Doehmann Helix-1 … has been reviewed by Mike.
Mark Doehmann was involved with design of Continuum Caliburn
Mark Doehmann was involved with design of Continuum Caliburn
3 New UBER Decks - Is this Turntable's SwanSong? 🦢
Michael Fremer has recently reviewed three new turntables designed to be the 'Last Word', 'Cost no Object' STATEMENTS!!!!........Do I recall hearing this claim before??
I love Mikey and have followed (and trusted) him for decades.
He has been the longest and foremost published 'champion' of the superiority of vinyl (uber alles) in the world.
I am thus ecstatic that he has been able to listen and compare these decks in his own room, with his own equipment virtually side-by-side
It's almost a 'given' that he will be the ONLY person on earth given that privilege....
So what Mikey HEARS.....is indisputable
Given his 'character' and desire for accuracy and honesty.....years ago, Mikey started including some 'objective' measurements in his turntable reviews.
These measurements were done utilising the Dr Feikert PlatterSpeed App which has since been discontinued.
As the App only worked with the Mac iOS of many variations ago.....Mikey has kept an old iPhone which can still operate the App.
The PlatterSpeed App had a few technical limitations.....
Foremost amongst these, was its dependence on a 7" record with an embedded 3150 Hz Frequency track to produce a test-tone which the App could process through its algorithm to produce the graphs and all the corresponding numbers.
To stamp hundreds of 7" discs with perfectly 'centred' HOLES is a nigh impossibility.
It's almost impossible to do it with a 12" disc!!!
This means that ALL the figures produced in their Chart Info are dubious and mostly UNREPEATABLE!!!!
I have Chart Infos for the same turntable/arm combination but with the 7" disc moved slightly producing different figures.
I even have Chart Infos produced with the same turntable but different arms ALL with different figures (the arms are in different positions surrounding my TURNTABLE).
So what is my point......?
The GRAPH produced with the PlatterSpeed App is accurate and USEABLE when looking at the 'Green' Lowpass-Filtered Frequency.
If the hole was PERFECTLY centred.....this 'Green' line would be perfectly STRAIGHT......but only if the turntable was maintaining its speed PERFECTLY.
The wobbles in the 'Green' line are due to the hole's eccentricity as well as any speed aberrations.
So the best performing turntables are those with the most constant and even wobbles approaching as closely as possible a STRAIGHT LINE.
It appears that SAT have corrupted what is a very good DD Motor unit....🥴
Mikey says that the OMA-K3 produced the best PlatterApp figures of any turntable he has tested 👏
Does this mean that the OMA-K3 is the most accurate turntable of these three decks.....or maybe of ALL turntables?
Mikey can't (and won't) test and review products from the past which are no longer produced because that's not his job!
But wouldn't it be great if someone WOULD review products from the past against the modern equivalent?
Classic turntables with reputations....gravitas...like the legendary EMT 927 and Micro Seiki SX-5000 and SX-8000.
And what about the NOW lauded Japanese DD Turntables from the '80s...the 'Golden Age' of Analogue?
Here endeth the Sermon for today 🤗
I love Mikey and have followed (and trusted) him for decades.
He has been the longest and foremost published 'champion' of the superiority of vinyl (uber alles) in the world.
I am thus ecstatic that he has been able to listen and compare these decks in his own room, with his own equipment virtually side-by-side
It's almost a 'given' that he will be the ONLY person on earth given that privilege....
So what Mikey HEARS.....is indisputable
Given his 'character' and desire for accuracy and honesty.....years ago, Mikey started including some 'objective' measurements in his turntable reviews.
These measurements were done utilising the Dr Feikert PlatterSpeed App which has since been discontinued.
As the App only worked with the Mac iOS of many variations ago.....Mikey has kept an old iPhone which can still operate the App.
The PlatterSpeed App had a few technical limitations.....
Foremost amongst these, was its dependence on a 7" record with an embedded 3150 Hz Frequency track to produce a test-tone which the App could process through its algorithm to produce the graphs and all the corresponding numbers.
