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Thread: Into the Voyd and back again

  1. #1
    Join Date: Nov 2011

    Location: Seaton, Devon, UK

    Posts: 13,239
    I'm Adrian.

    Default Into the Voyd and back again

    Well after much thought and discussion with some well respected Audiophiles on here I decided some weeks ago to scratch an itch and to try another turntable. I had ended up with a list of 6 from these helpful chaps. The 6 listed below being considered great VFM and giving very good results, even when compared to some very expensive modern gear.

    "1. Voyd great dynamics and bass slams and openness

    2. Technics sp10 for sense of space and foundation and great imaging

    3. Garrard 401 audio grail with a russ collinson cherry plinth prefferably with sme m12r or the timestep arm this would give superb grip over the music and superb timing with real good bass. the sme Iv will also do well

    4. Nottingham analogue hyperspace for sence of grip with great bass and speed to boot.

    5. Townshend rock reference hard to find but a real stunner in terms of performance i dont think you will find one but worth a mention.

    6. Alphason sonata hr100 mcs fantastic midrange and vibrancy brilliant bass performance"

    So after some thought and investigations, and further discussions with the guys I opted to try and find a Voyd that was as good as I could find, my limit was £2K so this ruled out a Voyd 0.5 or Reference. Fortune must have been on my side as I stumbled across a NM one with a dealer in Copenhagen, Henrik had taken it in part exchange. After a couple of phone calls and emails a good price was agreed and Henrik said he would hold it for me for a few weeks whilst I got the cash together. The deck had been tested by them and it was running very close to 33.33 and with very low wow/flutter. The only issue was that it did not have an SME arm board. It was decided to make one initially from a cut down Linn/SME arm board (on ebay for £39) it has worked and the arm/cartridge are correctly aligned, but i am not happy with it for the long term and am having one made by Steve at Magna Audio.

    In advance I had made up a short phono stage lead using Cardas cable with a right angle SME plug on one end and a male pug on the other, this was because my Furutech lead is not very flexible and I wanted to avoid impeding the Voyd suspension. Prior to sending the deck Henrik had advised me to order a replacement drive belt, he had ordered one but it had not turned up, the original having seen better days, so i ordered one that I thought was correct.

    Last Monday the Voyd arrived very carefully packaged, and after carefully getting it out onto the kitchen table I set about setting up the SME arm and levelling and testing the deck. I fitted the new drive belt and to my surprise it now ran 1% fast, I tried the old one but as Henrik said it had seen better days and kept coming off, the rubber had stretched. This episode set off a long investigation into Voyd belts and I have since found out it is critical to get one of the right thickness, apart from length, for the model of Voyd deck, mine needing one that is 0.5mm thick, the one I had being about 7.5mm. To some this will not make any sense, and it did not to me, but trust me the thicker the belt is the faster it will run. Anyway I have found a supply of the correct belts which should arrive early next week.

    After a couple of careful hours setting up I put it in position in the lounge and plugged up and put a record on only to find I had only one channel. So down it came to inspect the home made lead, as I did so horror of horrors a pin from the SME was still in the end of the right angle plug, how this happened I do not know, it just failed at its base. So onto the phone to SME, and a trip to the post office on Tuesday morning, and off it went for repair. To my shock and delight the SME arm turned up on Friday afternoon fixed and me £93 lighter, but what great service from SME. So yesterday I got it up and working and had an initial listen and thought this sounds different.

    Today I have sat down and listened to 18 test tracks that I am very familiar with and use to review new gear or system changes, have just done this these are my thoughts on the Voyd.

    The Voyd has great depth of sound in the bass and mid-range, and sounds very engaging and dynamic, it gives a lovely musical rendition. There is no edginess, everything sounds as it should, punchy and dynamic with lots of detail. On certain tracks long notes just seemed to hang in the air. I also noticed more detail, I could hear aspects of the recording environment with echo evident room acoustics. The top end is very good as well, no harshness noticed from any instruments or vocals. Overall it just all sounds right, very impressive, a very well balance musical sound with superb dynamics and detail. By the way the isolation is great no microphonics from the cartridge even when playing a record when you tap the shelf it sits on. I would score it a very strong 9/10 for its overall performance, in fact its more of a 9.5/10 to my ears.

    So at the moment I am very pleased with the Voyd.

