REVEIW - SRM Tech Arezzo
Jun 6, 2008 11:56:34 GMT
Post by Sol on Jun 6, 2008 11:56:34 GMT
A few months ago I bought an Arezzo from SRM/Tech. I'd been looking for a while, and having discounted many TTs on price (the Vinyl world seems filled with over-priced decks based on dated reviews and reputation built up over many years). With a reasonable budget in my mind, I was looking for something I could afford, but could compete with my digital system for reproduction.
I eventually jumped headlong, after much procrastination, for the Arezzo, and having promised Stuart of SRM/Tech a review, here it is .. I apologise for the delay it's taken this long simply because:
a) I feel confident the equipment is bedded in enough to be stable
b) I have the time to think through and write down what I'm hearing
c) I have sufficient vinyl exposure to have listened to the good and the bad in my increasing vinyl collection
THE SEARCH
I don't want to get into an argument about vinyl versus digital formats, but to mind, the average man on the street looking for performance in bear trap of the HiFi industry has to struggle with the low end stuff of invariably poor digital based quality, and the high end unobtainum tempting them. However, in the middle ground there's a plethora of competing options, affordable, but expensive enough to not want to make a mistake with. So I didn't want to make an uninformed choice .. and so to the Internet I turned.
Having trodden the path of the digital domain, I was finding it difficult to understand what to look for in a turntable. Hours of reading press reviews serves only to confuse further .. but having found some great vinyl enthusiast's sites, I began to see the wood for the tree .. and I always had the sound from my digital system to to fall back on to compare, once I took the plunge.
I'd looked at a Voyd Valdi - good reputation, in the sub £1000 category, but ultimately I wasn't happy with the retro look, and they were rare as rocking horse dodah!
I'd look into the Michel decks, but as I read, I realised I was opting for the inferior low end of Michel's offering based on price.
I'd looked into the LP12 ... invariably good examples with the right mods were expensive, and affordable ones were In poor condition. I felt I'd be taking a risk, and while I could head down the upgrade path, the eventual cost was more than I was willing to bear. It was while searching for LP12s I came across a review from an LP12 owner who had moved to the Arezzo.
He said of the Arezzo:
Quite simply, after 52 years of searching, I at last have a system that reproduces music with a realism and beauty that I had given up hoping to achieve.
..... great praise indeed.
I contacted Stuart, and being a stones throw away in Biggleswade, I went over to audition his set up. I left with an order on his books!
THE APPEARANCE & TECHNICAL ELEMENTS
The Arezzo is a clear acrylic based TT, with a three-level plinth, on a three metal feet incorporated into the structure. It has an interesting decoupled tonearm mounting system with VTA adjustment based on discs that can be added to the tonearm mounting plate. The decoupling is achieved by mounting the arm in such a way as it's base floats between two damping discs, a damping mechanism which effectively isolates the arm from the section of the plinth supporting the platter.
This does however mean that choice of arm is limited to those that fit the Arezzo's mounting system - but SRM Tech I'm sure can advise.
The motor is low voltage fitted with an adjustable thrust bearing, again seated in one element of the plinth, isolated from the platter an tonearm, avoiding motor vibration reaching the platter.
The platter sits on it's base on three feet, is in two bonded parts, and is also acrylic.
Speed is adjusted on the pulley. The drive transferring to the platter via two belts - chosen for there profile IIRC - coupled to a sub platter that sits on a "high quality extra length main bearing with tungsten carbide spindle, phosphor bronze bushes, PTFE spindle support pad and full length bearing damping rings"
The TT comes with a platter mat made out of damping material reminiscent of neoprene, which further isolate the record from mechanical noise.
All in all, talking to Stuart it was obvious he'd spent many hundreds of hours modding, and testing components. Everything about the design has been trialled, and the choice for the eventual components have been made by ear, and painstaking detail. The fact that the deck is stunning, is low maintenance, and can be setup by an amateur, is a testament to his design ingenuity, and design flair!
SO WHAT'S IT SOUND LIKE
Simply put the TT doesn't have a sound ... it's as colourless as you can get. Perhaps the greatest compliment I can give this TT is that I find I'm listening to vinyl more than my digital collection - and I've bought, begged, and loaned somewhere in the region of 200 LPs.
I've invested heavily in the past in my digital set up, and have found that in all things it's at least equal excepting absolute detail, and in some (emotion, depth, and dynamics) it's better.
