Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

Michell’s DC motor brings the Delrin platter up to speed within 4secs and, provided the bearing well is fully filled with oil, the deck’s speed is good to +0.05% [see Graph 1, below]. Thankfully, the low-rate drift seen with other DC solutions is avoided here, but the 0.06% peak-wtd wow sidebands coincide with the ±3.5Hz of the slightly stiffened main suspension. The Gyro’s treatment of noise is also atypical for while the direct, through-bearing noise is below average at –65.4dB (20Hz-20kHz, DIN-B wtd, re. 1kHz/5cm/sec) – visible between 20-30Hz and 65-95Hz on the magnitude spectrum – this improves significantly when measured through-the-groove at –73.7dB. Despite the felt washer being slightly too thick, adding the screw-down clamp couples the LP closely to the POM thermoplastic platter, boosting the S/N still further. With the clamp in place, the Gyro’s DIN-B wtd rumble is reduced to a state-of-the-art –75.6dB.

The partnering 9in TecnoArm 2 tonearm employs a Rega-sourced alloy tube with custom underslung counterweight – each graduation on the rear representing a ±0.1g change in downforce (accuracy is within 5%). The bearings combine zero play with a low <10mg stiction/friction while the holes drilled into the far 50% of the armtube [see p45] reduce the effective mass to 12g for improved compatibility with higher-compliance MCs and, especially, MMs. The tube’s main bending mode is an impressively high 205Hz but there is a far stronger, higher-Q 2nd harmonic (or other mode) at 535Hz along with sharp peaks at 1.5kHz, 2.2kHz and 3.1kHz [see CSD waterfall, Graph 2]. This is closer to the behaviour noted in the RB1000 [HFN Jun ’10] than in the ‘quieter’ RB2000 [HFN Aug ’15]. PM