Brilliant! Thanks for sharing that.
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A lovely story Jonathan, thank you for sharing.
I had a similar lust for a Gyrodec from the first time I saw the ad back in the early '80s. I hadnāt even heard it, but I knew I wanted one and so many years ago, when I spotted an ex demo example come up for sale at the right price, I pounced. Like yours, it had the full acrylic and boy did it look fantastic. Ironically though, as I upgraded it through Orbe platter, Orbe motor, QC, then full Orbe spec, it never quite wowed me looks-wise in the same way as it did originally. I promised myself I would get an SME IV to finish it off, but then fell down a rabbit hole with a guy in Southampton who promised amazing performance from modifying the RB300 that was on it with structural changes and new wiring (IIRC he became Origin Live), and then I resuscitated my old Sondek with all the Naim Armageddon bits and bobs and it was moved aside, eventually to be sold to a colleague in Naimās R&D dept.
However, I did eventually buy an SME IV. Iāve never used it though, so it sits in the box awaiting the right turntable. Which ironically, might just be another Gyrodecā¦
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How funny we both lusted after the Gyro for so long - itās interesting that you ran the whole gamut of upgrades and somehow preferred the original - at least visually. I have added the Orbe clamp which is much nicer to use but never really wanted to modify mine too much as I loved the original design so much. I have never actually compared the Gyro to the Orbe side by side so would be curious to know what differences you perceived sonically?
Your unused SME IV must be unique and now worth far more than you paid for it! John Michell did tell me that he used the SME arms on his own Gyrodec/Orbe at home and believed they offered the best match. I think that even now the Gyro is one of the biggest bargains in hi-fi. Itās sort of the Breitling of turntables, an engineers spinner with design details like the fact that the platter was designed to be a perfect impedance match to a vinyl record. Also impressive is the self lubricating bearing design which pumps its own oil around as it turns and the way that the subchassis is balanced perfectly to any arm by machining the associated arm mounting plate to maintain equilibrium.
Thereās a Gyro waiting out there for you and I hope you buy it!
Jonathan
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I still have my gyrodec after 30yrs, originally with a rega rb300 but soon replaced with an sme IV
it still has the original papst ac motor an gyro power supply.
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52user - to be honest Iām still on the Papst AC motor and QC too and havenāt ever really felt the urge to change it! Happy listening! Jonathan
I think I paid around Ā£900 or so for the SME IV, which seemed like quite a lot of money then, and now, and was rather more than the Gyrodec cost me back in the '90s.
IIRC, SME used the Gyrodec during development of the SME V and IV tonearms, so Iād imagine a good match is a given.
As for performance, it was all a bit long ago now, but I do recall enjoying each step in the upgrade path. Biggest though was when I sent it all back to John Michell to be brought back to new and up to Orbe spec. It was fantastic with classical vinyl giving an immense soundstage and its ability to transport you back in time to the recording location of golden age recordings, whether it be Covent Garden, Kingsway Hall, or the La Scala Theatre, was uncanny.
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Your story and deck are both inspiring, @JonathanG , thanks!
For me, the Gyro is a sort of āhome versionā of one of the coolest physical experimental setups - used to measure G, Newtonās universal gravitational constant.
Hereās a photo of the famous apparatus, originally from the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, now in use at NIST, the national metrology lab of the USA.
Web site with a bit of background and other photos is here:
You can see the rotating masses, for the tortion (twisting) balance; there are as well stationary test masses on the outside. The experiment measures the gravitational force changes as you swap out the test massesā¦ waaaay tiny compared to planets orbiting suns! Itās a very careful experiment (although orders of magnitude less sensitive than the gravitational waves experiments youāve maybe read about at LIGO).
Anyway, too geekyā¦ but I find it sort of romantic that one of the coolest looking turntables in all the land bears such a striking resemblance to one of the coolest fundamental physics experiments.
Enjoy yours!!
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Donāt you mean āunfortunateāā¦?
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Iām so enjoying playing records on my little record player. Itās just so nice - small, simple, beautifully made and with just the right amount of shiny bits.
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Alan,
What a fascinating article and piece of apparatus - it does indeed look like the Father of Gyrodec!! I do find engineers incredibly inspiring people - Frank Whittle, Thomas Edison, Henry Fox Talbot, Julian Vereker, John Michell - the world would be an infinitely less interesting and inspiring place without them!
Actually on reflection itās even more like the Transcriptors Hydraulic Reference - what an awesome piece of 1960ās design!
Jonathan
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Thatās a beautiful looking piece of industrial design, but surely fails as a turntable, as the record being played is only supported at six points.
Is that a stylus brush bottom right?
Very stylish, but what is it? It does look a bit toy-like!
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Absolutely lovely Jonathan!
The Gyrodec is my all time favourite turntable from an aesthetic perspective. The SME IV is the perfect match for it too, a classic pairing. Thank you for sharing and for the history too.
Best regards, BF
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The Hexmat Eclipse platter mats work on the same principle with a small number of bumps to support the record. I know it seems odd and counterintuitive but these mats have been reviewed very well.
The Transcriptor supports the record at 10 points including the centre pin, not 6. Also, I think the US bit of gravity kit is from the last 15 years or so. This means if I am right both the Transcriptor and the Gyrodec pre-date it. A fascinating object all the same.
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Their beautiful apparatus is only the latest in a long series of experiments with this type of torsion balance / pendulumā¦ the originals go back many years. Coulomb used one in the late 1700ās as a way to measure the electron charge. The G experiment āswingsā back and forth, rather than rotating indefinitely in one direction, so itās not really a turntable per se. Sorry Iāve confused things!! It was really the romance aspect for me - @JonathanG had met Mitchell and others; I have met Quinn, Faller, and others. Geek cool.
ps - even the eye-watering prices of the most expensive home turntables, arms, cartridges, phono stages, etc., pale into insignificance when compared to the costs of doing decades-long precision measurement experiments!
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Thanks @LindsayM . I agree, it is a very impressive piece of engineering. For me not perhaps as elegant as an SME, Rega or early Roksan arm for that matter, but stunning in its own individualistic way. Lovely to use too. I keep having a quick look at it every time Iām in its proximity. Iāll have to wait a little while for the ML to run in, but itās already sound very good indeed. Iāll report back in couple of weeks time.
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Robinho - love your early Gyro and deep respect for keeping it as John Michell made itā¦
Jonathan
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Another Gyrodeck luster here Jonathan. I never owned one preferring the original Xerxes and now a Linn. I did have an SME IV on the Xerxes though. I still love to see them doing their thing in shop windowsā¦
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Last time I was in Tom Tom they had one of those strange 70s double platter Michell decks. Donāt know who these were originally aimed at, maybe just well heeled enthusiasts who wanted something different. Canāt imagine one being used at a disco!
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Was that a Double Prisma? A very rare thing. IIRC there was one up for sale about 5 years or so ago. It was very temptingā¦
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