Micro Seiki, or TW AC-1

Pani, as a matter of clarification:
You said: "There is a "rush", a little too
much leading edge and not enough time to bloom. There was
also a colouration in the timbre of the instruments as if to
artificially make it sound "rich". Basically it
felt like I am hearing something cooked."
And then you also say: "Even simple Norah Jones track
sounded zippy. I even
took my AKG headphone setup to the dealer to clarify
this."
From other posters I kind of had an impression, that TW is
somewhat dark and warm sounding TT, but you obviously heard
coloration, that is usually associated with bright sounding
components.
I read in some older TW posts, that "naked" TW
platter does indeed emphasizes the leading edge, and using
mat could alleviate it.
Could you extrapolate on this issue, please?

Maril555, it is good to know that you have auditioned the TW
already and not exactly going to buy purely based on the
outcome of this debate:).

Regarding your question whether TW sounds coloured as in
bright, the answer is NO. It is not a bright TT at all. As
you said it is rather somewhat dark but not overtly.
Colouration can be on either side of the spectrum. The
timbre colouration was towards the richer-darker side. But
more than tonal colouration (which is there in many hifi
products), it is about the construction of the music note.
It feels that there is less time for the note to get
properly constructed, so before you could enjoy the note, it
has passed.

Secondly, I said it sounds "cooked". Think about
it, what does a chef do when he has messed up a recipe he
was cooking, he tries to manipulate by adding other
ingredients so that the flaws in the taste becomes less
prominent or gets diverted. To me, the TW sounded something
like that. First there was too much leading edge, to
compensate that there was some warmth "added", but
the warmth should not eat into the highs so the body was cut
short so there is less bloom and so on and so forth. In the
end a dose of richness was added so that all this together
feels tasty. It is somewhat like telling one lie to hide
another. This is not natural sound to my ears. I would not
have bothered so much if it was digital playback, because in
digital there is always some cooking up. But if analogue
playback is manipulated this way then the purpose of
listening directly from the record groove is lost.

Pani, with no ill will or bad feelings intended, I don't hear certain things the same way you do with Raven. At least you indicate "...somewhat dark but not overtly." I've read comments from a few others on Agon where the description they have given has simply been "dark", as in a blanket sense. Perhaps that is exactly what they've heard in a particular system configuration. Frankly, I've not heard any significant degree of darkness in my system. Maybe a touch, but that's all. And a touch is okay with me since I slightly prefer that. Some call dark romantic, but to me the Raven sound tends more toward "neutral", a term I've never been particularly fond of in audio, because I hear coloration not just in reproduced but live music.

Otherwise, you say,"It feels that there is less time for the note to get properly constructed, so before you could enjoy the note, it has passed." I hear the opposite, and for what it's worth, so do a number of others who have reviewed the Raven in various configurations. Just offering a different view here. In any event, I do wish you the best of luck and enjoyment with your personal choice of table[s].

Pani and Opus88,
Thank you guys for taking your time elaborating on your previous statements.
It all makes sense to me, other than the fact, that you disagree on some positions, but hey, we all hear differently.
Other interesting piece of information about Verdier Platine, that I gleaned in AudioAsylum- someone reported, that "it's oil bearing leaks small amount of oil, it is designed that way"??? really? is it true?

Dear poppycock, the two tables in question are the TW AC1 and the Micro Seiki RX5000. You own the TW AC3 and the RX 1500. There are significant differences between the RX1500 and the RX5000. With regard to the comments above, it would be helpful if you did your homework before responding. Please reread the post and do some google searching, you might learn something.

I don't post much anymore because of exactly what is taking place above is just tiresome but here is my 2 cents for the OP.

I have owned numerous TW Acustic tables, all one has to do is look at my previous posts and read.

-Raven One
-AC3
and lastly TW's reference FLAGSHIP table the Black Knight.

It's going to come down to a personal judement call but in my own set-up side by side "BK vs MS 5000" I GREATLY prefer the MS 5000 with mod by far. My MS actually has the upgraded Stainless Steel platter which comes with the 8000, I might be the only person with such and there is no ringing.

I also have the same floating platter mod as Sytax

I can go into detail but why, so many individules take such personally so no need to upset anyone, just enjoy listening to your music with what ever it may be.

I feel very fortuante to have learned what I have and to been able to do a side by side comparison without any presure.

I'll give you just one small but VERY IMPORTANT difference the MS has over any TW tables I owned and that is it's accuracy for speed, no matter what speed set for or music you are playing non of the TW tables I owned could keep a 100% accurate speed. This has a dramatic effect on rhythm & pace, which has an effect on the music being played over all.

Here is another test to do, with your stylus down on a record playing or not tap anywhere on your TW table, stand, isolation and you will hear the thud threw your speakers, do the same with my MS dead silence, nothing. Air born frequencies are a enemy for any vinyl lover and that's why we hear dramatic differeneces sonically using isolation so just imagine the positive effects as what I have wrote above with no negative effects.

These are only a few areas