    I notice there is another one for sale on AoS and if you are in the market for another TT I would seriously consider it.

    and here is mine:-



    Listening is the act of aural discrimination and dissemination of sound, and accepting you get it wrong sometimes.

    Analog Inputs: Pro-Ject Signature 10 TT & arm, Benz Micro LP-S, Michel Cusis MC, Goldring 2500 and Ortofon Rondo Blue cartridges, Hitachi FT5500 mk2 Tuner

    Digital:- Marantz SA-KI Pearl CD player, RaspberryPi/HifiBerry Digi+ Pro, Buffalo NAS Drive

    Amplification:- AudioValve Sunilda phono stage, Krell KSP-7B pre-amp, Krell KSA-80 power amp

    Output: Wilson Benesch Vector speakers, KLH Ultimate One Headphones

    Cables: Tellurium Q Ultra Black II RCA & Chord Epic 2 RCA, various speaker leads, & links


    I think I am nearing audio nirvana, but don’t tell anyone.

  2. #2
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: Gerrards Cross

    Posts: 2,991
    I'm Tony.

    Default

    You should be fine for advice Adrian as one of the originators of these decks lives in Tavistock, decent chap as well.
    Coherent Systems
    Real high end sound with musicality not hifi

  3. #3
    Join Date: Nov 2008

    Location: North Down /Northern Ireland/ UK

    Posts: 19,484
    I'm Neil.

    Default

    Ensemble run a Voyd Reference with their modifications at shows, with a Graham Phantom arm and I was very surprised and delighted how it sounded when I heard it at NAS 2011, simply stunning. I had a Valdi once and an SME 309 on it sounded crap, compared to the Rega 300 I had on it before, so I wonder about the SME 5 on a big Voyd. You like it and that is all that matters.

    I miss the Valdi, wish I had never sold it and the Rata Toralyte stand I had for it. A big Voyd is an itch I too would like to scratch but I suspect I never will get the chance.
    Regards Neil

  4. #4
    Join Date: Nov 2011

    Location: Seaton, Devon, UK

    Posts: 13,239
    I'm Adrian.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. C View Post
    You should be fine for advice Adrian as one of the originators of these decks lives in Tavistock, decent chap as well.
    Funny enough just before I purchased the Voyd I tried out a cartridge from Guy in Tavistock and mentioned I was thinking of buying a Voyd, he has been very helpful and offers to help if I needed it setting it up, a lovely chap.
    Listening is the act of aural discrimination and dissemination of sound, and accepting you get it wrong sometimes.

    Analog Inputs: Pro-Ject Signature 10 TT & arm, Benz Micro LP-S, Michel Cusis MC, Goldring 2500 and Ortofon Rondo Blue cartridges, Hitachi FT5500 mk2 Tuner

    Digital:- Marantz SA-KI Pearl CD player, RaspberryPi/HifiBerry Digi+ Pro, Buffalo NAS Drive

    Amplification:- AudioValve Sunilda phono stage, Krell KSP-7B pre-amp, Krell KSA-80 power amp

    Output: Wilson Benesch Vector speakers, KLH Ultimate One Headphones

    Cables: Tellurium Q Ultra Black II RCA & Chord Epic 2 RCA, various speaker leads, & links


    I think I am nearing audio nirvana, but don’t tell anyone.

  5. #5
    Join Date: Nov 2011

    Location: Seaton, Devon, UK

    Posts: 13,239
    I'm Adrian.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Spectral Morn View Post
    Ensemble run a Voyd Reference with their modifications at shows, with a Graham Phantom arm and I was very surprised and delighted how it sounded when I heard it at NAS 2011, simply stunning. I had a Valdi once and an SME 309 on it sounded crap, compared to the Rega 300 I had on it before, so I wonder about the SME 5 on a big Voyd. You like it and that is all that matters.

    I miss the Valdi, wish I had never sold it and the Rata Toralyte stand I had for it. A big Voyd is an itch I too would like to scratch but I suspect I never will get the chance.
    My arm is a hybrid SME IV so not quite a V. From what I have read back in the day I was considered the IV worked well with the Voyd but V not as good. I have also been recommended to try a Koetsu Red with it as that is supposed to sing.
    Listening is the act of aural discrimination and dissemination of sound, and accepting you get it wrong sometimes.

