Vantage Audio upgraded technics bearing

[worrasf]

I have just got my technics bearing back from Vantage Audio (http://www.vantageaudio.com/) after a level 1 upgrade which essentially consists of a new thrust pad with integral oil well and thrust pad support.

I shipped them my old bearing (well brand new actually so as to get the most out of the upgrade) and got it back after 4 days including a 24 hour test bench run - pretty darned impressive service and all for a miserly £82.

So any difference to the standard bearing? I should preface my response by saying that after getting my Decca Blue setup correctly last week my system has never ever sounded so good.

The difference is subtle but most definitely audible and becomes more obvious the more one listens - especially complex pieces.

The first thing I noticed was that vocals were more "expressive" (probably the wrong word) but on long-held notes - especially going up and down scale I can hear much more of the natural variance in vocalisation and inflection - it imparts a more natural "live" sound - it's like hearing subtle differences in regional accents. Having heard this difference I then became aware of similar differences in instrument "voices" - especially sustained notes such as bass guitar, harpsichord, piano where there is more detail to the trailing edges of notes than before. Interestingly, while the biggest changes to my ears are in these "harmonics" and "inflections" there is also no doubt that fast notes start and stop with more control - so plucked strings have better definition. Bass guitar "riffs" already well presented before are now that bit more defined and controlled. There has been no change to the essentials of PRaT or sound presentation/stereo imagery.

So not a night & day improvement but an improvement nonetheless. I suspect that when replay kit gets to this level then improvements of necessity will be small and incremental.

I am very pleased with what I got for my £82 and very impressed with the service and communication I received at all stages from Vantage Audio.

Steve

[MCRU]

If it improves the sound then its money well spent boss.

[chris@panteg]

looks very good Steve , Richard is very good to deal with and his work and service , 1st class .

He has a very different and much simpler way of improving the 1200 , and is worth listening to , and to add that he's paying me another visit today , and in his word's , bringing some Bit's and Bob's with him , he's keeping mum though .

[MCRU]

looks very good Steve , Richard is very good to deal with and his work and service , 1st class .

He has a very different and much simpler way of improving the 1200 , and is worth listening to , and to add that he's paying me another visit today , and in his word's , bringing some Bit's and Bob's with him , he's keeping mum though .

come on then, let's have it :eek:

[Tarzan]

Bearing shootout, bearing shootout!:)

[chris@panteg]

I now have a vantage modified bearing on loan from Richard to try out , we had a very long chat about all sorts of stuff yesterday ,we also found time to do a quick A-B between the QL1 and the 1210 now fitted with strat's 1042.

He felt the 1042 needed some hours on it ! and to play with the VTA a little , i am finding it difficult to hit the sweet spot ! Too high and it sounds a bit shrill ,all good fun though .

He also told me was at Scalford last month ! He enjoyed hearing a system using some old Radford's ,will have look through the pics again , unfortunately he couldn't get in the AOS room , it was packed at the time .

[chris@panteg]

And to add he also told me any problems i had in the bass ! Would not be down to the 1210 but elsewhere in the system so i was in the wrong on that score , happy to be proven wrong in fact !

[Marco]

Indeed...! Ahem..... ;)

Marco.

[Gromit]

Thought I'd resurrect this thread, rather than start a new one, therefore anyone who might be searching after info on the Vantage bearing can find it all (or much of it) here in the one thread.

I haven't made up my mind 100% about the VA bearing in my 1210 yet, but am working on it. Will post here as and when - Richard's kindly loaned me this one for a couple of weeks (along with the VA feet) to get my slant on it.

[DSJR]

Interesting. That bearing mod looks to have a deep nylon? support but a different material to actually take the weight of the platter.......

Regarding the 1042, try using it ever-so-slightly down at the back, tracking sat around 1.7g or so. may or may not improve things, but it worked for Rega 3's fitted with these cartridges.

[Gromit]

Dave - my VA bearing looks broadly similar to the above one but the disc at the base of the thrust pad is black. Underneath this disc is a pair of further discs made of 2 different, soft materials. The lower one butts up against the base of the turntable chassis making the whole assembly very rigid - to fit it means pushing down firmly (but carefully!) on the main body of the bearing whilst tightening the 3 locating bolts.

The first thing that struck me about the sound of the 1210 with the new bearing fitted was how quiet background noise is - it was quiet to start with but now even more so. A small change in the sound of the system has taken place since leaving the TT running overnight, for the better I should add. The jury's out as to whether I prefer the sound of it now but I've got pretty much all day tomorrow with the house to myself so can do some extended listening at decent volume. :)

[chris@panteg]

Hope you like it Richard , i felt it was better and still do ! than the Timestep bearing , despite the Extra Surface area which Dave keeps banging on about but the Timestep bearing also adds an extra surface which in theory will add more noise into the system !

To my ears at least the timestep sounded thicker and slightly heavy in the bass compared to the VA bearing , but i guess who cares really .

I'm hoping my 1210 will be back on air this week at long last :) , Richard is paying me another visit , though the poor chap seems to be under pressure to get everything done in time for Christmas , to be honest i could happily wait until the new year but it would be good .

[Tarzan]

Has any one had the chance to compare the VA bearing to the Mike New bearing, the VA bearing does seem good VFM:)

[Gromit]

Has any one had the chance to compare the VA bearing to the Mike New bearing, the VA bearing does seem good VFM:)

It would be an interesting comparison - Richard does by all accounts produce a much more 'elevated' design of bearing but this one at less than 90 quid is probably a no-brainer if one wanted to dip a toe in the water. Of course whether one feels it's a real improvement would be up to the listener. Jury's still out for me - it's different, but I'm working out whether the 'different is better' or the 'different is different'. When listening to a new bit of kit I always use musical criteria - the human ear is remarkably adept at adjusting to tonal colouration but musical/harmonic is more set in stone imho. Also, harmonic colour according to key - dark keys such as A & D minors or very bright keys such as D major - is this coming across?

I'm thinking my 1210 is going to be a 'Tecchy Lite' ie seeing how far it'll go without spending a fortune.

[kininigin]

Richard does by all accounts produce a much more 'elevated' design of bearing but this one at less than 90 quid is probably a no-brainer if one wanted to dip a toe in the water.
I'm thinking my 1210 is going to be a 'Tecchy Lite' ie seeing how far it'll go without spending a fortune.

I've sent an email to richard regarding what upgrades he can do to the bearing.Im interested in what the ''more elevated design'' is about.

How are you getting on with your bearing richard?

[pcourtney]

I wanted to send my Technics to Richard ( Vantage Audio ) - but the website no longer works, is he still in biz ??

[RichB]

Think they went out of business a few years ago. I bought a bearing on the off chance from someone from here but failing that I don't think you can get them anymore.

[pcourtney]

I think it looks that way,, apparently Richard had some serious health issues, hope he is OK now, and enjoying his retirement.