Spacedeck compared with Gyrodec SE

4yanx and others-

Thanks for all the advice. I was speaking with a dealer that recommended the RB700 arm over the Space arm to be used with the Shelter 501 and then perhaps the Koetsu Black down the road.

Is there some inclination on paper that the RB700 would be a better compliance match, or perhaps even yield a better sonic signature than the Space arm combo? I personally was leaning toward the Space arm with the Spacedeck thinking the synergy would be better.

Would you recommend any other tonearm in this price range (Space & RB700 arms) that would work well with the Space Deck and Shelter 501 cartridge?

From what I am hearing from both members as well as dealers (only inquired to dealers that sell both Michell & Nottingham) is that the Space Deck seems to be more "musical" than the Gyro SE is the phrase that keeps coming up. However, both are supposed to be excellent. Does this seem correct?

Thanks again for all the help!

I use a Shelter 501II with a stock SpaceDeck with Spacearm. Great combination. Have the dealers who are not recommending this combo tried it?

One thing that PERHAPS the dealer is not considering is the fact that Tom Fletcher designed the Spacearm with two stabilizer bars (which you can see from the bottom of the arm). This design seems to allow for a bit of exception to the normal compliance issues with a medium mass unipivot and, from the experience of many, the 501 mates well with the Spacearm, though I wouldn't stretch things to something like, say, a Denon 103. I cannot comment specifically about the 700 but the Spacearm with 501 sounded better to several of us than an OL Silver with 501, ON THE SPACEDECK, FWIW.

I am surprised that somone finds the spacedeck to be literally superior to the Gyro in detail, musicality and pace (same as speed consistancy, yes?). I would have thought that they would be equals on some terms and one better than the other in other cases. I would have thought that the real difference between the two would be that the spacedeck was blacker in the background, and images more vivid and solid. And the Gyro would be lighter fleet of foot like, more nimble, less vivid. As for differences in detail, I am surprised that a spacedeck is superior. Was that Gyro one that you personally owned for some time and were very familiar with setting up and in particular were you confident that you had its suspension tuned properly? If the suspension on a Gyro is off then it will not perform well. As for musicality, thats such a subject thing to quantify and ultimately I think that one comes down to what a deck does to someones brain. Someone may really key on the standout strengths or differences of a spacedeck (big, vivid images for instance) and to them thats what makes the one more "musical" over the other.

Also, another thing to keep in mind is that if that Gyro SE was the one with an AC motor, and no QC powersupply, then its not the same deck someone would buy new today. A person today would get one with a DC motor and it sounds quite a bit better and different than the older Gyro. The AC motor Gyro is literally a completely different beast when it is QC'd, and the DC motor sounds basically the equal to an AC + QC.

And that is another nice thing about the Michell decks. They evolve and are improved thru time (AC to DC motor wasn't by design however - but recent SE chassis sure was). I don't know if Nottingham does this with their products or not, but its something to think about from a long term ownership perspective. Hell, NA came out with what they thought was a better, thicker platter, that users are saying sucks. Not exactly a swift move on someones part.

Actually, Nottingham came out with the thick platter as an option resulting from the American market which demanded a "thicker is better platter". Tom Fletcher, himself, will tell you that he prefers the original platter on the Spacedeck and that his customers in Europe and Japan have and continue to eschew the thicker platter.

It is true that the Gyro benefits greatly from set-up tweaking. That said, it is also one reasons (other than sound) that I don't prefer it (I'm lazy) and may not recommend it to someone who is new to tables or does not have a resource to help them with the table in their home.

When comparing the two tables, I was listening in the shop of a long-time acquaintance who has been in the business for many years. As such, I feel fairly confident that both tables were at least close to their ultimate, respective setups. The Gyro was of the DC variety. I fully agree that this feature improves the table markedly.

As far as updating, 'Nots basic premise is "the simpler the better", so there are not many design features to update. If Fletcher's collective inspirations accumulated sufficiently, he'd probably just do a new model as in the case of discontinuation of the Interspace in favor of the Horizon (a super-value table in its own right).

One thing with respect to the DC motor in the 'Not. It is extremely low-torque, you have to give it a nudge with your thumb to start it up (no on-off switch!). While it is DC, it is also very quiet, in my experience, and exceedingly stable with respect to speed consistency. 'Not and others sell separate power/speed control units - some costing thousands. Experience reports on these with the 'Nots are a mixed-bag, with some claiming improvements while others feeling it is a waste of money that can be spent better elsewhere. A friend of mine brought a VPI unit over and we could not tell much, if any, difference using it in conjunction with the Spacedeck. Maybe, as long as you have a steady and clean power source to begin with, these units are not necessary.