The Michell Engineering Orbe SE. Beefier looking and sounding.

Now at True Audiophile

We were reminded of this iconic brand and its superb sonics by a audiophile friend. We couldn't help by right that grievous mistake. Truly a classic without classic compromises. -- Mini Review by True Audiophile

Note: Price is without arm or cartridge. A small charge for an armband drilled for your exact arm.

Also NOTE: Michell sells every single one they make. So order one with some patience. It might take a month or two depending.

INTRODUCTION 

The Michell Orbe SE delivers a reference quality listen comparable to the Orbe, but in a smaller, more affordable package.

By eliminating much of the expensive acrylic, the Michell Orbe SE offers most of the Orbe’s qualities in a cheaper, smaller, and to some people aesthetically more pleasing package.

The Orbe SE can be upgraded to a full Orbe by purchasing the double plinth and dustcover. 

When teamed with an T2 or T3 tonearm, the Orbe SE is a surprisingly affordable entry to the Orbe-class of performance.

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 secondary 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.

• Extra heavy Impedance-matched platter: 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 extra mass of the Orbe platter gives it great momentum when spinning aiding in speed stability.

• 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.

• Orbe controller power supply: The most sophisticated power supply we manufacture, the Orbe controller uses a large toroidal transformer, Never Connected™ circuitry and servo motor control technology to make sure the platter is always turning at the correct speed. All the time the platter is turning, the motor is reporting back what the RPM is, if this changes even slightly, the controller automatically adjusts its output to correct the change. The result is that the speed stability of an Orbe turntable is absolutely rock solid.

• Orbe record clamp: The Orbe clamp is a screw-down design, which allows you to exert more force on to the vinyl when clamping it to the platter, than our standard clamps allow. This further helps flatten warped and uneven vinyl and eliminate resonance in the vinyl disk.

Link to all Michell products

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