TT suggestions -- please

I really enjoy threads about turntables, interesting to see other people's points of views on the most criticial piece of gear you'll likely ever own. For whatever reason I seem to be one of the few that love Oracle turntables, and yes they are a suspended design. When I was at CES I was chatting with Jacques Riendeau (Oracle) about the Delphi Mark V and he demonstrated how he could continue playing a record and literally bounce the platter up and down several inches without mistracking. Pretty cool. My Delphi Mark IV has a tendency to do that when people walk around in my listening room (sprung floor) and although it never made a difference in the sound kind of worried me all the same. While at CES I also bumped into Stephen (Quest for Sound) and he sold me these little footers that make a huge difference. They are about 2" x 2" and are made up ridged rubber on the top and bottom with cork sandwiched in between. I put them under the three feet of my Oracle and the bounce went away. Awesome tweek for $2.50 a copy.
In any event, if you want a state of the art turntable that also looks like fine art, consider an Oracle.

1musiclover: I combined several sources of info into that one post. John Atkinson made the statements that he did in a relatively recent article about the 100 most influential audio components.

The comments regarding the isolation and review were courtesy of either Audio or High Fidelity magazine. They did a head to head comparison with a Sota ( American ), Linn ( European ) and the top of the line Kyocera / CEC ( Asian ) table. To keep things simple, the Linn did pretty poorly compared to both the Sota and the Kyocera in terms of any type of measurable testing performed with them. The reviewers made specific comments as to how poor it was at isolation and how just anything set the stylus to skipping across the grooves. Sonically, that would be a matter of preference and have a lot to do with what arms, cartridges and type of support platform that you had them on.

Since the Sota is the least susceptable to external vibration, setting it up is a lot less finicky. On top of this, it makes the job of the stylus a lot easier so that it can do a more accurate job of reproducing music rather than being interferred with. Since it can now deal with the microscopic vibrations recorded in the groove rather than having to cope with the vibrations applied externally from either floor or air-borne vibrations, the sound is more detailed with a blacker background. Like anything else that is electro-mechanical in nature, it is susceptable to tweaks and does require maintenance though. As such, one need look at customer support as an integral part of buying any turntable.

Jeff: I like the Oracle and may have purchased one of these. The problem is the availability of parts availability, shipping to and from across the border, etc... The above mentioned statements regarding the Sota and the fact that they are located less than 20 minutes from my house made things very easy to decide what to go with.

The footers that you mention are also sold by Rcreations here on Agon. They work off of the constrained layer damping idea. I don't know if they are identical to what you mentioned, but i'm sure that they are similar in concept. Sean
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Tom,

To answer your question about how the Shelter 501 mates with the WB Act arm, I have to think that there is an apparent synergy going on there to get the kind of excellent performance that I've been witnessing. It seems very stable when playing a record and the frequency balance and dynamic shadings are outstanding. On the Eros system, the acoustic guitar seems particularly well-served and is rendered better than I've ever heard it in the vinyl format. Nothing sticks out as being exaggerated or out of place, and I have no complaints so far, which is unusual for me. So in my view, the combination of the WB 0.5 and the Shelter 501 II, is highly recommended.

Mike, the output on the Shelter 501 is 0.4mV, just marginally higher than my Benz Ruby (0.33mV).

I honestly can't tell you too much about Michell's customer service except to say that I did not enjoy my dealings with their US distributor and when I had an issue with the Orbe's motor, I sent it directly to England. Michell replaced it under warranty with no charge except for my shipping (to them) and about $15 in Customs' fees. Honestly, there's not much to go wrong with the Michells and replacement parts are readily available if needed.

To upgrade to the Orbe from the Gyro, the platter and bearing are changed as the basic step. To go to a "full Orbe" the motor and controller are also changed and there is a double acrylic spider assembly. I think that gets pricey because of the motor and power supply/controller unit.

If I were to upgrade my Gyro I think I might stop at the platter and bearing upgrade, then maybe fix the suspension with bdr cones. I think those two things would yield the most cost effective performance gains. But, you know, the Gyro platter is really decent and such a work of art (with the gold-plated brass weights) that it would almost be a shame to change it...

Best regards,
Frank

Frank, that's great. I'm glad to hear that. Now I can file that in my useful information, and be able to pass it on to others. It's nearly impossible to try everything yourself, so it is really great when I can get the opinion of someone else who knows what they are listening to, and can give a meaningful opinion.

I'll bet you are really enjoying it. I know that I love my 501. It's a real winner.

Mike. The Sota is also a very nice TT, as Sean and Nrchy point out. You would not go wrong with it either. I have my preference for the Teres however.