TW Raven One vs. Nottingham 294?

I'm the guy Inman29 is referring to (hi Bill!) and from my perspective the Raven One is in a whole different class than my Spacedeck and Ace Space Arm. The level of musical detail, dynamics and tone I heard on Bill's Raven TT was the best I have ever heard from any system. I'm sure the Graham and Air Tight were an important part of it, but the Raven seems to be a TT platform that you can mate with the best arms and carts available.

To be fair though, the Raven with suitable arm is going to be about $7,500 - $9,500 depending on the arm. So the proper Nottingham comparison would probably be the Dais with Ace Space or Ace Anna arm. I think the 294 with arm is about half the cost of the Raven even if you use an inexpensive arm on the Raven.

Regarding changing the Nottingham from 33 to 45, it is no problem. It takes all of 10 seconds and the speed stabilizes dead on 33 or 45 after just a few rotations.

In my research, and now listening, I am down to the Raven (arm TBD) or Dais for my "final" turntable.

Regards. Dave

Thanks for your great feedback, guys... very helpful! Any 294 owners want to chime in here? No disrespect to Spacedeck, but I heard the 294 was in a different league? That 294 price point is really the sweet spot for me, and I'm really wondering if the Raven One, which would end up costing twice the 294, would be a bona fide step-up or another example of law of diminishing returns.

Dave, and thanks for letting me know about the 33 to 45 on NA. That's very good to know!

I upgraded from an older Spacedeck (with the thinner platter) with Space Arm to a Space 294 and it was a significant improvement. A dealer told me the difference between the Space 294 and the newer thicker platter Spacedecks with Ace Space arm is not as great.

Just recently I replaced the Ace Space 294 arm with a used 12" Moerch DP6. The Moerch arm took the table to a whole new level. The DP6 gives me better bass, improved detail and dynamics. I kept the same Dynavector Karat 17D3 cartridge. I also use a Boston Audio Mat 1 instead of the supplied foam mat.

Good to hear, Scompracer. I have a feeling that, although excellent as is, the Raven One can't be 2x better than the 294, especially if you equip the 294 with a superior arm as an upgrade later. 294 seems the better value, no?

I believe the Space 294 is a great value, especially if you can pick one up used or get a dealer demo like I did. You can always swap the arm out later if you want to change how it sounds.

I’ve never heard a Raven, but have heard more expensive tables/arms and didn’t care for the way they presented the music. Who knows, I might feel differently in a year or two. Vinyl is highly subjective and the best thing is to demo them, if possible.

Vinyl can be a deep, dark rabbit hole. I have been through a few tables and spent way more than I planned to be happy. Good luck in your quest!