Hi Dave, I think the reason for the thick platter is three fold - rigidity, damping, and flywheel effect/speed stability.
If my guess is correct and being a C/A it would be a super thick translucent acrylic platter. VPI like to mix things up a bit more and go for an alum/acrylic sandwich in their more expensive models to get rigidity and damping from a thinner platter?
The Orbe is very good I hear. Arthur Salvatore (and friends) rate it a notch higher than a Linn LP12....check out his "Class C" rated components... As I mentioned earlier some people have changed from Linn to Orbe and never looked back....
Hello All,Bill,what i,m saying is this,just by adding a power supply upgrades my Gyro to Orbe,but what i want to know is how???how can a power supply change the T/T specs from one thing to another without any modification whatsoever,and i,ve also been told that some people with "high end" T/T prefer MM to MC,for certain types of music.Christopher,that T/T with the very thin arm and that strange looking head,well its come to me what it reminded me of,[the headshell]do recall those B&O turtables with that funny looking head,thats what this Linn headshell reminded me of,was talking to Bernie about it,he thinks it was a Grace arm,i thought they made cartridges,proves what i know about T/T,checked out several arms and as yet havent seen one that is the same,will carry on looking.Listening at the moment to Groundhogs 3744 James Road,fabulous guitar work,could play it all night...........Take Care........Goodnight.........Dave
Speed stability seems to be a much more important consideration than many people realise, hence the pre-occupation with motors and power supplies?
The Linn can apparently be improved by using the Origin Live Motor for example. Just to complicate matters customers are divided on whether a Lingo is really a step up overall from the Valhalla power supply - which lends a lot more weight to the validity of the newer Hercules II supply!
My late Dad used to own a Grace G707.....the other design that occurred was the Hadcock ?
On the speed side of things, I once had a Thorens TD125 turntable and it was very advanced at the time (1975) based on a Wien Bridge oscillator to create the frequency and hence the speed, then offered a strobe to set that speed, so is that any better than a cheap synchronous motor that simply locks to the mains frequency anyway. Note I am not having a go at anyone mealy stating that I have fallen for many silly claims, one thing that came to light at the show, well two really, both vinyl based. One recording was definitely at the wrong speed and sounded at least a quarter semitone flat, then another that had 50Hz hum on it, and that was actually on the recording.
I think it important to note that one's home reproduction system is only half the story, their are many blunders made higher up the chain................. John...
David, Grace - that's a blast from the past! Nice though; good synergy with Linn.
Bill, Yes, you can upgrade Linns with DC motors like the Origin. The Funk Firm version is also pretty good. It's interesting that there is split opinion as to whether some Linn users prefer the earlier units or the later ones (post Cirkus) that were modified to compete with the Michell.
Hello Christopher,currently listening to Mozarts Symphony No 39 on the Gyro,glorious sound,did try it on her Systemdek through the Maggies and it[to me ]sounded odd,till i played it on my Gyro using my TDL Referance Standard Transmission lines,talk about perfect imaging and precise resolution,i dont think there,s a speaker on the planet to match these trannies,but i,m sure i,ve just declared war,and will be starting a discussion or argument[where,s Mr Fisher when you need him]..........Take Care All........Dave
Hi Dave, well I'm not far away, now you mention 'Mozart's Symphony No 39' I think that was something I heard at the age of fourteen and have never forgotten but what I will take you to task on is
A] the belief that a record deck can be so good as against a CD that is actually far more accurate as a recording medium and
B] that any speaker can be more precise in any way than a full range electrostatic.
I wonder have you tried the 'sugar in tea test' or tonight's version 'listen to the salt'
Whilst I keep harping back to physics here, you have to admit that a speaker with no box and virtually no cone mass must be a more accurate reproducer and from what I heard last weekend it most certainly is, two sounds that stood out from the crowd were 'Wilson Audio' speakers at some £25000 and even better a pair of Icon Audio imported electrostatics at £3500 that clearly showed the imperfections of vinyl recordings, so strikingly that even the salesmen agreed, .... Just got back from getting 'essential medical supplies' that is to many 'larger' and whilst in the shop a saw a girl with a most stunning 'bottom' so in my usual pissed way I said 'you have the most stunning bottom I have ever seen' well rather than take offence she smiled and said 'thanks', maybe I do come from a different planet after all...... John...
