Michell Engineering Gyro SE

£3,500.00£5,800.00

The Gyro SE is a variation of the GyroDec design. Doing away with the full size acrylic plinth and hinged lid of the Gyrodec and replacing them with a single acrylic spyder to support the turntable

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Michell Gyro SE

Gyro SE Black

Spider Turntable.

The classic Michell turntable, continuously refined during many years of development to the current level of performance.

The Michell GyroDec Se is a three-point spring-suspended turntable of medium mass, which is compatible with most quality tone arms in existence.

Based entirely on the GyroDec, but without the costly acrylic plinth and dust cover, the Gyro SE brings the same qualities in a more affordable and compact package.

A Michell Gyro SE can always be converted into a GyroDec by purchasing a plinth and dust cover.

FEATURES
  • Low contact area feet: The solid aluminium feet of the turntable are shaped so the area in contact with the supporting surface is very small, this is done to minimise the transfer of vibrations from the supporting furniture into the turntable.
  • Three point spring suspension system: Three suspension towers are fixed to the acrylic base to hold the suspension springs in place and provide height adjustment for the sub chassis.
  • Weighted pendulum style sub chassis: Hanging on the three suspension springs, this provides a rigid dense platform to mount the main bearing, platter and tonearm assembly, ensuring there is no movement between them, while also acting as a ‘resonance / vibration sink’ drawing away unwanted vibrations from the sensitive elements of the turntable.
  • Inverted oil circulating main bearing: Contrary to traditional designs, our main bearing has the point of rotation at the top of the assembly, not at the bottom. This orientation allows us to fully lubricate the inside of the entire bearing while the platter is turning. We achieve this by way of a modified Archimedean screw that we machine into the inside bore of the bearing. The oil is drawn from a reservoir at the base of the main bearing up to the thrust ball at the top, fully lubricating as it goes, it then returns to the reservoir via a waste hole drilled into the bearing spindle. Lubricating the precision parts of the main bearing in this way means that any potential for noise or vibration created by the rotation of the platter is avoided.
  • Impedance-matched platter with solid brass weights: 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.
  • Free standing motor unit: The motor unit used to drive the turntable is completely separate to the turntable, meaning it doesn’t touch the turntable in anyway. The only connection between the motor and the turntable is the drive belt that drives the platter. This stops any noise or vibrations created when the motor is running, getting through to the sensitive parts of the turntable.

Michell Gyro SE

Spider chassis, suspended stable sub-chassis

Massive acrylic/vinyl platter of high inertia, with gold-plated brass weights

Inverted oil-pumping bearing

Custom arm boards available for most tonearms

High-quality stand-alone DC motor

Optional clamp

Optional HR supply

Optional Orbe-style platter and clamp

Options as follows :-

GYRO SE supplied with record clamp and standard arm plate of your choice. Silver or Black finish available Tonearm and cartridge not included.

GYRO SE HIGH or LOW supplied with T8 tonearm, Cusis E/H high output or low output moving coil cartridge, record clamp. Silver or Black finish available

GYRO SE supplied with record clamp and Tecnoarm T2. Silver or Black finish available. Cartridge not included

Optional Arms available:-

T8 Tonearm – not sold separately

TecnoArm 2

Weight 10 kg

Dimensions 49 (w) x 37.5 (d) x 13.5 (h) cm

 

