The Mike New Technics Bearing

[KONDO]

Hi.it would lose big time,had tabriz zi on mine,and it wasnt as good, cart was rondo red,

[Mike_New]

Hi Gareth.
Yes I have recieved your emails but unfortunately I have been enjoying the hospitallity of my local hospital for the last 7 days.
I have had internal bleeding which put me out of action. No cancer anywhere but very small vessels in my intestine which leek.
So guess what!! I am going to have a pill-cam to locate the problem.

[Canetoad]

Best of luck Mike!

[walpurgis]

Hello Mike. Hope all goes well and you are OK. I know the feeling when things go pear shaped healthwise. Geoff.

[Spectral Morn]

Here's to a speedy and full recovery - God Bless


Regards Neil

[Wookii]

Hi Gareth.
Yes I have recieved your emails but unfortunately I have been enjoying the hospitallity of my local hospital for the last 7 days.
I have had internal bleeding which put me out of action. No cancer anywhere but very small vessels in my intestine which leek.
So guess what!! I am going to have a pill-cam to locate the problem.

Hi Mike,

Sorry to hear of your hospital stint, I didn't realise you were ill when I e-mailed. Glad to hear its not the big 'C' though, I'm currently going through that with my Dad, and its not nice.

David has sorted out a nice selection of your gear for me though, so no problem.

I hope you get well soon and make a speedy recovery.

Cheers,

Gareth

[Marco]

Hi Gareth.
Yes I have recieved your emails but unfortunately I have been enjoying the hospitallity of my local hospital for the last 7 days.
I have had internal bleeding which put me out of action. No cancer anywhere but very small vessels in my intestine which leek.
So guess what!! I am going to have a pill-cam to locate the problem.

Too much vino and good living, Mikey!

Did you see this thread: http://theartofsound.net/forum/showt...-Get-Well-Soon

Take care and get well soon, amigo.

Marco.

[MikeMusic]

Good to hear from you Mike

All the best for a fix and full recovery

[RobbieGong]

Did anyone else see Noel Keywood's article in Hi-FI World ? He replaces the stock bearing with a Mike New bearing and gives his findings. The install procedure is also pictured.

Interestingly the article opens by saying (quote) that as the days of the turntable came to an end in the 1980's, Technics produced one of the slickest Direct Drive models ever; the SL1210 MK2. And continues to say it is monument to Japanese technology, that of the servo-feedback DC motor, but also a product cleverly pared down, Japanese fashion, to bare bones minima to be inexpensive. There's a lot on it that can be improved (as we here on AOS know only too well) and this includes the main bearing, say MCRU.

Anyway and to summarise some points from the article:

It says that the bearing did slightly improve sound quality by way of overall depth perspectives, bringing a smoother feel to images on the sound stage, which were set against a darker background. It also brought more solidity and stability to singers and instruments, firming the sound up to make everything a little more lifelike. The rock steady pitch stability remained so nothing was lost in this upgrade.

Measured Performance showed wow and flutter rose slightly from 0.06% to 0.1%. Their spectrum analyser showed a very low value of basic rate wow at 0.55% (33rpm), as usual with the Technics, but a flutter peak at 7hz that I have not seen before (quote).
It continued to say that in absolute terms the degradation is not large and I suspect subjectively of little consequence. You have to bear in mind that most belt drives measure around 0.2% IEC/DIN weighted wow and flutter. This makes the Technics look good by market norms, especially at the price - and degradation from the Mike New bearing is minor in this context.
Also, a discrete 7hz flutter peak seems unlikely to come from a bearing there is no mechanism that could generate such an effect. This suggests that stronger mechanical coupling between bearing/motor/chassis may be strongly transmitting a discrete vibration. Is this the flutter talked about with Direct Drive, making its presence known due to more rigid structure ?

An interesting article of which I copied some of as above from the copy I purchased from WHS. This is not the article in its entirety.

Noel said the MN bearing shaft was not chromed like that of the stock bearing which he felt was a tad disappointing. (Doesn't bother me in the slightest unless chromed has any sonic benefit?)

HFW gave the MN bearing upgrade four globes out of a possible five.

Verdict: A substantial but neat upgrade that improves sound quality

For: Easy to fit, well made, improves sound

Against: shaft not chrome plated, adds a little flutter


Personally, I think it is great that the Techie and it's upgrades are getting featured / reviewed over pages in such hifi magazines. Now for a feature with the MN bearing base plate also fitted

[MikeMusic]

Thanks Robert

Surprising a mainstream mag doing an article on upgrading a old record deck.
Think MCRU could be in for an order or two