10/11/2023 0 Comments Auditorium section detail![]() The oil is drawn from a reservoir at the base of the main bearing up to the thrust ball at the top, fully lubricating as it goes, it then returns to the reservoir via a waste hole drilled into the bearing spindle. We achieve this by way of a modified Archimedean screw that we machine into the inside bore of the bearing. This orientation allows us to fully lubricate the inside of the entire bearing while the platter is turning. “Contrary to traditional designs,” the Michell site continues, “our main bearing has the point of rotation at the top of the assembly, not at the bottom. ![]() This in turn pretty much demands an isolation platform to protect the table from footfalls and other exterior noise and vibration.Īlso included with the TecnoDec is what they call an “inverted oil-circulating” main bearing. ![]() The belt-driven TecnoDec ’table includes Sorbothane feet inserts in three pod-like aluminum footers that Michell claims, “isolate the turntable from the supporting surface.” The TecnoDec is a non-suspended table, meaning there’s nothing to cushion the spinning platter from the rest of the table, or the noisy world around it. The TecnoDec is an unsuspended turntable that utilizes technologies and materials only found in much more expensive turntables, to perform well above its price point.” (We’ll soon enough find out, won’t we?) (They also offer upper-tier performance with their pricier Orbe and Orbe SE turntables.)Īccording to Michell’s site, “The TecnoDec is our entry-level turntable, and it shares many features developed for its bigger brother the GyroDec, such as a vibration dampening, impedance matched platter, inverted oil circulating main bearing, and a free-standing motor unit. Perhaps best known for their recently revived GyroDec ’table, which was originally a super-hot property in the mid-’80s through the early 2000s, Michell is back in the turntable game, bigtime. Thus, looking at a new, $1,000-to-$2,000 turntable that’s built to last with modern materials and is generally manufactured to higher spec than less expensive turntables are is the route I prefer to travel these days.Īll of that preamble brings us to our review subject today - namely, the British-made Michell TecnoDec Reference turntable, which sports a sweet-spot SRP of $2,698, and comes with an included Michell T3 tonearm. Too many things can go wrong and rot away with the purchase of 60-year-old piece of machinery - if you can even find the parts, that is - not to mention being able to secure someone knowledgeable enough to work on the machine if need be. Unless it’s something like a ’50s-era Thorens, Empire, Rabco, Garrard, or EMT ’table, I wouldn’t touch vintage turntables myself anymore. Naturally, as the SRP level increases, so do improvements in the plinth (base) material and isolation, the platter weight and its material, bearing quality, motor quality, tonearm design and build, tonearm materials, tracking ability, and a long list of adjustments only available with the better tonearms - which, as a result, lead to greater long-term satisfaction and reliability. The first question in that barrage is more likely than not to be the one that carries the most weight with many potential new turntable buyers these days - namely, “How much can I spend on this new vinyl-spinning machinery?” The least expensive, lowest level you can go dollar-wise and still call a machine a turntable is about $249, such as what the U-Turn Orbit Basic turntable currently runs. ![]() Whenever you’re looking to buy a new turntable, you have to ask yourself a number of questions first, such as the following: How much can I spend on it? How will the turntable fit into my current audio system? What cartridge should I pair with the turntable if it doesn’t include one? Should I go for a belt-drive or a direct-drive design for driving the platter? Should I follow heavy-mass application theories to deaden resonances that can confuse low-level detail, or should I keep things light and agile to achieve the desired levels of PRaT (pace, rhythm, and timing)? Should I go for vintage or new? Should I buy an external phono preamp, or go with a turntable that has one already included?
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