Additional information

Colour

Black, Silver

Version

without tonearm, with T8 tonearm and Cusis cartridge, with TecnoArm 2 only

Brand

Michell Audio

Michell Audio Right from their very humble beginnings, they have set out to design and build products that offer true innovation to the audio world whilst still retaining the personal touch that was instilled into the company by their founder – the late John Michell. John began his engineering career when he served an apprenticeship with Finchley Autos in the early fifties. Deciding to start his own business, he set up in his garden shed and quickly moved to a small industrial unit in North London. Working as a jobbing engineering company, he soon outgrew the premises so, during the mid ‘60’s, moved to Borehamwood. Although very much an engineering company, John also made scale models and it was during this time that he met Stanley Kubrick and built the space ship ‘Discovery’ for the film 2001 – Space Odyssey, later to become the inspiration for the GyroDec. In the late 60’s, the company started to make parts for Transcriptors who subsequently re-located to the Michell premises. At this time, Michell were still supplying other local firms as well as working directly with the film studios making models and component parts for films such as Star Wars. When in 1973 Transcriptors re-located to Ireland, Michell took over the manufacturing under licence of the Hydraulic Reference turntable. These products are recognisable by their ‘By J.A. Michell Eng. Ltd’ name badges. 1977 saw the development of the first true Michell Engineering turntable – the Michell Reference Electronic. Offered in either a coloured mirror finish or marble plinth, both of these models are extremely rare these days. This was followed by the more upmarket Prisma, which was the first Michell product to be manufactured totally from the thick transparent acrylic material that was to become synonymous with all later Michell designs. Initially the vinyl record was supported by six pods only, as per the Reference, to reduce electrostatic charging of the vinyl. A later version of the Prisma added a glass platter on top, onto which the record was to be clamped. Being such a personable company and always willing to satisfy where possible, it was at this time that Michell also started to make certain ‘special orders’ for customers and distributors. A rare example is the Double Prisma. Mainly sold on the German market, the deck featured two platters working from the same drive system. A total of four arms could also be fitted. With sales growing steadily, it was decided to introduce an entry-level product so that the Michell brand could reach out to a wider audience. The Focus One consisted of a simple plinth suspended on sprung feet. The improved ‘S’ version followed quickly and was fitted with an improved drive system and heavy aluminium platter. At the same time, the Focus Tonearm was also introduced. A uni-pivot design, the Focus Tonearm has a layered-dampened arm tube and precision side weights for azimuth control. The early ‘80’s saw the introduction of the GyroDec – surely one of the most iconic turntable designs of all time. Developed to be used with an A.C. synchronous motor and two drive belts, the original GyroDec featured a heavy aluminium platter fitted with a rubber mat and the signature gold platter weights mounted below. Over the next four decades, the GyroDec has continued to be the company’s bestselling and most popular product. Key to this success has been the numerous developments to bring it to the level of performance offered today. These include the now famous inverted oil-pumping bearing; an ingenious design that dramatically reduces the amount of friction and wear resulting in low noise and rumble. Being the modular design that it is, the company is still able to offer all of the upgrades to bring an original deck right up to current spec. It was at this time that the understanding of power supplies and how they could affect a turntables performance started to become an issue. As an upgrade, Michell introduced the Gyropower – a passive device with a transformer and extensive RLC filtering of the motor voltage. Designed to power the original Papst synchronous motor in the GyroDec, the Gyropower paved the way for future power supply development. Inspired by the design of the GyroDec, the Syncro became the entry-level model in the early ‘80’s. An inverted-pendulum suspension design, the Syncro featured a glass platter. Later versions had a squarer plinth and a full hinged acrylic cover. The Syncro was superseded by the Mycro, which used the same plinth yet added the GyroDec MkII acrylic platter and a smaller version of the unique inverted bearing. The Mycro stayed in production until the launch of the Gyro SE in 2005. 1989 saw a small departure for the company as it moved into the electronics field. Designed by Tom Evans, the Iso Phonostage and Argo linestage pre-amplifier was launched and matched to the Graham Fowler designed Alecto MOSFET mono and stereo power amplifiers. Industrial design was by John Michell and matched the design of the GyroDec. The Alecto was later replaced with a MkII version while Graham Fowler designed a whole new phonostage and remote-controlled linestage pre-amplifier – the Delphini and the Orca. Although universally acclaimed for their performance, Michell Engineering ceased manufacture in 2001 when John fell ill. Manufacture was passed on in its entirety to Trichord Research – Graham Fowler’s own company – where they continued to produce the product for years to come. In 1993, the Gyropower was replaced with the much more advanced Gyropower QC. This was a fully-active power supply, synthesising two sine waves with precise phase relationship, which were buffered by two power amplifiers before driving the motor coils. The QC was an option for the GyroDec and Gyro SE and became standard for the Orbe (see below) when it was introduced in 1995. The design of the QC’s housing was derived from the Michell Alecto MOSFET power amplifiers. Following on from the success of the GyroDec and from demands for a higher end product from its customers, Michell Engineering launched the flagship Orbe in 1995. Developed as a true high-end performance turntable, the Orbe features significant engineering improvements over the GyroDec. Still the company’s flagship turntable, the Orbe has undergone refinements over the years and now offers a performance way beyond its price bracket. In 2000, John Michell was struck by a sudden illness but still continued at the helm of the company on a daily basis. Although given the all clear at the end of the year, the illness returned with a vengeance in October 2002 and he was no longer able to take part in the day-to-day running of his beloved company. He handed over the running of the company to other members of the family and, with the support of long serving staff, the company continued to thrive. This allowed John to continue at home with his main passion of design and during this period Michell Engineering introduced the current entry-level TecnoDec turntable, the TecnoArm 2, Techno Weight and the HR Power Supply. Sadly John passed away on 23rd October 2003 after a huge battle with his illness. His legacy continues as the company is still very much run in the manner to which he would have expected – professional, personable and still offering products that offer customers staggering performance combined with real value for money. With the recent launch of the Cusis Cartridges, Michell Engineering goes from strength to strength and through great support from customers, distributors and suppliers, continues to be one of Britain’s iconic HiFi marques Now in 2022 Michell are re-branding and now called Michell Audio, for the Love of Music
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