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TTWeights new Black Onyx Idler drive Turntable

About three weeks ago I drove to Newmarket. It is about an hours drive from Brampton, but I wanted to listen to Larry's 'Christine' turntable. When I got there I found Larry all excited about his newer turntable. A less expensive, more heavily damped version of Christine (and much less expensive). He explained to me how Christine was way overbuilt. There is no reason for a one horsepower motor, way overkill. His 1" carbide main bearing shaft was also way too much, and the shape of Chrisine's plinth did nothing for resonance control. Along comes the Black Onyx, still in R & D, so off I went back to Brampton.

I went back three weeks later, that was a couple of days ago, and with an armful of albums, sat down for a long listen. I will say that a long listen is not necessary. It took about ten seconds to realise this was something very special. Everything from Cat Stevens, Bruce Cockburn and Jeena Lodwick to Dire Straits and YES. Without fail, every single track on every album left me with goosebumps. Singers seamingly playing for me in his office did nothing for my bank account. He now has my deposit, and I wait patiently.

My turntables have all been belt drive. Many years ago I purchased a Heybrook TT2. This was commonly referred to as a baby Linn. My next table was a JA Michell GyroDec (mostly because I thought it looked wicked), and finally to the Teses 340. I will say the jump from the Michell to the Teres was only equaled by the next jump to the Black Onyx. I think I can safely say Idler Drive turntables are a wonderful idea. The Saskia is highly regarded, as is the new VPI. Both idler drive. If you can get to TTWeights for a listen, you'd be doing yourself a favor.

The rest of my system is thus; ZYX Universe cartridge, TriPlanar and Schroeder DPS tonearms, Atma-Sphere MP-1 mklll preamp, Atma-Sphere MA-1 Silver edition amps, EMM Labs CDSAse, Magnum Dynalab MD-108T tuner, and an older pair of ProAc Response 2 speakers. I sold my Coincident TVll'2 and am building speakers using Accuton mid and tweeter, with SEAS 10" woofers. Still months away.

My listening room is almost complete and should be finished about the same time as the Black Onyx. I will get back to you after that.
cousinbillyl
cousinbillyl OP
190 posts
 
My little Black beauty has finally arrived;

Forget the fact that I have waited 3 extra months longer than I wanted.

Forget the fact that the shipping was UPS proof, with more bubble wrap than bubble boy has.

Forget the fact that upon unpacking even my wife was impessed with the velvet bag acroutements (did I spell that right?).

Forget the fact that I was too lazy to read the instructions and simply assembled it using common sense.

Forget the fact that I had no want or desire to deal with VTA, VTF, Azimuth, or any other parameter that I know is of importance. I just wanted to hear it as a starting point. Everything was lined up as a best guess.

First album was 'eURYTHMICs, touch', one of my wifes favorites.,,,,,,,,are you ready,,,,,,,. UNBELIEVEABLE. My wife gave me that 'what the heck just happened', Annie Lennox was playing for us in our basement. Forget soundstaging, highs, lows, PRAT, depth, etc.,,,,,,,. irrelevant. Annie was in our basement. Can you imagine what will happen when I actually take the time to adjust everything.

Are you ready for this; The screws supplied with my TriPlanar are not the same as Larry's. This simply means the Tri was not securely affixed to the arm board. The M5 screws I used simply held the arm at the proper spindle to pivot length. I AM IN AWE!!. Can you imagine what will happen when the Tri is actually firmly affixed?.

The JA Michell gyrodeck has been obliterated.
From my recollection of my Teres 340,....., no contest.

The roofing season is upon us. I am already really busy. I will take the time to set everything up correctly, but it will take time, and after that give further thoughts.

Larry, I have no objection to the system you have at your shop,....., but,....., you have no idea what you have created!!!!!!!.

Cousin Bill

PS If I wasn't in love with the most spectacular woman on the planet, I would ask you to marry me.

PSS If any of you out there would like to hear just how good the Black Onyx is, my home is your home.
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
Congrats! Glad to hear that even a ruff 'n' ready setup produced such stellar results.

P.S. No, you didn't spell it right. ;-)
hiho
451 posts
 

Hi Bill. I have one question. Since the platter belly is carved out in a circle, is the idler wheel touching the outside rim or the inside of the platter? Is it the idler wheel rolling like the Garrard or is it rolling like the Teres Vertus? I can't tell from the picture. If it is touching the inside of the platter then wouldn't be more flexible to have the whole motor assembly being outside of the platter and surely would make changing O-rings easier. Anyway, I'm just happy to see a different approach to idler-drive design and that you are enjoying music through it. Thanks for all the updates.

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cousinbillyl OP
190 posts
 
Thank you Doug and Hiho

I am going to go and do a bit more tuning. I'll let you know how it progresses.

Hiho; The motor shaft is driving the inside of platter, not the inside of the rim. You are correct in saying that an exterior motor driving the outside of the rim would have made changing o-rings easier. Larry may try that in the future.

Larry's next part is a remote arm mount. He is going to send it to me early next week. I will say he is obsessed with resonance control, and it shows in the table. There are way too many little tweaks that deal with this. I may one day sit down and list them all.

I will now conduct an experiment. First I will say I own an RS Labs A1 arm. That arm, when set up properly, is amazing. There is no way of bolting it down. It is meant to simply sit on the armboard. When I put the TriPlanar on last night, I did not have the proper bolts. The Tri reminded me of the RS A-1. There is a clarity in the mids and highs which for me is mesmerizing. I will listen to the Tri unbolted first, and then install the screws.

LOL
Billy
hiho
451 posts
 

Thanks for the answer, Billy. Just for fun, here's a Japanese idler-drive design, Epson-Seiko by Mr. Takeshi Teragaki that has the idler-wheel, more like a pinch roller, on the outside of the platter, making changing wheel/roller or maintenance much easier. The Onyx still looks amazing - to be perfectly honest, it's visually more appealing to me than the much more expensive Christine.

http://www.audio-heritage.jp/SEIKO_EPSON/player/sigma2000.html

More fun pictures.
http://www.teragaki-takeshi.jp/works/players.html

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