Reviews
I received the MK3 last week
and was told it would be at two or possibly three months
before the full benefit would be realized. With only "out of
the box" play I was not prepared for the upgrade Bill
Thalmann achieved with the MK3.
Just to make it clear, I have no involvement in the mod
other than loving Bill's work and being a happy customer.
I'm still trying to come up with words to describe the
improvements, it is not exactly like anything else I've
experienced and it took a couple of days to believe and
accept.
I will continue to listen and come up with a clear
description
(if possible).
Also, Bill and his counterpoint Richard Krebs in New Zealand
are working on a similar mod to be performed on the Technics
MK2......
The improvements are supposed to be more of the same as I've
already experienced. I've had some time to think about this
and I guess what I expected was better signal to noise, more
black or whatever term you wish to use to describe
quietness.
It is a bit quieter but by far the astonishing thing is
resolution, big resolution changes and amazing lowering of
distortion. It was already the lowest distortion transport
I've ever owned and now it's moved another step.
What I keep thinking as a way to describe may not make
sense, but I'm going to say it because what I'm hearing I've
never experienced before.
Imagine music as very large peaks of sound with valleys on
either side. The peaks always satisfied you and dynamics and
low level details were as good as you ever experienced.
Then the modified table comes back and you now realize the
valleys were full of sand or dust. Now they are sparkling
clean and there is another entire level of information down
there that has never been before. Going from LP to LP in my
library I find information, contrast and space within the
music that was never revealed before.
Also the extreme high frequencies are absolutely 3D. They
hang in space with their own dynamic and sense of space
while maintaining the same perfect speed and timing that was
previously there.
Sorry if I come off too flowery, I'm excited because a
change at the source is huge for the entire system and this
was a huge source improvement. I was not expecting one
fourth of what I got.
Albert Porter. Porterhouse Audio.
Hello Richard,
Thought that I would take a moment and provide you with an
update on our progress. We got the modified MK3 back from
Bill. Once installed in a base we gave it a listen.
The transient attack did return and was much better than the
unmodified table. The sound of the modified table was much
smoother top to bottom and the definition was much better.
The bass went noticeably deeper and was much better defined.
Joseph Sammut. Pass Labs.
I received my Technics SP 10 MK3 back from Bill Thalmann
last week, after having the Richard Krebs modifications
performed. Bill Thalmann had already done his complete
electronic overhaul of the turntable and power supply last
year, before I bought this turntable from Albert Porter. I
really wasn't expecting too much from the modifications,
since the turntable was already excellent.
I made several recordings before I sent the Technics away
for the modifications, both in analog and digital (reel to
reel at 30ips and digital at 24/96) because I thought the
differences would be difficult, if not impossible to hear. I
really worried that the resolution of either medium (tape or
digital) wasn't good enough to reveal the differences.
My Technics is set up with the original obsidian base and
feet, Graham Phantom Supreme arm (10"), Benz LPS cartridge,
Graham IC-70 balanced cable, and Boulder 2008 phono stage. I
play around with mats, but currently using Herbie's Way
Excellent Turntable Mat.
In sum, the Technics after modifications is a game changer.
I didn't need to hear my pre-modification recordings because
the improvements are so dramatic. To begin with, the noise
floor is lower and now matches my vacuum hold-down belt
drive. And while I thought the noise floor was already low
enough, the modifications allow me to hear details deeply,
most notably the mechanical action of keys on piano
recordings and long, long decays.
Musical lines are easy to hear and follow, even in complex
classical works. I believe a low noise floor enhances
three-dimensionality and sound stage because you can hear
ambient cues so much better - and there are ambient cues in
abundance. One of the most dramatic changes is the rich
detail in very quiet passages contrasted with thunderous
loud passages. This turntable plays music quietly and loudly
at a new level of realism for me.
My desire for absolute speed stability, a pet peeve of mine,
drove me to check out the direct drive turntables in the
first place. My reference belt drive always gave me a vague
uneasiness about speed stability - not necessarily wow and
flutter - but longer term slowdowns during complex, highly
modulated grooves. Maybe a little "rubber band" effect of
the belt, that is a continual contracting and expanding of
the belt. The Sutherland TimeLine indeed confirmed that my
belt drive turntable was challenged in the area of speed
stability.
