Own a TW-Acustic Raven One?


Do you own a TW-Acustic Raven One? What are your impressions so far? What did it replace? How does it compare to the VPI tables; the Aries 3, SuperScoutMaster?
stickman451
Just to interest those who like to continue the education route,and simply from a "very good read" standpoint....

I'd suggest you(whomever)take a look at the white paper that is on the "Grand Prix Monaco" web pages.

This is just hobbyspeak to me,and I'm not trying to push the table,but "boy" do these guys make a great case for the way they designed that product.Not only the direct drive capability,but almost all of the important factors in "supposedly" getting accurate LP play.

I loved it......maybe the fact that I read it while on jury duty(and bored stiff,just sitting around)had something to do with it's appeal -:)

It really is a fabulous white paper,if one considers themselves to be open to learning as much as they can,on the analog subjest,and it just might cause some to be a bit more enlightened with regards to what actually matters...and what does not seem too plausible!

Good luck
Yes, Sirspeedy, but keep it "interesting" and not truth. There are those (not necessarily in your read) that easily can provide very logical explanations for untruths. Sometimes things are not what they seem. For instance...did you know that when landing an airplane short of the runway, the pilot pushes the nose DOWN for a safe landing.
I have Raven One as it's great table.Build is excellent although i still feel SME finish rather than build is somewhat better
Robn,

what did your Raven replace? What arm/cartridge are you using? Over-all, how would you describe the 'sound' you get with your Raven? Also, what is the rest of your rig like?

thanks!
I have just replaced my Jelco arm with the Ortofon 309D, 12 inch arm, on my Raven one. As you may know, it is the arm Thomas the designer uses and recommends on the Raven One. It really is very good indeed. The sound was a little soft, lacking definition, crispness. With the ortofon, the sound is immediately more sharp, defined and dynamic. In fact it is dynamics and imaging which is most obvious. The Jelco was not good at imaging. Listening to Verdi's Otello yesterday, with the Ortofon, you could clearly hear one singer was slightly to the Left and a few feet behind the other. In fact it represents the best defined imaging I have heard in my system.
The ortofon seems a good choice, if you are not going for a cost no object arm. I have'nt heard them all, but I have heard the Arro, SME 5 and Phantom, the latter on the Raven AC. Thomas again, said he feels the Ortofon is a few percentage points down on the Phantom and other top arms, at a lot less than half the price, at least in the UK. I am not sure of US pricing