    Analog Inputs: Pro-Ject Signature 10 TT & arm, Benz Micro LP-S, Michel Cusis MC, Goldring 2500 and Ortofon Rondo Blue cartridges, Hitachi FT5500 mk2 Tuner

    Digital:- Marantz SA-KI Pearl CD player, RaspberryPi/HifiBerry Digi+ Pro, Buffalo NAS Drive

    Amplification:- AudioValve Sunilda phono stage, Krell KSP-7B pre-amp, Krell KSA-80 power amp

    Output: Wilson Benesch Vector speakers, KLH Ultimate One Headphones

    Cables: Tellurium Q Ultra Black II RCA & Chord Epic 2 RCA, various speaker leads, & links


    I think I am nearing audio nirvana, but don’t tell anyone.

  6. #6
    Join Date: Apr 2016

    Location: Bishops Stortford

    Posts: 1,250
    I'm Chris.

    Default

    Always loved Voyd turntables. Looking at your DAC I would say the analogue front end will now sound vastly superior to the digital.
    Source
    SW1X Universal Music Server UMS I Signature with Power Supply Unit PSU I Signature
    SW1X USB II
    SW1X DAC III Special
    Audiolab 6000 CDT transport
    Amps
    Pre amps -- Hi fi Collective twin mono ladder stepped attenuator, with Charcroft Z-foil and silver wired. And First Watt B1 active no gain buffer.
    Power amps -- Welborne 45 SET monoblocks 1.8W / Decware Taboo 6W / Elekit 300B TU-8600SVK plus further improved components 9W / ICE Power 1000W
    Speakers
    Highly modified Endorphin P17 open baffle speakers containing both vintage and modern alnico drivers and paper cones. All silver wired - 8" Cube Audio FC8 full range drivers and vintage 15" Altec VOTT 416 bass drivers. All sat on Townsend Audio Podium seismic isolation platforms.
    BK Electronics XLS400FF Sub.
    Cabling
    Silver mains cables, interconnects and speaker cables by SW1X
    Headphones
    HRT HeadStreamer and SennHeiser HD650 headphones

  7. #7
    Join Date: Nov 2011

    Location: Seaton, Devon, UK

    Posts: 13,239
    I'm Adrian.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by bumpy View Post
    Always loved Voyd turntables. Looking at your DAC I would say the analogue front end will now sound vastly superior to the digital.
    Interesting, do you not like the Beresford Caiman Seg DAC then. I and others find it rather good and IMO good value for money?
    Listening is the act of aural discrimination and dissemination of sound, and accepting you get it wrong sometimes.

    Analog Inputs: Pro-Ject Signature 10 TT & arm, Benz Micro LP-S, Michel Cusis MC, Goldring 2500 and Ortofon Rondo Blue cartridges, Hitachi FT5500 mk2 Tuner

    Digital:- Marantz SA-KI Pearl CD player, RaspberryPi/HifiBerry Digi+ Pro, Buffalo NAS Drive

    Amplification:- AudioValve Sunilda phono stage, Krell KSP-7B pre-amp, Krell KSA-80 power amp

    Output: Wilson Benesch Vector speakers, KLH Ultimate One Headphones

    Cables: Tellurium Q Ultra Black II RCA & Chord Epic 2 RCA, various speaker leads, & links


    I think I am nearing audio nirvana, but don’t tell anyone.

  8. #8
    Join Date: Apr 2016

    Location: Bishops Stortford

    Posts: 1,250
    I'm Chris.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by AJSki2fly View Post
    Interesting, do you not like the Beresford Caiman Seg DAC then. I and others find it rather good and IMO good value for money?
    Its good at its price point, but plenty of room for improvement to bring the digital side up to match the analogue which it seems you have invested good money in. How does it compare now to the analogue?
    Source
    SW1X Universal Music Server UMS I Signature with Power Supply Unit PSU I Signature
    SW1X USB II
    SW1X DAC III Special
    Audiolab 6000 CDT transport
    Amps
    Pre amps -- Hi fi Collective twin mono ladder stepped attenuator, with Charcroft Z-foil and silver wired. And First Watt B1 active no gain buffer.
    Power amps -- Welborne 45 SET monoblocks 1.8W / Decware Taboo 6W / Elekit 300B TU-8600SVK plus further improved components 9W / ICE Power 1000W
    Speakers
    Highly modified Endorphin P17 open baffle speakers containing both vintage and modern alnico drivers and paper cones. All silver wired - 8" Cube Audio FC8 full range drivers and vintage 15" Altec VOTT 416 bass drivers. All sat on Townsend Audio Podium seismic isolation platforms.
    BK Electronics XLS400FF Sub.
    Cabling
    Silver mains cables, interconnects and speaker cables by SW1X
    Headphones
    HRT HeadStreamer and SennHeiser HD650 headphones