The Technics' speed stability was already amazing and easily
trounced my reference belt drive in this respect - both
sonically and visually with the Sutherland TimeLine. After
modification, speed stability is even better - much, much
better and has to be heard to be believed. I hear this on
every single record I've played. It's hard to describe this
with words. It sounds more like master tapes.
The music sounds relaxed when it should and pounds you when
it should. I believe the hallmark of great audio equipment
is to let music sound relaxed when it should be relaxed -
with a natural ebb and flow of notes that you easily hear
with live unamplified music and not so often on reproduced
music. Maybe I am wrong, but I think speed stability
contributes to this "relaxed" sound.
A harpsichord recording that used to sound a bit "hashey"
now sounds natural, rich and pristine. In fact, this very
record made me question the speed stability of direct drive
before modification, giving some credence to direct drive
critics who claim that the bane of direct drive is the
constant "hunting" for the correct speed.
I absolutely no longer have this concern about the Technics.
In fact, Richard Krebs says his modifications make the job
of the servo control much easier, and much less necessary.
Maybe this is what I am hearing. Anyway, every record I've
played since modification advertises speed stability in the
extreme.
There are improvements throughout the frequency range. Bass
is thunderous, relentless and with excellent pitch
definition. Midrange remains excellent and is maybe the
least improved, but still benefits from the lower noise
floor and speed stability. Highs are much improved - musical
lines presented by instruments in the higher frequencies are
easier to follow and more "there".
Thanks to Albert Porter for selling me this turntable in the
first place and hosting his Tuesday evening music group
where I met Richard Krebs, and thanks to Bill Thalmann for
his excellent work. By way of disclaimer, I have no
financial ties to any of these men.
Ken McCarty.
Hello Richard
and Bill,
Wishing you well and enjoying music.
I had one Technics sp10 mk3 table and one PS running for one
week before attending THE SHOW & CES in Las Vegas. The
performance of the upgraded Technics sp10 mk3 table and the
PS was very noticeable:
---quiet ... black back ground, less back ground noise
---sharp attack
---excellent details delay
---more ambient details
---more dynamics, top and bottom.
I am very happy with the upgrade Technics sp10 mk3.
BIG thank you,
Tri Mai ( Triplanar Tonearms) |
Why do we listen to music? by
Richard Krebs
For us
it is to connect with the
musicians. To feel.
In our view, music is designed to elicit an emotional
reaction. This is it's reason for being. The upgrade brings
this connection closer and deeper.
Some examples, not necessarily great recordings but great
emotional content.
HAPPINESS Vivaldi Helicon RR-23
LOVE Pachaelbel Cannon Tafelmusik RR-13RR
FEAR Pachaelbel Cannon Tafelmusik RR-13RR
Antill Corroboree EMI OASD 7603: Patti Smith Tramplin Radio
Baghdad ...run run!
AWE Monteverdi Vespers Decca 593-4: Beethoven 9 th Decca 6BB
121/2
AMAZEMENT Dead Can Dance MOFI 2-001
ADMIRATION Allison Krause Union Station live MFSL 3-281
JOY Ry Cooder Mambo Sinuendo nonesuch 79691-1
SADNESS Eyeless In Gaza
FOND MEMORIES Any Jethro Tull!
What does live music sound like?
To us it has all of the qualities of connection listed here,
but if you want to dissect it into its constituent notes, to
us it goes like this. Obviously the note has a beginning
which should rise at a rate dictated by the instrument.
Likewise it should decay in an appropriate manner. What is
difficult to achieve with any realism is the centre of the
note. This is where the note has mass. This is where the
emotion lives. One should be able to close ones eyes and
imagine walking up to the note frozen in time. You should be
able to hold it and it would have weight and a texture. Even
a live struck triangle has this mass feature, but it is very
hard to replicate with a stereo. Our upgrade goes a long way
to doing this.
The DD, BD debate.
There is an ongoing debate between audiophiles in the Belt
drive camp and those in the Direct drive camp.
