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In the Forum: Analog Playback
In the Thread: Copper Mat on a Micro Seiki Gun Metal Platter
Post Subject: About Micro, AF-1 and the rest...Posted by Romy the Cat on: 10/29/2017
 jam wrote:
(maybe another RX-5000 as a flywheel might work?) If not set up correctly(which can be a pain) it can cause problems. 

In my case use the RX-5000 as a flywheel did not work. I mean it “worked” well from mechanical perspective but I did not detect any sensible sonic difference.

 jam wrote:
In my opinion the best improvements to a RX-5000 are the use of a stainless steel platter with a copper mat…

I personally do not feel that using ether stainless or copper is better. The Micro designer told in 2000 when I unfortunately met him that stainless platter were made for setups that run tube electronic and copper platters for setup that run SS electronics. It is a cleaver thinking but I am not sure if is practically honest. I personally do not like sound from Micro of a record lays directly on metal platter, would it be copper or stainless. I always put a hard rubber mat over any platter. BTW, Micro people knew it and this is why they had a very thin felt mat over the vacuum hold down version. I personally feel that stainless is much better platter but only because it I much heavier. The American Sound turntable has stainless platter that is 3 time higher and many times heavier, it is even better. The heavier platter goes in this topology the less the other things matter.
 jam wrote:
But in my humble opinion  both these tables are superior to the AF-1. The AF-1 suffers from several problems a) a motor system that has insufficient torque, b) a suspension system that is incomplete  c) an inefficient  arm mounting system which has been corrected in the AF-3 and as as someone else put it it too much 'bling' for it's own good. Look at the updates that have gone into the AF-1. Problems that they will try to fix in the upcoming AF-0. Technically the AF-1 might look good on paper but in my opinion it removes the soul of the music being played. A classic case of a product being released before all the bugs were ironed out. A lot of modern products have taken a step back because of desire to introduce new features that are questionable at best and discard tried and true engineering practice. 

Jam, I very much agree with you observations. Warn you that I never had AF-1 and my familiarity with it derives only from a friend of mine who does have, who tested it very well and who characterized it with word “absolute shit”. I am not personally not familiar with design and the reasons why it is good or bad, so I will keep mouth shut. I do not like the large parley to western world that TechDAS opened with. As the western audio media and distribution framework embrace a product they unavoidable kill it. The idiots- reviewers and media are lowering the standard and demands and the product begin to target to lower common denominators. I did not see any product in audio what did not follow this pattern. Very few of manufacturers do maintain integrity but not of them become popular hi-end products. So, considering that each “famous” audio writing retard nowadays in a queue to get his TechDAS turntable and to exchange for for a pile of irrelevant written gibberish I do not think that TechDAS has any reasons to make better turntables. It is juts my opinion. I do not know that the TechDAS products but I am an expert to observe and to criticize the brain damage that happens with a person/company which also itself to be taken by the hi-end audio sewerage system.  

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