To stamp hundreds of 7" discs with perfectly 'centred' HOLES is a nigh impossibility.
It's almost impossible to do it with a 12" disc!!!
This means that ALL the figures produced in their Chart Info are dubious and mostly UNREPEATABLE!!!!
I have Chart Infos for the same turntable/arm combination but with the 7" disc moved slightly producing different figures.
I even have Chart Infos produced with the same turntable but different arms ALL with different figures (the arms are in different positions surrounding my TURNTABLE).
So what is my point......?
The GRAPH produced with the PlatterSpeed App is accurate and USEABLE when looking at the 'Green' Lowpass-Filtered Frequency.
If the hole was PERFECTLY centred.....this 'Green' line would be perfectly STRAIGHT......but only if the turntable was maintaining its speed PERFECTLY.
The wobbles in the 'Green' line are due to the hole's eccentricity as well as any speed aberrations.
So the best performing turntables are those with the most constant and even wobbles approaching as closely as possible a STRAIGHT LINE.
- Frequency Chart AIRFORCE ZERO Note significant aberrations highlighted with red arrows
- Frequency Chart SAT XD-1 Not bad...
- Frequency Chart OMA-K3 Pretty, pretty, pretty good......
It appears that SAT have corrupted what is a very good DD Motor unit....🥴
Mikey says that the OMA-K3 produced the best PlatterApp figures of any turntable he has tested 👏
Does this mean that the OMA-K3 is the most accurate turntable of these three decks.....or maybe of ALL turntables?
Mikey can't (and won't) test and review products from the past which are no longer produced because that's not his job!
But wouldn't it be great if someone WOULD review products from the past against the modern equivalent?
Classic turntables with reputations....gravitas...like the legendary EMT 927 and Micro Seiki SX-5000 and SX-8000.
And what about the NOW lauded Japanese DD Turntables from the '80s...the 'Golden Age' of Analogue?
- Technics SP-10Mk3
- Kenwood L-07D
- Pioneer P3
- Victor TT-101
- Yamaha GT-2000
- Frequency Chart VICTOR TT-101 Hmmmm 🤯
- Frequency Chart TW RAVEN AC-2 Hmmmm....
We can do things today that were only dreamt of even 10 years agoExcept learn from history, harvest experience, expertise and craftsmanship......
Here endeth the Sermon for today 🤗
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- 132 posts total
@gordon:crap maybe it was the early 90’s,everything but the last 10 years is pretty much a blurred image.. Best of my memory is that he & Julian Hirsch had a big brew ha ha about M.F.’s apparent flip of camps from digital to vinyl.. |
@antinn, great example of a proper review. Now if all tonearm reviews were done that way we might be able to draw some meaningful comparisons. My only complaint is that the V15 was too compliant for the Tri Planar. My own experience with damping brushes was frustrating at best. 5 Hz is too low in everyone's book. No wonder bass performance suffered. Not sure how they crammed a Tri Planar on a Sota. Donna insists it does not work without significant modification but maybe that is just the more current versions. I am going to agree with audioman85, dover for the most part, clearthinker and rauliruegas. I am not so sure that vinyl is here to stay. Most of us older audiophiles have large record collections which makes owning a turntable mandatory. The people around at the time record sales exploded are now older, their kids are on their own and they have much more money to burn. While it is true that some young people are getting into vinyl, far more are getting into digital. I won't be around to see the outcome consequently I really do not care. If I did not have any records I doubt I would buy a turntable on the other hand people who point at all the problems with vinyl reproduction have obviously not heard a top notch turntable with a modern stylus profile set up correctly playing a clean record. It always amazes me how good this can sound. IMHO the Nak TX-100 was overkill in the extreme. Typical Nakamichi. Shifting the center of the platter is going to alter it's balance which in time will do a number on it's main bearing. Many of us laughed at it. Off center records are a problem and can be quite audible. My solution was quite simple. I returned the record as defective, and kept returning them until I got a copy that was decent. |
I'm waiting for the TECHDAS AIRFORCE ZERO MK II to come out. Then I'll buy! |
- 132 posts total