Right from the off, as you hit the on/off to spin the deck, you are instantly impressed with the completely soundless TT. Wind the volume up to full with the deck spinning and the arm floating, and you'll hear nothing, nada, zip. No rumble from the motor, no static pickup, no amplified noise creeping into the system. I'm using the deck with a Graham Slee Reflex, and the deck has an RB300 arm and a Goldring Erocia (HO) cartridge. I have no pre-filtering or power conditioning, and I love the fact there's nothing creeping into the system - a GOOD start.
When playing vinyl, using many AB comparisons with CD and digitally streamed FLAC versions of the of the same tracks, I'm left with an overriding impression of simply slipping into the music when the deck is spinning. Audiophile comparisons of bass and treble extension, sound stage depth & width won't really convey the overall connection the deck allows you o make with the music - far better than the digital system.
That's not to say that I don't like my digital set up in comparison - but given this is simply a deck, arm, cartridge and a pre-amp, as God intended - I have to be impressed. No mods here - no extra power supplies, component upgrades at the board level, or hours messing with cables. Right from the off (after some substantial burn in I have to say) the deck delivers in spades.
Mostly for me it's about not listening to the equipment when I have the deck playing - sure I wince at poor recording occasionally - but gone are the days where a listening session is entirely given over to wondering why the frequency response seems a tad focused on the bottom end, or whether a change in set up might yield better detail etc etc. With the TT playing I just enjoy.
I'll not get into the details of the sound - suffice to say it's extended, has superb dynamics, has a wonderfully tight impactful bass, provides enough detail to reveal hidden elements of a mix, has a strong imaging front to back and left to right, and has a wonderfully flat response. It's quick, and has no right to be so well timed (the choice of motor obviously helps here) - I've never really understood this in the past - but the deck reveals minute tempo changes in drumming for instance. Natural sounding voices, and instruments (particularly with acoustic material) can often fool you into looking for the chap talking over you record - oh hang on .. that is in the mix!
In short I love this deck .. and in the £1000 mark with arm and cartridge is incredibly good value, and would absolutely blow away a CD player of similar cost.
I hope that SRM Tech go on from strength to strength ... if you are looking to spend on a TT, you can do FAR worse in the Sub £1000 category, and I'm sure as word gets around, this company in Biggleswade will be upping their price as demand invariably rises.
I eventually jumped headlong, after much procrastination, for the Arezzo, and having promised Stuart of SRM/Tech a review, here it is .. I apologise for the delay it's taken this long simply because:
a) I feel confident the equipment is bedded in enough to be stable
b) I have the time to think through and write down what I'm hearing
c) I have sufficient vinyl exposure to have listened to the good and the bad in my increasing vinyl collection
THE SEARCH
I don't want to get into an argument about vinyl versus digital formats, but to mind, the average man on the street looking for performance in bear trap of the HiFi industry has to struggle with the low end stuff of invariably poor digital based quality, and the high end unobtainum tempting them. However, in the middle ground there's a plethora of competing options, affordable, but expensive enough to not want to make a mistake with. So I didn't want to make an uninformed choice .. and so to the Internet I turned.
Having trodden the path of the digital domain, I was finding it difficult to understand what to look for in a turntable. Hours of reading press reviews serves only to confuse further .. but having found some great vinyl enthusiast's sites, I began to see the wood for the tree .. and I always had the sound from my digital system to to fall back on to compare, once I took the plunge.
I'd looked at a Voyd Valdi - good reputation, in the sub £1000 category, but ultimately I wasn't happy with the retro look, and they were rare as rocking horse dodah!
I'd look into the Michel decks, but as I read, I realised I was opting for the inferior low end of Michel's offering based on price.
I'd looked into the LP12 ... invariably good examples with the right mods were expensive, and affordable ones were In poor condition. I felt I'd be taking a risk, and while I could head down the upgrade path, the eventual cost was more than I was willing to bear. It was while searching for LP12s I came across a review from an LP12 owner who had moved to the Arezzo.
He said of the Arezzo:
- It runs silently.
- Surface noise is extremely low.
- The sound stage is wide and deep.
- The dynamics are stunning.
- The clarity and detail of sound from very low bass to extreme high frequencies is superb.
- The realism and tonal beauty of every sort of music, instrument and voice amazes me every time I play it.
Quite simply, after 52 years of searching, I at last have a system that reproduces music with a realism and beauty that I had given up hoping to achieve.
