Michell Orbe Turntable / Rega RB600 Tonearm / Dynavector Karat 17D2 Cartridge

Here we have an example of the superb Michell Orbe Turntable complete with a Rega RB600 tonearm and Dynavector 17D2 MkII Karat Diamond. It is in very good condition with a couple of minor blemishes and the usual wear to the acrylic case, supplied in original factory packaging and comes with our standard 3 month warranty, but please note this warranty does not cover the cartridge.
Michell Say….
The Orbe is Michell’s flagship turntable, taking all that was learned from developing the GyroDec to the next level. Delivering a true audiophile listening experience, the Orbe’s detail, neutrality and rhythm has to be heard to be believed.
With two levels of isolation, a massive 60mm thick vibration damping platter and the most sophisticated power supply and motor configuration we have ever created, help raise the Orbe to levels of performance that will delight vinyl lovers for years to come.
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.
Dual high density acrylic bases: Separated by 3 pin points the acrylic bases of the Orbe not only provide a rigid non resonant surface to fix the suspension system to, they also create a very efficient isolation platform to help eliminate structural feedback.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The turntable comes with a hinged clear acrylic lid to protect the turntable from dust and damage. The hinges are made in two parts that allow the lid to be easily removed if required.
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
Specifications:
Dimensions: 530 (W) x 410 (D) x 210 (H) mm
Weight: 19.0 kg
RB600 Tonearm
The tonearm tube itself (which is a one piece silicone/aluminium casting) is very rigid, whilst being low mass.
The tonearm assembly is constructed using precision, hardened stainless steel, miniature ball races of the highest quality.
The bearings fit on to ground shafts and into the tonearm using interference fits. This means that no adhesive is required and therefore none of the associated (component-adhesive-component) losses in rigidity prevail.
The RB600 tonearm is on a single-axis mounting and has the casting with the same tolerances as an RB900; it has an aluminium powder coat finish and uses a tungsten counterbalance.
Dynavector Say….
17D2 MkII Karat Diamond is the first cartridge built using ‘dispersion’ theory. Its Micro-Ridge stylus and very short (1.7mm) solid diamond cantilever give a huge reduction in ‘frequency dispersion’, unmatched dynamics and a high frequency extension all the way up to 100 kHz. The latest patented magnet circuit design increases the output to 0.26 mV with crystal clear mid-range and treble even during the largest symphonic crescendos.
Dynavector Karat is notable for its gemstone cantilever. This 1.7 mm long and 0.25 mm in diameter solid diamond cantilever has its 0.06 square mm stylus mounting hole precision cut by a laser beam machining process. The Micro Ridge of 0.06 square mm nude diamond stylus is carefully mounted in the cantilever. The armature of 0.9 mm square and 0.4 mm thick is much smaller than normal, upon which are wounded 70 turns per channel of 11 micron fine wire.
Due to the short rigid construction of the cantilever the 17D2 MkII showed a flat frequency response up to 50KHz.
The New 17D2 MkII now features Dynavector’s unique magnetic flux damping and softened magnetism (patent) along with powerful Neodymium magnet that combine to eliminate any hardness or irritating edginess that commonly occurs in many moving coil cartridges. This has also enabled to increase the output of 0.26 mV.
Specifications:
Type: Low output moving coil cartridge with flux damper and softened magnetism
Output Voltage: 0.26 mV (at 1 kHz, 5 cm/sec.)
Channel Separation: 25 dB (at 1 kHz)
Channel Balance: 1.0 dB (at 1 kHz)
Frequency Response: 20 – 20,000 Hz (± 1 dB), 20 – 100,000 Hz
Compliance: 15 mm/N
Tracking Force: 1.8 – 2.2 g
Impedance: 32 ohms
Recommended Load Impedance: > 100 ohms
Cantilever: 1.7 mm length, 0.25 diameter solid diamond
Stylus Tip: Micro-Ridge
Weight: 5.3 g