Hi,
I have an old Gyrodec, and have just found out about Pedersen and his mods to several of the Michell range - anyone know anything about them ?
Given that my TT is 30 years old, has a few mods, like suspension upgrade, a QC power supply, I am wondering if it is worth doing much to, or to maybe look at a new TT at some stage - I am not unhappy with it, but just assume that after so much time there must be some progress, and is it worth spending on something old or to start saving for a replacement - any input guys ?

Cheers
Steve

PS Money is a problem, so please bear that in mind.....

It makes the deck look ugly and stupid. This appeals to certain audiophiles, who think their kit must look rubbish in order to sound any good. It also drops the resale value of your deck through the floor.

I'd do the usual things (belt change, check the oil, check everything's still properly set up) and carry on enjoying it as it is.

-- Ian

Ian - so, from what you are saying, there is not much I am missing..?
I bought it so long ago, and have not heard any other turntable since, so have no idea what improvements have been made, and as I live in southern Spain, returning it to Michell for an upgrade is not easy, unless I drive back. IAs I said, I am not unhappy with it, but do find myself wondering if I am missing out on newer stuff - the arm is an Origon Live thing, that cost £500 or so, and i have a Ortofon Kontrapunkt b into a Trichord Dino plus phono stage.
Does the deck have much resale value anyway, being to old ?
And thanks for your reply - makes me feel slightly better, and maybe richer.....

If your deck's in good condition, it'll have held its value quite well. Michell could bring it up to current spec, but how much that would cost depends on how much needs to be done - it's worth contacting them though, it may be less than you think.

I haven't heard the Pedersen mods, I just think, given that John Michell knew what he was doing, they're unlikely to do much more than give a slightly different presentation. Plus, they're hard to reverse (one of them involves drilling holes in the plinth). I take reports of huge improvements with a pinch of salt, experience suggests (to me at least) that Michell got his design fundamentals right.

If, after all this time, you're feeling the itch to change, I'd go with the itch and start budgeting for a completely different deck rather than spending money to have your current deck buggered about with. But what you've got is pretty damned good as it stands, provided it's set up right and everything's working as it should.

-- Ian

The full Pederson mod is a quite dramatic rework of the Gyro, I thought about it but rejected it because I was concerned that it was a big outlay for uncertain reward and there was a fair chance of messing something up (reworking mangled acrylic is a lot harder than reworking mangled MDF).

On the other hand, his armboard mod is quite inexpensive, reversible, and does sort out one aspect of the Gyro's sound. I did that, and quite like the outcome. Changing to the DC motor is also a good thing.

On the third hand, my feeling is that the innate character of an item is rarely altered radically by modification (unless the modification is really radical). Meaning that - at the end of the day - a Gyro with the full Pederson works is still a belt-drive highish-mass suspended turntable, my guess is that what you'll get is a refinement of that approach, which is fine if that's what you want. For a radically different sound, you'll probably have to try something different (which is why my Gyro with DC motor and Pederson armboard mod will soon be featuring in the for-sale section).

And on the other other hand, the grapevine suggests that people who've gone down the full Pederson path are happy with the results.

...so if you are about to sell yours, any ideas what you might be replacing it with yet ?
I need a turntable that does not go out of tune easliy, or need fancy set-up, as I am too far from any dealers, and no expert myself. I have often thought about an Orbe, but having not seriously looked at anything since I bought mine, I have no idea what is out there, and at what sort of cost.
Good luck with your sale - I will try to keep my eyes open, or if you were to post a thread on PFM it might attract a few lookers....
Cheers
Steve

I don't think Michell decks go out of tune once they're set up, and it's an intrinsically stable design. Setting them up is the usual suspended-deck story of twiddling the springs and supports - Michell's later revision made that easier than with their earlier springs, and it's all done from the top. There's a setup guide somewhere online (Werner Ogiers - spelling? - the author, I think).

Replacement for the Gyro is a Sony TTS-8000. Completely different design philosophy. And I can get two arms onto it.

Replacement for the Gyro is a Sony TTS-8000. Completely different design philosophy. And I can get two arms onto it.

Ooh, nice. Where did you get it, ebay?

-- Ian

The Gyrodec is still a quality TT. I would laso give Michell a phone and ask them about servicing or bring up to modern day spec.

I have an Orbe SE and think it's great, I also use a Trichord Dino+ and in my mind you still have a quality analogue front end. You just have to see the price Gyrodec's go for on ebay to realise that it will still be worth it.

The Michell decks don't go out of tune, from my experience, that easily and are much more stable than some give suspended designs credit for.

I also agree with what was mentioned earlier - Michell was a quality designer and knew what he was doing, that's why his decks are still popular and the fact is you don't see too many of them 2nd hand.

One of the reasons I bought the Gyro was its ability to stay in tune, and as the general opinion seems to be that the deck is still quality, I may end up keeping it - or maybe ebaying it and getting an Orbe - are they a big step up ? Any ideas what sort of money to look for if I sell the gyro..?