..... great praise indeed.
I contacted Stuart, and being a stones throw away in Biggleswade, I went over to audition his set up. I left with an order on his books!
THE APPEARANCE & TECHNICAL ELEMENTS
The Arezzo is a clear acrylic based TT, with a three-level plinth, on a three metal feet incorporated into the structure. It has an interesting decoupled tonearm mounting system with VTA adjustment based on discs that can be added to the tonearm mounting plate. The decoupling is achieved by mounting the arm in such a way as it's base floats between two damping discs, a damping mechanism which effectively isolates the arm from the section of the plinth supporting the platter.
This does however mean that choice of arm is limited to those that fit the Arezzo's mounting system - but SRM Tech I'm sure can advise.
The motor is low voltage fitted with an adjustable thrust bearing, again seated in one element of the plinth, isolated from the platter an tonearm, avoiding motor vibration reaching the platter.
The platter sits on it's base on three feet, is in two bonded parts, and is also acrylic.
Speed is adjusted on the pulley. The drive transferring to the platter via two belts - chosen for there profile IIRC - coupled to a sub platter that sits on a "high quality extra length main bearing with tungsten carbide spindle, phosphor bronze bushes, PTFE spindle support pad and full length bearing damping rings"
The TT comes with a platter mat made out of damping material reminiscent of neoprene, which further isolate the record from mechanical noise.
All in all, talking to Stuart it was obvious he'd spent many hundreds of hours modding, and testing components. Everything about the design has been trialled, and the choice for the eventual components have been made by ear, and painstaking detail. The fact that the deck is stunning, is low maintenance, and can be setup by an amateur, is a testament to his design ingenuity, and design flair!
SO WHAT'S IT SOUND LIKE
Simply put the TT doesn't have a sound ... it's as colourless as you can get. Perhaps the greatest compliment I can give this TT is that I find I'm listening to vinyl more than my digital collection - and I've bought, begged, and loaned somewhere in the region of 200 LPs.
I've invested heavily in the past in my digital set up, and have found that in all things it's at least equal excepting absolute detail, and in some (emotion, depth, and dynamics) it's better.
Right from the off, as you hit the on/off to spin the deck, you are instantly impressed with the completely soundless TT. Wind the volume up to full with the deck spinning and the arm floating, and you'll hear nothing, nada, zip. No rumble from the motor, no static pickup, no amplified noise creeping into the system. I'm using the deck with a Graham Slee Reflex, and the deck has an RB300 arm and a Goldring Erocia (HO) cartridge. I have no pre-filtering or power conditioning, and I love the fact there's nothing creeping into the system - a GOOD start.
When playing vinyl, using many AB comparisons with CD and digitally streamed FLAC versions of the of the same tracks, I'm left with an overriding impression of simply slipping into the music when the deck is spinning. Audiophile comparisons of bass and treble extension, sound stage depth & width won't really convey the overall connection the deck allows you o make with the music - far better than the digital system.
That's not to say that I don't like my digital set up in comparison - but given this is simply a deck, arm, cartridge and a pre-amp, as God intended - I have to be impressed. No mods here - no extra power supplies, component upgrades at the board level, or hours messing with cables. Right from the off (after some substantial burn in I have to say) the deck delivers in spades.
Mostly for me it's about not listening to the equipment when I have the deck playing - sure I wince at poor recording occasionally - but gone are the days where a listening session is entirely given over to wondering why the frequency response seems a tad focused on the bottom end, or whether a change in set up might yield better detail etc etc. With the TT playing I just enjoy.
I'll not get into the details of the sound - suffice to say it's extended, has superb dynamics, has a wonderfully tight impactful bass, provides enough detail to reveal hidden elements of a mix, has a strong imaging front to back and left to right, and has a wonderfully flat response. It's quick, and has no right to be so well timed (the choice of motor obviously helps here) - I've never really understood this in the past - but the deck reveals minute tempo changes in drumming for instance. Natural sounding voices, and instruments (particularly with acoustic material) can often fool you into looking for the chap talking over you record - oh hang on .. that is in the mix!
In short I love this deck .. and in the £1000 mark with arm and cartridge is incredibly good value, and would absolutely blow away a CD player of similar cost.
I hope that SRM Tech go on from strength to strength ... if you are looking to spend on a TT, you can do FAR worse in the Sub £1000 category, and I'm sure as word gets around, this company in Biggleswade will be upping their price as demand invariably rises.
