like the shelter cart but as it is only one I have heard so far always up for options. Actually looking at a couple of older Grace models, I know a few really like them
Tom Fletcher designed the Spacedeck/Spacearm with MM cartridges in mind. The Nottingham cartidges, no longer made I guess, were based on Goldring MM. That's what I use, Goldring 1042. There is a lot of a sound in that cartridge if your components and cables are up to it. That said, I heard that many other cartridges, including not too heavy or/and too low compliance cartridges work quite well in the Spacedeck arm. Some really like Lyra Delos and Kiseki Purpleheart, both quite expensive. I myself am going to keep the Goldring until I upgrade the Acoustech phono to a high level tube phono stage. Then I will see and think. Others would suggest trying some great vintage cartridges. Yeah, this could be interesting, maybe. You don't really need local support with Nottinghams. Larry from Hollywood Sound, the only dealer in the US, would assist you. By the way, using adapters degrades the sound to unknown degree, it is better to have the cable rewired with RCAs unless of course you are thinking of a phono stage with XLR inputs. There are not many of them, though.
I believe inna is Nottingham fan. He could give you more advice concerning cartridges. I once considered them until the dealer and I believe Music Direct sold them at one time and then they disappeared. No local support killed it for me.
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