Micro Seiki, or TW AC-1


I'm trying to decide between Micro Seiki RX 5000 and TW AC-1.
They are approx. the same price used (about $10K)
Both are belt drive.
Unfortunately, I don't have a first hand experience with either of the tables.
You can see my current set-up in my system page.
The reason, I want to make a change from DD TT to belt drive is just to try a different approach.
Also, I have a feeling, that the bass would be one of the areas, where MS and TW might have an edge over my current DD Technics SP-10 MkII
My endeavor into analog is fairly new, so I'm not sure what my final choice in analog would be, unless I try it in my own system.
What I'm really interested in is the following:
Sonic differences b/w MS, TW and Technics SP-10 MkII
Reliability
Service availability.
maril555
Dear Lotus340r: Nice post. Why I can't see analog rig on your Agon virtual system?, just curiosity.

Regards and enjoy the music,
R.
For what it's worth, Minus K does lift the performance of TW up quite a bit. Quite a step up from Symposium Ultra for sure but also at 3-4x the price.
Lotus340r, absolutely true what you are saying. Of course it is a different issue for the beginner, the mid term fidelty guy or the one who already has arrived in heaven. the first group is just feeling a bit unsecure dealing with all the different opinions & special advises ending up usally in dealer or brand oriented hands. The later species you can differentiate in the ones not doing anything at their system since 10-15 years or longer and the specialists finding & working on tiny improvement issues. Both are usally engaging more on platforms than listening to their music. How should it work listening to music when your sitting 8 hours the day in front of your computer and serving 5-8 audio platforms and maybe 40-80 threads (extreme!).

Anyhow the mid term fidelity guy might be the happiest man as he is not really political, not running a church approach and only sometimes relying on brand authority. All enjoy the insight into sometimes complex topics. It's good that we have all groups and without our 'platform-guys' we would not have that kind of exchange.

In a world full of business interests we will be not able retreating only to theoretical exchanges. It is also about products, here about Micro Seikis and TW Acoustic. The MS-problem is that they are no longer in production (comparable to EMT and others). But there is a community loving these units and some are trying to improve and sell. In the case of TW there is a company and sales forces behind it trying to raise interest in the products and there is also a community of afficinados. If I would run an audio company I would be interested in good reviews, good consumer base and good feedback. Nothing bad about this.

You are right the problem is people do not listen to the units in their own chains rather relying on 2nd or 3rd hand opinions, which is okay for getting a basic opinion. Maybe we have changed over the years, too. 20 years ago we would not have invested 20k or more into one turntable without having compared it with the contenders. Hopefully this thread helps also to motivate folks doing (!) the listening and find out what is best for them.
hi Rauliruegas, apologies, I have never gotten arround to posting a system but have just done it and posted on the forums.
Looks really good Lotus340r. Next step could be a second motor for the TW table. You will hear it!