|
Timestep Evo Turntable
For a long time we have been building special turntables for our
customers. Most of them are nearly identical and based on
the one we use for our demonstrations. A lot of people
have asked for the price of what they hear, and now as a single
package you can purchase our best value turntable.
It has evolved over
the years as our depth of knowledge has increased and as our
understanding of the subtleties of Technics direct drive architecture
became more apparent. It is with that in mind that we have
christened this model the Evo.
The advantage of a
proper phase locked, crystal controlled, direct drive motor is the
absoulte pitch stabilty, so important on piano and also on
electronic music. There is no belt to compress and expand, and
no matter how much energy the cartridge is taking out of the
record, there is no pitch error. In fact there is never
ever
any short or long term frequency error, the PLL of the Technics
maintains absolute phase stability and even if you slow the
turntable down with your finger, the pitch will not change, only
the phase, but remarkably when the finger is removed, the phase
goes back to where it was. This is the absolute ultimate
in pitch stability. But all direct drive turntables are
not created equal, many do not in fact have good pitch
stability, and some none at all! Also some aftermarket
modifications reduce the stability in an effort to make them more
musical and more like an LP12. Timestep, led by Dave Cawley, know
exactly what they are doing and measure, audition and document every
single modification.
Timestep go even
further and very subtly adjust the PLL motor dynamics to be
optimum for the Oyaide platter/mat. This absolute
fanatical attention to detail produces one of the best sounds you will ever
hear from a turntable. We also adjust the speed to be 10
times better than turntables costing over £10K. Pitch
stability
is very important but absolute pitch is equally important.
The bearing is
crucial and we use a specially manufactured unit to our own
design with twice
the surface area of the existing unit and over twice the
diameter. This runs on a silicon nitride ball on a
replaceable PTFE thrust pad. We even auditioned and
measured over a dozen
or so different types of oil.
The platter was a
complete surprise to us! At the 2010 Whittlebury Hi Fi Show
a Japanese engineering company came up to our stand with a platter that
looked like a cross between a Ducati racing motorcycle disc brake and
a flying saucer, and in fact machined to the same ultimately high
precision. We should have known from their passion that this
was the platter/mat for keeps, but we took it home, tested it,
measured it, listened to it it and came to the conclusion it was in fact the
ultimate. Unlike other very heavy platters there was no
problem with phase or pitch stability/wandering.
The tonearm caused
some head scratching, as so many people loved the SME 309, and
after some time we concluded that if we specially ordered it and
paired it with the Oyaide interconnect cable we had a winner. There
is absolutely no hum at all, none. The 309 renders the music
just like it is, no extra embellishment, no drama, just the truth.
The Oyaide cable adding that little bit extra and eliminating a
potential hum issue at the same time.
The cartridge is a
matter of choice. We love the OC9 with its incredible
detail, and bass. Never overstated, never understated.
However the AT33EV (Evolution) adds just a bit of the
Koetsu Rosewood signature to the OC9 and gives a slightly more
grown up sound. The AT33EV is a superb match to the
SME 309, so for us it's a no-brainer, but the customer can have
any cartridge he desires, fitted by us.
We believe this
turntable will become a classic in the same way as the SP-10 and
L07D but without the maintenance problems and with a thoroughly
modern cartridge and arm combination.
Read
the review in Hi Fi World
click here
|
Specification:
●
New
Technics SL-1210 MKII
●
Timestep HE PSU
●
Timestep bearing
●
Timestep Evo oil specifically matched to the bearing and
MJ-12
●
Oyaide MJ-12 platter/mat
●
SME
309-TE modified and with Evo paint finish
(performed at the SME
factory)
●
Oyaide PA-2075DR arm cable
●
Timestep SME armplate
●
Solid sorborthane feet
●
MD2
(motor dynamic mod)
especially configured for the MJ-12 mat
●
Strobe disable switch
●
48 hour burn in
● 5 year warranty
Timestep Evo £3,695.00 with arm (supply your own turntable
and deduct £800)
Options
STB-MS clamp/weight £225.00
AT33EV cartridge £449.00 |
 |
 |
 |
Timestep Evo
Lite Turntable
For those with a smaller wallet we offer a compromise.
Using a pre-owned SL-1210 that you can buy on eBay for £150 to
£200. You buy it and get it sent to us. Or if you
prefer we will source one. At any time the Lite can be
upgraded to full EVO specification.
Specification:
●
User
supplied
Technics SL-1210 MKII
●
Timestep PSU
●
Audiophile mat
●
SME
309
●
SME arm cable
●
Timestep SME armplate
●
Strobe disable switch
●
48 hour burn in
● 2 year warranty
Timestep Evo Lite £1,695.00 with arm
|
All prices shown
include UK VAT Prices
correct at
26 May 2011 |
|
|
|