I personally prefer the Orbe over the Gyro but bear in mind you can get the Orbe platter as an upgrade to the gyrodec and the gap closes quite a lot. The Orbe has an extra level of isolation via a secondary acrylic plinth.

I would seriously give Michell a shout and see what upgrades have been done over the years - may be not all are needed for your's.

I do know the dc motor/psu on Orbe was an improvement over the old ac unit but you may not feel the need to do this.

Also I think the Michell Technoarm is a quality piece of engineering and a joy to use for about £400 - I prefer this over the Origin Live arm but this is just personal taste.

So my advice would be to drop an email (or phone) to Michell and get a price list of the upgrades/servicing.

In all honesty you will have to spend serious money to get better than a gyrodec.

My Gyro has the Orbe platter (I bought it secondhand with this platter already in place, so I couldn't really tell you how big an upgrade this is), DC motor, VC PSU, and Michell Technoarm. I occasionally think about upgrading to something else, but then I realise I'd have to spend a lot of money to get something significantly better, and I like what I have, so I've ended up keeping it for far longer than any other bits of my system.

I recently took it to bits, transported it to a new house, and rebuilt it, and was struck by how well designed it is. It's been a few years since I gave it a full strip down and rebuild, and I'd forgotten what a nice piece of engineering it is.

-- Ian

Ooh, nice (Sony TTS-8000). Where did you get it, ebay?

-- Ian

Bought it new, used it for a while, moved house, put it under the stairs for safe keeping, forgot about it, remembered it 20 years later. Yes, it is nice, those big DD tables got a bad press when they were current.

My Gyro has the Orbe platter (I bought it secondhand with this platter already in place, so I couldn't really tell you how big an upgrade this is), DC motor, VC PSU, and Michell Technoarm. I occasionally think about upgrading to something else, but then I realise I'd have to spend a lot of money to get something significantly better, and I like what I have, so I've ended up keeping it for far longer than any other bits of my system.

I recently took it to bits, transported it to a new house, and rebuilt it, and was struck by how well designed it is. It's been a few years since I gave it a full strip down and rebuild, and I'd forgotten what a nice piece of engineering it is.

-- Ian

Yep - I'd agree - great thing about the Michell decks - simple and yet wonderful engineering.

I really do think you'd have find some serious cash to out do them. there are other decks like the NA which are in a similar price bracket but whether this is a upwards or sideways move depends on your personal preference.

I agree with finding out the costs of servicing and getting the Gyro up to spec , A couple of recent items which are getting quite good reviews are the Cartridge man isolator and Funk Achromat , I was advised the Orbe upgrade was a waste of time but have had a few dealers recommend the Achromat and Isolator ?

I upgraded my Gyro with the Orbe platter and sold the deck within a few months. It lowered surface noise and seemed to extend the frequency response a little but after extended listening I concluded that it killed some of the life and rhythmic drive.

I upgraded my Gyro with the Orbe platter and sold the deck within a few months. It lowered surface noise and seemed to extend the frequency response a little but after extended listening I concluded that it killed some of the life and rhythmic drive.

I would have agreed with this regarding the Orbe - but since they have the new DC motor and NC psu I think the rhythmic qualities of the Orbe has significantly improved. I ran mine in parallel with my LP12 (a supposed king of rhythm) to decide which one to keep - and in all honesty the Orbe beat the LP12 in every area - including the life and rhythmic drive.

Hi,

I'm in southern Spain,I'd recommend a VPI,there much cheaper here;i have a Scoutmaster,so can set it up for you no problem at all.I can get also get clearaudio decks,phono stages,Sonneteer,Dynavector,Trichord,The VPI I have at home,the clearaudio I'll put in the shop.feel free to ask for anything.

Juts out of curiousity, has anyone here actually heard the Pederson mods (apologies for reviving an old thread)?

Cheers

Rana

I know someone from another forum who had the Pedersen mods applied to his Gyrodec and swears by them. The rest of his system is Esoteric CDP/Bel Canto amps/WB Arcs so not yer average 'flat-earther'; this might or might not have a bearing on the likely appeal (to you) of the Pedersen mods.

http://home20.inet.tele.dk/pedersensgyro/

Here is a link to Pederson's website. Very interesting! I have had my Orbe SE for 4 years and recently upgraded to the NC powersupply. I do not find it lacking in any way. It is much better than the LP12 it replaced.

Anthony

Can you imagine how much something as elegantly designed as the gyrodec would cost if it were made by linn, naim or sme? Or if it had just been in production a year or two? Or if it had recenltly been discoverd by the triode crowd? If it were priced as most audio, it would cost 2 to 4 times what it goes for. My opinion.

"not yer average 'flat-earther'; this might or might not have a bearing on the likely appeal (to you) of the Pedersen mods"

I'd guess with my current system (Quad amps and QLN speakers), I would be be struggling to measure up on the FEPs! I was intrigued by the SME-inspired O-ring suspension, but looks like one cannot buy the Pederson kit with just that particular mod. I'm not that overly keen on the horizontal stabilisation bit...

Oh right, well don't worry about it then, I'm sure the standard deck is fine :)