The BD people say that they can hear a DD motor cogging and
can hear the servo correction constantly adjusting the
platters speed. The DD people say that they can hear speed
errors due to belt stretch, or slip and no matter how heavy
the platter is, it does not have enough inertia to drive
thru heavily modulated passages.
Lets look at these assertions.
Stylus drag and servos.
Some years ago we owned a highly respected expensive DD
turntable which had a JVC motor. Platter weight was around
2.5 kg with the mass concentrated on its circumference, so
it's moment of inertia was high. This, not the platters
weight, is what really counts.
In an effort to improve this TT, we built a heavy duty power
supply. Listening tests definitely showed a positive change
and out of curiosity we placed an oscilloscope on the power
supply's output. To our amazement we saw a distorted picture
of the music that was playing at the time. Even high
frequencies in the music were present in the power supplies
output.
This meant two things.
1) The power supply was not nearly stiff enough
2) The platters speed was being modulated by the music due
to stylus drag and the servo was attempting to correct these
errors, drawing current from the power supply in the
process. The platters inertia was not enough even at high
frequencies, so speed correction became necessary. The servo
was acting to correct these errors.
Speed variations due to stylus drag are real and
significant. This conclusion lead us to search for a DD
motor system that had a high inertia platter and a very high
torque motor to ameliorate this problem. The SP10 range was
the logical choice. There are other brands that also meet
there criteria. These motors and their associated
controllers have absolute dominance over the high inertia
platter, so they have a better chance of taking care of
stylus drag issues.
But another problem became evident. There was a pervasive
greyness and tension to the sound which never quite went
away. Increased resolution of our system only served to
highlight this problem. Fifteen years of hunting down the
cause has in our view been successful. While we cannot
objectively measure this, we believe that the platter does
in fact frequently change in speed, we call it jitter, due
to speed measuring errors. While jitter is normally
associated with digital recording and playback, we are
confident that you will agree it is appropriate, once you
hear the effect of its removal. The theory is that these
errors are not induced by stylus drag but by errors in the
motors own speed measurement, which the upgrade addresses.
The irony is that the BD people were right all along. The
beautiful irony is that there is a fix.
With the motors load burden greatly reduced because it is no
longer correcting errors that do not exist, you will now
hear increased drive capability. There is more in reserve to
push thru musical peaks. This drive virtue is one of the
features that drew us to DD technology in the first place.
Imagine this being significantly enhanced. Listen to how an
orchestra swells in volume for a clear example of this, or
how it drives the beat forward in modern music. The music
also takes on a stillness that mimics the live event, it
becomes grounded.
We should step aside to explain what our goal is when
evaluating an upgrade step. We strive for accuracy and
musicality. The problem here is that accuracy is close to
being unknowable. Very few of us were there at the
recording. We did not hear the mic feed. We do not know the
sound characteristics of the lathe or the cutting head. So
how can we know what is actually scribed in the grooves?
Even if we are fortunate enough to have a copy of the master
tape, we do not know how the tape formulation has changed
the sound or for that matter how the reel to reel changes
the sound or what the mastering engineer did when
transferring to the cutting lathe. The answer here is that
we don't know what is there in the grooves.
But what we can listen for is a difference between LP"s. The
greater the difference we hear between a range of LP's the
higher the intrinsic accuracy of our system and by
definition our turntable. This because the system is
imposing less of its own characteristic on the final result.
Greater inter LP difference equals greater accuracy. On the
topic of musicality, we believe that the modifications
dramatically improves speed accuracy, mimicking the relaxed
ebb and flow of live music without the nervousness of direct
drive jitter. Timbral accuracy is improved. Slam and drive
is improved. Again, all of these things mirror live music.
So we also know that there is an absolute improvement
resulting from the upgrade because the reproduced music
sounds more like real music.
We can't know whether the upgrade has resulted in a more
faithful reproduction of the original master tapes, but we
have to assume it does, since the end result is more like
live music and the differences between LP's is greater.
Musical beauty exists, if by virtue of good luck or more
likely, extremely skilful recording and cutting, the
engineer captured a close facsimile of the musical event.
This is when we connect. |