  9. #9
    Join Date: Nov 2011

    Location: Seaton, Devon, UK

    Posts: 13,239
    I'm Adrian.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by bumpy View Post
    Its good at its price point, but plenty of room for improvement to bring the digital side up to match the analogue which it seems you have invested good money in. How does it compare now to the analogue?
    Well I would say it does a pretty good job, but for want of the right words to describe I would say it does not have the same level of depth or naturalness that the analogue side has. I listen to all types of music, including, folk, classical(from medieval through to romantic/modern), Jazz and a huge array of rock and pop. The analogue side seems to have a more transparent and open feel about it compared to the digital side, although some CD's and Flac files do sound very good.

    I did spend quite a bit of time recently re-ripping my CD's to m4a and with the Flac files I have over 1100 albums, mainly for ease of access on a NAS, and another 5K plus tracks at mainly 320kbps mp3(which I tend not to listen to), I also stream quite a bit using Audirvana and Tidal. I went back to analogue about 4 years ago as I became disillusioned with digital and virtually had stopped listening to music at home as I found digital generally a dissatisfying experience. My issue with digital is that it seems to be a bit of lottery in terms of the quality of digital files and how/what they were derived and the resulting listening experience. Yes I agree a good digital recording at least at CD quality with a good system can sound fantastic, unfortunately with re-issues and re-mixes that is not always the case across all genres, certainly with music recorded pre mid 90's. Also we have the other issues with a lot of more recent music suffering from the so called loudness wars where it is digitally mixed raising bass and mids to enhance it for the many that listen with in ear headphones or poorer quality equipment. The result being the loss of dynamic range and to me much of the listening experience. To be honest you also have to be very careful with recent re-issues of vinyl as well as there is a tendency for music companies to just use the digital re-mixes so the same problem occurs, driven by profit I suspect rather than SQ.

    So I tend to buy vinyl now, either carefully selected re-releases or new recordings using the original masters, or I buy second hand original pressings in as good condition as I can find. Occasionally I get a duff re-issue and then I sell it on and find a good original one. Just for your information I went fully digital in the early 80's and was an early adopter and lost all my analogue side totally and regularly purchased CD's and had a Meridian 508 CD player (highly thought of at the time). As time went on grew to regret it as I became more aware of the issues around digital music reproduction. Having worked in IT since the late 70's I had been keen to move with the times and thought I understood the benefits of digital music certainly portability, ease of use and access and so on, but as for sound quality I am not so sure now. For me there seem to be too many variables with which the music industry can use and manipulate in the digital medium, I am just waiting for the next announcement of the new super duper ultra-high quality digital file, that everyone will have to have to replace their existing collection, obviously at a price.
    Listening is the act of aural discrimination and dissemination of sound, and accepting you get it wrong sometimes.

    Analog Inputs: Pro-Ject Signature 10 TT & arm, Benz Micro LP-S, Michel Cusis MC, Goldring 2500 and Ortofon Rondo Blue cartridges, Hitachi FT5500 mk2 Tuner

    Digital:- Marantz SA-KI Pearl CD player, RaspberryPi/HifiBerry Digi+ Pro, Buffalo NAS Drive

    Amplification:- AudioValve Sunilda phono stage, Krell KSP-7B pre-amp, Krell KSA-80 power amp

    Output: Wilson Benesch Vector speakers, KLH Ultimate One Headphones

    Cables: Tellurium Q Ultra Black II RCA & Chord Epic 2 RCA, various speaker leads, & links


    I think I am nearing audio nirvana, but don’t tell anyone.

  10. #10
    Join Date: Nov 2008

    Location: Banbury, Oxfordshire/Panteg is where my late father was born

    Posts: 4,382
    I'm Chris.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by AJSki2fly View Post
    Well after much thought and discussion with some well respected Audiophiles on here I decided some weeks ago to scratch an itch and to try another turntable. I had ended up with a list of 6 from these helpful chaps. The 6 listed below being considered great VFM and giving very good results, even when compared to some very expensive modern gear.

