Into the Voyd and back again

[chris@panteg]

Strange how when you look for something they are not to be found and then all of sudden they pop up all over the place.

If anyone is interested I have been told of I very nice Audio Note Voyd TT3 with Split PSU made Feb 2000 that's for sale, basically its a Voyd. It has what looks like an Audio Note One arm and Audio Note ANVx 31 strand silver phono lead. The owner has sent me pictures and the whole lot looks in superb condition. If you are interested I can put you in touch with the owner.

You don't often see the Audionote TT3 version for sale, how much is it going for?
Hopefully will have my psu back sometime next week.

[George47]

I have had my Voyd 0.5 for many, many years. It has a rewired SME V and an AN Io. Gary Dews brought it around and the base it sits on has a solid metal frame and the only way to move it is to stand inside the frame and lift it up and move it in small steps. A job and a half. Setting the table up was much easier, Gary did it!!

I had an intermittent problem with the TT refusing to rotate. I went round to Guy's place and he found the power strip inside the TT had a small intermittent break. Soon fixed and whilst my TT was 'naked' Guy rebalanced the motors to ensure it was running with minimal noise. Apart from that it just sits there and just does the job.

I re-check the level and bounce of the TT and it does not change (or is minimal). I have compared it to a lot of other TTs and for me it has the best overall balance. A great product and I am not surprised they are difficult to get buy. I think Pete (Coco) had to really search for his Ref (bought abroad?).

I tried using two belts but by heck, it was a tricky job getting both belts around three motors. I prefer a single belt.

Good to know that the electronics are still serviceable. Are there readily available replacement belts?

[chris@panteg]

I have had my Voyd 0.5 for many, many years. It has a rewired SME V and an AN Io. Gary Dews brought it around and the base it sits on has a solid metal frame and the only way to move it is to stand inside the frame and lift it up and move it in small steps. A job and a half. Setting the table up was much easier, Gary did it!!

I had an intermittent problem with the TT refusing to rotate. I went round to Guy's place and he found the power strip inside the TT had a small intermittent break. Soon fixed and whilst my TT was 'naked' Guy rebalanced the motors to ensure it was running with minimal noise. Apart from that it just sits there and just does the job.

I re-check the level and bounce of the TT and it does not change (or is minimal). I have compared it to a lot of other TTs and for me it has the best overall balance. A great product and I am not surprised they are difficult to get buy. I think Pete (Coco) had to really search for his Ref (bought abroad?).

I tried using two belts but by heck, it was a tricky job getting both belts around three motors. I prefer a single belt.

Good to know that the electronics are still serviceable. Are there readily available replacement belts?

I've just bought 4 new belts from cpc.farnell.com AV42.

But what. 5 do you have? Is it the double speed with slimline pulleys? If so you need a different /shorter belt.

[George47]

Not sure. It has twin speed from the PSU. I need to find my bag with its last remaining new belt. Got them from Farnell, I think.

[AJSki2fly]

Not sure. It has twin speed from the PSU. I need to find my bag with its last remaining new belt. Got them from Farnell, I think.

Make sure you have the right thickness as well as length for your Voyd, have a read of my first post in this thread.

[chris@panteg]

Not sure. It has twin speed from the PSU. I need to find my bag with its last remaining new belt. Got them from Farnell, I think.

It's easy to check, what type of motor pulleys do you have? if they are the thin type then it's double speed, the chunkier brass one's are Standard.

[sjs]

Not sure. It has twin speed from the PSU. I need to find my bag with its last remaining new belt. Got them from Farnell, I think.

A regular Voyd, 0.5 Ref or Ref has pulleys that look like this:




The double speed version of the 0.5 Ref has skinny pulleys that look like this:

[AJSki2fly]

When it is on a Voyd and is a Benz Micro LP-S

I thought that some of you might find my views on the LP-S interesting or possibly helpful as it can be very difficult when buying a cartridge, especially when it can be a costly affair.

I have spent quite a bit of time auditioning various cartridges as I wanted to get the best from my Vinyl collection, the Voyd and my SME IV. A couple of dealers very kindly lent me a cartridge each, both which were very good, Hana SL being equal musically but quieter in the groove than the Michell Cusis (Benz Micro Wood S in a different body), the Phasemation PP-300 having more detail and being quieter in the groove, these are both very good cartridges IMO. Both these cartridges were around £1K so not an insignificant outlay, at least for most of us.

I still thought that more could be had and after several discussions with a friend and a couple of trusted dealers I came to the conclusion that to get what I wanted was going to cost more, but how much more? I short listed a Phasemation PP-500, Transfiguration Pheonix S (very hard to find as no longer being made but they are out there new), possibly a Koetsu Red, and Benz Micro either an Ebony S or perhaps a LP-S. Then a spanner was thrown in the works and that was the Esturo Urushi Cobalt Blue, now this is a very serious spanner being a £4.5K cartridge, but is highly recommended by this that have heard it.

To be honest I spent many weeks wrestling with the idea of spending over £3K on a cartridge, and I nearly got my head around it, but selling it to my better half, Sue, was a difficult one, to say the least. Although she did say if I could raise the cash then fine. Then my best friend, Dave, and fellow audiophile purchased an LP-S, he has one on a SME V on a SME 20/3 TT, even though it had only done around 50 hours what he reported sounded extremely good. So after careful consideration this is what I went for as the photo below shows.

