TW Raven One owners- will this be it ?


I'm seriously thinking of going for it but just want to be sure that this is my last TT.
My wife has been complaining about my pile of gears in the attic which i really have to start disposing.
$6500 these days plus an additional $4k + for the arm is quite a chunk of cash. But got to enjoy it. I'm hitting 55 by December and gotta enjoy life!

My previous TT was the scout, Scoutmaster & the Aries 3. All good TT's but i think its time to move on.

On the other hand, there is a VPI Classic tempting me at $2500 clams. A few of my buddies up North swears by them.

So, what's it gonna be guys ?

Which of these two turntable will give me a more analog sound ? more weighty sound ?

Looking forward to some informative opinions here.

Raven One owners, any itch to upgrade to the next tt ?

How easy is it to set up & is this Raven finicky with ancilliary gears, carts, isolation stands, etc ?

Fire them up.

Dan
128x128mid40sguy

Showing 1 response by crystalref

I bought a Raven One tt last February and am mightily impressed! I twinned it with a new Graham Phantom II and Transfiguration Orpheus L mc cartridge at the same time and am very happy with no desire to 'upgrade the tt'. I am 53 and the Raven One replaced an Oxford Acoustics Crystal Reference tt/SMEV/Koetsu RS I had owned for 21 years (cartridge obviously changed during that time span!). My goal was to purchase a simple, non-suspended chassis tt with compact footprint, not exceeding 30kg in weight (top acrylic shelf of my Stillpoints ESS405 equipment rack is good for 34kg load). The Raven One appeared to tick all the boxes and was available in the UK for a reasonable £3K. I was impressed by all the internet chatter about the Raven One and the consistantly good published reviews. I felt confident in making my purchase without prior auditioning (not really possible anyway due to TW selling all they can produce for the UK market).
The sound is utterly natural with appropriate weight, great depth and scale to the image. I own a dCS Paganini SACD stack and the analogue front end is on a par, quality-wise.
Moving coil phono stage is built in to my Karan Reference MkII preamp with CJ SA350 power amp, Avalon Indra speakers and MIT Oracle MA-X cables.
The Raven One is simple to set up and forget. The quality of fit and finish is exceptional and the design will accomodate any make and weight of tonearm and is superbly versatile.
Highly recommended!