Hello John,if these Maggies are anything to go by then electrostatics for me are a non starter,and i am sure that these speakers are true electro,s but some sort of hybrid,in any case i dont like them one bit,as to the question of CD versus Vynil,its a silly argument to begin with,there,s no comparison between the two,it was just that the symphony sounded better on vynil than on CD though i,m sure there are CD copys that do this symphony justice,its just that i dont have one........yet,Ive listened to Wilson speakers and some of the very expensive ATC monitors,and if i had a system in the same league as these speakers then i,d have them,but as i havent,i,ll stick with my meagre trannies,which are still[IMO]one of the best speakers ever built..........Take Care ...........Dave
The best ribbon tweeters are claimed to outperform the top end range of electrostatics but below that conventional drive units tend to hamper those speakers and the Stat's overall coherence tends to wins out.
However, the Magneplanars generally use 2 (6 ft long if you buy the door sized ones) ribbon tweeters to handle different frequency ranges coupled with a fairly massive magnetic planar transducer to handle the bass frequencies. The downside of the Maggies is that this involves the use of crossovers and spoils what would otherwise be a perfect speaker.
The Magneplanars are wonderful speakers - which really compete with Stats and retail at very reasonable prices! Many people claim to have switched from them to Electrostats, but if you were to check out the "Maggie" Sites you'll see similar numbers of people migrating in the opposite direction.....
Bill, Yes, you can upgrade Linns with DC motors like the Origin. The Funk Firm version is also pretty good. It's interesting that there is split opinion as to whether some Linn users prefer the earlier units or the later ones (post Cirkus) that were modified to compete with the Michell.
Hello Bill,well what can i say,i,ve tried to get used to these Maggies but cant,i just dont like the sound they give out,these 1.6,s are the medium sized ones at only 65 inches[only!!]but i just cannot get into them,Brenda thinks they are the dogs b........cks but i dont.Still havent heard from Mitchel about this upgrade to Orbe,checked out cleaning machines,they seem quite reasonable,may invest in one.Been listening to Mozart for most of the day,both on CD and Vynil,in some cases vynil outperformed disc,and in others was completley outclassed,so i recorded both sources onto the 77 to see if it was the recording or the equipment,and sorry to say it was the recording,still it was an interesting experiment,even at 15ips.Not heard from Tamara for awhile,bet she,s having problems with her new medication,and where,s Carl.........Take Care Mate.........Dave
Hi Bill,not knowing the thickness of the Orbe,s platter i coudnt say,i didnt get any instructions when i bought the deck,the platter looks to be about a quarter to three eighths thick,but does the measurment include the mat or not,still its one beutifull made T/T ........love it..............Take Care Mate.........Dave
Hello All,been out today,and been given the all clear on my broken leg,treated myself to the boxed set of all Tangerine Dreams music on CD,currently listening to Force Majeure,gorgeous sound,and intend listening to Poland later on,the boss says that she,s going to listen to some on her system,she likes Phaedra and Atem but wants to hear more,she,s got plenty to choose from,Had a word with my local hi-fi dealer who,s put me straight on my Gyro deck questions,seems i need a major overhaul to my deck,which is a 1980,s model to turn it to Orbe status,and that it may be cheaper to just buy an Orbe,instead of going the upgrade route,but if i,m happy with what i,ve got,why bother,guess its that horrible bug rearing its head..........upgradeitis,so for now i,ll stick to my old T/T,Cloudburst Flight has just come on,back soon............Take Care All...........Dave
Hello All.well it seems that i wired these Maggies up wrong,they have been out of phase or so i,ve been told,my mate Bernie and his wife were round for dinner this evening and he remarked that these Maggies sounded "off" and checked the wiring and found that i,d wired them wrong,well what can i say,the result was astounding,we played Tangerine D Poland live in Warsaw,the sound just blew me away,the scale,imaging,precision,its making me think now about these type of speaker,though i think these are a little small for my listening room,even though they are larger in height than my trannies,i dont think they,d have the scale that these TDL,s do,though they do have a higher top end,but aint a match for the awsome power of the trannies,especially in the lower bass,cant decide what to do,keep the trannies or sell them for larger Maggies,but do they make a bigger speaker with more in your face presentation???,going to have to think about this.............Take Care All.......Dave..ps where,s Tamara??? getting worried