I actually purchased it from Henrik at Lydprodukter DK as he is a Benz Micro main dealer and holds all of them in stock, he also supplied me the Voyd. I actually got it for a great price and would recommend you speak with him if you are after a Benz.

So how does it sound in my setup? I have a selection of 10-12 tracks that I regularly use for listening assessments, and that is what I used initially. I actually expect it to be a bit bright straight out the box, initially it was a little but after around 4 tracks started to settle down. The recommended bedding in time for it is 40-50 hours.

A few tracks with my notes of how I felt about it at the time:-

Supertramp - Crime of the Century

School - Harmonica at start has strength and presence, more than Cusis, low bass note in back ground clear and controlled. Vocal is warm and natural (he can sound edgy). Very good clarity and detail, detail of guitars and echoes not heard before are clear. Drum attack is as it should be. Bass punches but not dominating, piano arpeggios are clear in mix. A brilliant rendition.

Bloody Well Right - Electric piano perfect, everything just flows. It punches, but all the detail is there, does not become cluttered, which it can do as the bass can over-dominate. Instead it all is there in depth and detail.

St Germain - Tourists

Rose Rouge - Lots of detail in the cymbals and good decay. Good instrument separation. Bass is tight, piano repeated notes are clear. The tonality of the trumpet is great, no harshness, sounds real. Sax is natural, blending with the trumpet is best I have heard, can still separate the instruments.

Montego Bay Spleen - Masses of bass on this track, you just feel it, the depth is so controlled compared to the Cussis. Attack on drums and percussion is cutting. Guitar has lovely overtones and detail. Soundstage is wide and detailed.

Ravi Shankar - Portait of a Genius (a very telling album for any system)

Tala Rasa Ranga - Hand drums(tablas) sound as if in the room. wood block has a clear resonance, drums hollowness is expressive, can hear hand rolls on skins, Sitar is clear and strong in mix, flute is natural in tone. It all flows together in a balance mix, still able to pick out individual aspects. Superb sense of musically. I’m sat in front of the band.

Eva Cassidy - Nightcalls 7*45rpm LP’s

Fields of Gold - Eva’s voice comes across as effortless, her guitar has more depth and natural tone. Electric guitar harmonics are very good, with interplay between both clear. A slight sibilance occasionally, may need VTA tweak, but may be natural.

Baby I Love You - A difficult track that can easily sound dry, but with the LP-S it comes to life. I think this is because the dryness of the bass can overwhelm the mix and thus dull down the other instruments in the mix. This does not happen with the LP-S all the instruments are clear and it comes to life as a result.

Hugh Masekela - Stimela from Hope(live album)

Best I have ever heard it on my system. Sounds like I am stood in front of the stage. The detail is fantastic. The lightly played electric piano chords cut through the mix, often being lost before. Lightly strummed guitar chords are clear. What is very evident is the the LP-S is getting every bit of detail on the grooves it can and is producing a great sound. the attack on the cowbell strikes reaches out and touches you. Saxophone and Flugal horn just soar. The only time I can remember it sounding slightly better was on a system at a dealers which cost a £400K.

Richard Strauss - Also Spracht Zarathustra (Duetsche G. 2530 402)

Sehr breit - opening track has huge bass from double basses, horns are imposing, kettle drums are here in the room! I can sense the orchestra, the organ note at the end is immense and detailed, with decay and echo. What is noticeable is the detail and separation of instrumentation on the Weniger breit, the violins soar in beautiful harmony.I can hear detail of the horns at the crescendo, and can pick out instruments in the orchestra. Very impressive and musical, so much so I listen to the whole record.

So to sum up, so far I have played all my test listening tracks and around 10 varied albums and the LP-S in my opinion is quite an exceptional cartridge. The initial assessment I did was very early on straight out the box and I was quite surprised at how good it sounded after just a couple of hours use. It improved as I played more tracks, I personally do not think this is due to me becoming more accustomed to its sound, more that as it settled in and warmed up the general rendition improved. My comments are as accurate and as honest as I can be. In some ways it is tonally similar to the Cusis(Wood S), which is not a bad thing as I always liked it in my system. However it is quite evident that the LP-S is getting a great deal more detail and control of what it is extracting from the grooves. I have noticed a slightly warmer feel coming from it as it beds in. To be honest I was prepared to not hear a great difference at the start but I am pleasantly surprised. It will be interesting as to how it is in 50 hours of use. One point to note is that I detected some slight sibilance listening to Eva Cassidy - Fields of Gold, the VTA may need slight adjustment to hit the sweet spot, but I shall revisit this track after at least 30 hours of use before tweaking. From what I have been told it will only improve, the LP-S works well with my current set up, certainly the SME and Voyd.

The Benz Micro LP-S is extracting a great deal of detail from the grooves and in a very musical way, and is pretty quiet in the groove. I think I have made a very good choice of cartridge, and it is taken my vinyl enjoyment to another level.

[sjs]

Remove the lid, in my experience the Voyd sounds significantly better without it.

Also, 2nd hand AN IO 1 is an exceptional thing for around £1k

[thingfish]

Remove the lid, in my experience the Voyd sounds significantly better without it.

Also, 2nd hand AN IO 1 is an exceptional thing for around £1k

Nope......sooner have 4 new Goldie mm 1042s.