Michell Engineering Suspension adjusters & springs

The LP/cartridge/arm trio is to reside on its own ‘island’. The suspension decouples them from the outside world with its motor noise, footfall, acoustic vibrations, and other potential disturbances.

All of our turntables, except the TecnoDec, suspend the heavy subchassis and platter from three extension springs. This is an elegant and self-stabilising solution as the center of gravity of the floating mass is conveniently put below the suspension points. Rocking and nodding modes of the subchassis are hence discouraged, while overall turntable setup is straightforward, and drift is virtually inexistent. In addition, the total suspended mass of about eleven kilograms ensures that any incoupled energy can not result in large displacements.

The spring towers double as the actual turntable supports, terminated in heavy aluminium cones. The towers are sectioned in two vertical parts, making a high-pressure point-contact with a bearing ball. This makes for a true three point support, which gives the springs and the suspended subchassis a firm reference to ground.

The floating chassis’ task is to keep the bearing and arm board rigidly in relation to each other. It is a heavy and rigid cast aluminium component, internally strengthened with beams and ribs. The Orbe and Orbe SE benefit from an additional layer of DensoDamp mastic which results in an acoustically inert subchassis with excellent self-damping properties.

Offering a wide range of custom-made arm boards, we can keep the mass, and the mass-distribution, of the subchassis, platter, and arm a known constant. This translates into a suspended chassis turntable that works optimally with almost any existing tone arm.

Off-the-shelf boards can be delivered for the following tone arms: Michell, Rega, SME (both types), Graham, Wilson-benesch, Morch, Origin-Live, and Linn. Others can be made to order.