Having come to a rather significant crossroads in both my life and audio journey in 2024, I have started thinking about where things might end up. I hinted after the October 7th Hamas assault on Israel and subsequent explosion of antisemitism across parts of North America that everything felt different for me. Family health issues have also taken a toll and losing 52 pounds since January was rather unexpected.
Nothing feels the same to me anymore. Concentrating whilst listening to music has been difficult for the first time in decades.
Weird.
How will the next 50 look?
Simple. Uncluttered.
Where would I begin? With a turntable.
It is never the wrong time to conduct a personal inventory and it was strange to discover that I currently own 6 turntables; my record collection got smaller during the pandemic and that’s not a bad thing. Quality over quantity. And I’m rather certain that 700 to 800 records would suffice looking into the future.
My larger point is that I would rather own one high-performance deck and perhaps have one additional unit for my home office or bedroom.
So what would I buy?
Michell Gyro SE
When Fidelity Imports took over distribution of Michell Audio’s Turntables, many of us in the industry knew that this wonderful British brand finally had the distributor it needed to really take off again here.
More than 20 years ago, a Michell Orbe SE was my daily driver and for almost 3 years, I enjoyed vinyl playback at a level that I had never known before.
During those 3 years, I added more than 300 records to my growing collection and the desire to enjoy CD playback diminished significantly. My Copland, Audio Note, and Rega digital components started to gather dust on the rack.
That table is long gone but I never forgot about how it changed my understanding of how great vinyl records could sound.
The Michell Gyro SE is a lower-priced alternative to the Orbe SE ($9,500 USD) and it many respects — is a much better deal for the money.
Three suspension towers are fixed to the acrylic base to hold the suspension springs in place and provide height adjustment for the sub chassis.
The platter material was chosen for its vibration dampening characteristics and because sonically it is a very similar material to vinyl, so it has a very neutral sound characteristic.
The brass weights are added to give the platter extra mass and subsequently more momentum when spinning. This greatly improves speed stability and helps keep wow and flutter to a minimum.
You can use other tonearms on the Gyro SE (SME was very popular at one point), but the Michell Technoarm 2 makes the most sense and it finishes off the exceptional industrial design in the right way.
There are few tables as beautiful as this one at any price; the package with the TechnoArm 2 runs $5,500 USD and whilst that is not inexpensive by any stretch of the imagination, there is much more to this table than just conversation-inducing industrial design.
The Gyro SE might not deliver the Usain Bolt pacing of the Rega Naia or the thunderous control and resolution of the Kuzma Stabi R, but what it delivers for one third of the price is so musically engaging that one could not help but be enamored with it for life.
The build quality is extremely high and it requires so little maintenance to keep running at the highest level of playback. Michell has tinkered with this design for years and it feels like they have it exactly right.
It delivers the weight, resolution, clarity, rhythm, delicacy, and tone that can make listening to vinyl so emotionally rewarding.
Steve Jain of Fidelity Imports knew exactly what he was doing when he took on the brand.
Where to buy: $5,495 at AudioAdvice (in black or silver)
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