Vinyl, records, phonograph plates of pleasure are riding a wave of revival that show no signs of slowing down - and with good reason. Let's not dwell on the format wars of quality and purity, but instead, acknowledge the ritual.

Deciding on the mood, thumbing the vinyl collection, pulling out that favourite album of the moment, carefully removing the sleeve. A glance or a detailed read of the sleeve notes with the emotional nostalgic memory of when/where it was bought or where it was first heard. A close inspection of the record condition, squinting at the track listings (that seem to get ever smaller). Then firing up the turntable, the gentle caress of a record brush and finally, the needle drops and listening begins. The Michell Gyro SE takes the vinyl ritual to histrionic proportions - spinning bling of beautiful industrial design.

History

Michell Engineering was first founded by the late John Michell, who had been a prominent figure in the audio world for over 50 years. He was also well known for making scale models during the 1960s and it was during this time that he met Stanley Kubrick and built the spaceship ‘Discovery’ for the film 2001 – Space Odyssey, later to become the inspiration for the revered GyroDec.

Since the early 1980's, when the Michell Gyrodec first burst on the scene, it still remains one of the most desirable, iconic turntable designs of all time. The Gyro SE is a variation of the GyroDec design. Doing away with the full size acrylic plinth and hinged lid of the Gyrodec and replacing them with a single acrylic spider to support the turntable. This was done to reduce the overall size of the GyroDec and create a smaller more compact turntable.

Design Features of the Michell Gyro SE

The low contact area feet of solid aluminium are shaped so the area in contact with the supporting surface is very small, this is done to minimise the transfer of vibrations from the supporting furniture into the turntable.

The spring suspension system The three towers are fixed to the acrylic base to hold the suspension springs in place and provide height adjustment for the sub chassis.

The weighted pendulum style sub chassis hangs on these three suspension springs, this provides a rigid dense platform to mount the main bearing, platter and tonearm assembly, ensuring there is no movement between them, while also acting as a ‘resonance / vibration sink’ drawing away unwanted vibrations from the sensitive elements of the turntable. Thus, unlike the Linn LP12 where the suspension system springs are in compression , the Gyro’s springs are in tension.

The inverted oil circulating main bearing. Contrary to traditional designs, the main bearing has the point of rotation at the top of the assembly, not at the bottom. This orientation allows for full lubrication of the inside of the entire bearing while the platter is turning. This is achieved by way of a modified Archimedean screw that is machined into the inside bore of the bearing. 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. Lubricating the precision parts of the main bearing in this way means that any potential for noise or vibration created by the rotation of the platter is avoided.

The Michell Gyro SE in our bristol shop demo room

The impedance-matched platter with solid brass weights: The platter material was chosen for its vibration dampening characteristics and because sonically it is a very similar material to vinyl, so it has a very neutral sound characteristic. The brass weights are added to give the platter extra mass and subsequently more momentum when spinning. This greatly improves speed stability and helps keep wow and flutter to a minimum.

The free standing motor unit: The motor unit used to drive the turntable is completely separate to the turntable, meaning it doesn’t touch the turntable in anyway. The only connection between the motor and the turntable is the drive belt that drives the platter. This greatly reduces any noise or vibration created when the motor is running getting through to the sensitive parts of the turntable.

The TechnoArm 2 is a custom one piece arm tube with 22 drilled holes on the underside to reduce mass. The tonearm is assembled using ultra-low friction polymer bearings. The wiring loom is 99.9999% pure silver litz wire from the cartridge tags to the phono plugs with no internal wiring joints.

Cartridge Matching

Here at Audio T Bristol, we have experimented with various cartridges on the Michell Gyrodec SE. What is apparent is the manual VTA adjuster allows greater flexibility in cartridge selection. The Rega MC cartridges are an excellent fit, the Hana SH Shibata High output MC is just fantastic and close run with the Dynavector 20x2. We pushed the boat out for this setup - mounting the Dynavector XX2. According to Dynavector, the DV XX-2 MKII retains the benefit of the flux damper, but features the Alnico-5 magnet and the similar rigid construction to the Te Kaitora Rua. Alnico magnets exhibit high magnetic flux density combining with a low coercivity, therefore magnetic resistance is lower than other magnetic types such as rare earth and ferrite, providing the exceptional stability of the XX-2 MKII output voltage. There is also the additional advantage of low magnetic and electrical resistance contributing to a discernible improvement in sound quality.

The XX-2MKII also exhibits deep powerful bass, treble is both clear and lively possessing none of the hardness found in many moving coil designs, and this compliments the punch of the Gyro SE Turntable, rhythm and excitement.

Setup

Source: Michell Gyro SE
Phono Stages: Rega Aura, Rega Aria MkIII
Amplifiers: Rega Osiris, Naim NAP 300 DR
Preamplifiers: Naim NAC 252
All-in-One: Naim Uniti Nova

Listening

Christmas came and went, but left behind a lovely selection of fresh records to spin, among them Bonny Light Horseman, self titled album, which sees Fruit Bats singer Eric D. Johnson join veteran multi-instrumentalist Josh Kaufman and singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell to revisit ancient folk songs presented beautifully. The Gyro SE shines with this multi- layered acoustic tapestry and live recording feel. The sense of space and timing is excellent. Equally, vinyl recordings by Stereophonics, You gotta go there to come back, Amy Winehouse, Back to Black and Portishead, Dummy are all played with such gusto, elegance and fun that the Gyro SE just leaves you wanting to listen more. There is a molasses thickness to the bass and lower mids giving great punch and weight to the sound stage. It never shows up a bad recording or struggles with different genres, but seems to get to the heart and the drama of everything that is spun.

Comparatively, the Michell Gyro SE with the Dynavector XX2 II MC Cartridge comes in around £4,500. This puts the deck between the Rega Planar 10 with Apheta or Linn’s entry level Linn Majik. Either of these decks are a great vinyl experience. Effortless, textured, great imaging and depth of sound stage. Each have their unique characteristics, design philosophies and ,as a result, quite different presentations that are well worth an audition side by side to establish your preference.

Thanks for reading.

Justin, Max & James - Audio T Bristol

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