    "1. Voyd great dynamics and bass slams and openness

    2. Technics sp10 for sense of space and foundation and great imaging

    3. Garrard 401 audio grail with a russ collinson cherry plinth prefferably with sme m12r or the timestep arm this would give superb grip over the music and superb timing with real good bass. the sme Iv will also do well

    4. Nottingham analogue hyperspace for sence of grip with great bass and speed to boot.

    5. Townshend rock reference hard to find but a real stunner in terms of performance i dont think you will find one but worth a mention.

    6. Alphason sonata hr100 mcs fantastic midrange and vibrancy brilliant bass performance"

    So after some thought and investigations, and further discussions with the guys I opted to try and find a Voyd that was as good as I could find, my limit was £2K so this ruled out a Voyd 0.5 or Reference. Fortune must have been on my side as I stumbled across a NM one with a dealer in Copenhagen, Henrik had taken it in part exchange. After a couple of phone calls and emails a good price was agreed and Henrik said he would hold it for me for a few weeks whilst I got the cash together. The deck had been tested by them and it was running very close to 33.33 and with very low wow/flutter. The only issue was that it did not have an SME arm board. It was decided to make one initially from a cut down Linn/SME arm board (on ebay for £39) it has worked and the arm/cartridge are correctly aligned, but i am not happy with it for the long term and am having one made by Steve at Magna Audio.

    In advance I had made up a short phono stage lead using Cardas cable with a right angle SME plug on one end and a male pug on the other, this was because my Furutech lead is not very flexible and I wanted to avoid impeding the Voyd suspension. Prior to sending the deck Henrik had advised me to order a replacement drive belt, he had ordered one but it had not turned up, the original having seen better days, so i ordered one that I thought was correct.

    Last Monday the Voyd arrived very carefully packaged, and after carefully getting it out onto the kitchen table I set about setting up the SME arm and levelling and testing the deck. I fitted the new drive belt and to my surprise it now ran 1% fast, I tried the old one but as Henrik said it had seen better days and kept coming off, the rubber had stretched. This episode set off a long investigation into Voyd belts and I have since found out it is critical to get one of the right thickness, apart from length, for the model of Voyd deck, mine needing one that is 0.5mm thick, the one I had being about 7.5mm. To some this will not make any sense, and it did not to me, but trust me the thicker the belt is the faster it will run. Anyway I have found a supply of the correct belts which should arrive early next week.

    After a couple of careful hours setting up I put it in position in the lounge and plugged up and put a record on only to find I had only one channel. So down it came to inspect the home made lead, as I did so horror of horrors a pin from the SME was still in the end of the right angle plug, how this happened I do not know, it just failed at its base. So onto the phone to SME, and a trip to the post office on Tuesday morning, and off it went for repair. To my shock and delight the SME arm turned up on Friday afternoon fixed and me £93 lighter, but what great service from SME. So yesterday I got it up and working and had an initial listen and thought this sounds different.

    Today I have sat down and listened to 18 test tracks that I am very familiar with and use to review new gear or system changes, have just done this these are my thoughts on the Voyd.

    The Voyd has great depth of sound in the bass and mid-range, and sounds very engaging and dynamic, it gives a lovely musical rendition. There is no edginess, everything sounds as it should, punchy and dynamic with lots of detail. On certain tracks long notes just seemed to hang in the air. I also noticed more detail, I could hear aspects of the recording environment with echo evident room acoustics. The top end is very good as well, no harshness noticed from any instruments or vocals. Overall it just all sounds right, very impressive, a very well balance musical sound with superb dynamics and detail. By the way the isolation is great no microphonics from the cartridge even when playing a record when you tap the shelf it sits on. I would score it a very strong 9/10 for its overall performance, in fact its more of a 9.5/10 to my ears.

    So at the moment I am very pleased with the Voyd.

    I notice there is another one for sale on AoS and if you are in the market for another TT I would seriously consider it.

    and here is mine:-



    Very nice, I know these decks well, I used to have a. 5 many years ago and as it happens a few days ago I've bought another Voyd in the exact same finish as your deck, I should be getting it on or about Wednesday or Thursday, I've been using a modified techy for over ten years and have been happy with it.
    But I just had to have another Voyd, looking forward to it though I think the psu will probably need a service, I intend to mount my SME 309 on it and see how it goes.
    That leaves me with two technics decks, one of which will probably have to go.
    Chris

    We've gone on holiday by mistake !

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