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I have one of my newest Micro Seiki RX-5000 sitting in basement for years and doing nothing and I decided to let it go. I was keeping it for year as some kind of back up TT, in case my 8000 got broken or as TT that I would be able to use at my second setup in Opera Room. Looking how I use my Opera Room, what kind musoc I have been listening there I finally concluded that it will be never a turntable in there. So, the 5000 will be going away….

It is interning to think about the price I have to ask. The market value of RX-5000 nowadays is about 10K. I look what the turntables cost out there. It looks like for the last 5-7 year the price of turntables (and loudspeaker) climbed up significantly and nowadays any chip plastic TT that use to cost under 1K people trade for 5-7K, similar to it you will hardly fine any 3-4 way loudspeaker for under 25K. So, I wonder if I position RX-5000 at the very top echelon of TT in trim of performance, significantly more interestingly in sound that many contemporary TT with price tag of 30K, then shall the price of RX-5000 reflect that?

What I do is not trying to pump up of RX-5000 cost but rather to raise a legitimate question about the RX-5000 value. 10K nowadays is a price of something like Technics SL-1000, will RX-5000 deliver better sound? The interesting moment – I do not know the answer.

We unfortunately price turntables not according to their Sound but according a public reputation and bits of roomers we collect from publications and from internet. It might be a valid way to do the thing but it is not objective evaluator.

I think the value of TT might be measured by Last Sound it produced. What does it mean the “Last Sound”. Pretend that you set up some kind of serious installation and got some kind of sound that you were looking. Now, you have the most advanced sound your playback is able to throw. Pretend that you identify that you would like to have something more. It might be anything: let say less mechanical character, deeper bass, more articulate phrasing, high dynamic range in lower volumes or more stable tone control in soft and loud passages. However, you playback is operating at very high of it’s mechanical capacity and there is just no way that to get more out of it. This is a good time to look into TT and tonearm if you are comfortable with your cartridge and phonostage, as TT and tonearm are primary parties that hold your mechanical limit.

I do not insist that TT like RX-5000 might open another sonic level of that mechanical capacity. It is very possible that some kind of new flimsy TT with electronic control of itself will do the job. We just do not have the more or less credible data in this respect and the people out there (including myself) might be wrong. Micro Seiki RX-5000 is just a vision of how no-nonsense TT might be build and in my view RX-5000 is a very good no-nonsense vintage TT. Still, I do not know how to market this TT as we do not have a fretwork to talk, think about the TT sound. I did receive a few emails asking about the sound of my RX-5000. I did told that my RX-5000 has some removable modification of platter (subroutine layer under hard mat) that in my view makes it better. However, how valid my view? I have no idea.

I kind of like this TT and I had a difficult time to decide to let it go. I have many audio items that in a way “unique” that I been keeping in storage and value them for the performance that they deliver. However, recently I change my view on the subject and I am no longer value my basemen as some kind grave yard of audio exotics. I am slowly letting some of my good drivers, tonearms and some other unused pieces of equipment to go as I do not need to keep them. Now is the turn of my RX-5000. I will be sad that I do not have it as I love this TT but as anything else in the life – one door is closing another is opening. I hope my RX-5000 will find a good home for somebody and I hope the new owner will appreciate it as much as I do.

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