Resurection of a legend, the mythical Melco 3560.

Uk Paul

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Ressurection of a legend, the mythical Melco 3560.

It was suggested that I should share a recent set up of some friends vintage analog turntable from the late 70's, the likes of which had never been seen before, certainly here in the UK, but possibly anywhere. At this time, 1978-79, the big players were the top level Japanese brands, Micro Seiki, Denon, JVC Victor, Sony, etc, while british and european brands were desperatly trying to keep up, and struggling. My two friends were at the time using LP12's, as were (and still are) many others in the Uk, which was a top price tt. Their exposure to the Melco was via a company based in west London called Studio Beco, and run by Be Yamamura, well known to many in the industry as a pioneer ahead of his time, and a serious tinkerer! Studio Beco were showing the Melco as a static display only at a show near Heathrow probably, and my friends were entranced by this beast from the East, it was just so radical in comparison to everyting else, they just had to hear it working, which after a short while they did, and the memory of that first session lives with them to this day. The system Be used was just extraordinary for London around then, which was by now around 1981. I think it was all Audio Note Kondo/ horns / silver cable everywhere! Anyway, they hatched a plan to get one of these Melco's, and it was Be's very own 3560 that they became full time owners of shortly after, as Be had been working on his own design of similar properties and wanted to include air bearing support to the platter, much like the American Sound that DDK has been working on some 35 years later. Whether Be's design ever made production we do not know, but the concept was beyond high end back then.

The Melco 3560 became legendary, with as far as we are aware only 2 exported to europe, and has been kept by my friends ever since. It did however, get dismantled due to space over 10 years ago, as to work at it's best it does require space and some serious support, all in, we are looking at 100+ Kg. Initially a Fidelity Research 64 was fitted, but soon changed to a 66-s for the pricely sum of £600, and this stayed as partner to the Melco ever since, an inseperable marriage.

With the advent of a new property and a new rack to put it on, the Melco travelled 400 miles north to Scotland to be re-assembled and run again, which we did just before xmas. A very eventful few days, battling through wind rain then heavy snow to get to Edinburgh then to unload this thing of unbelievable gravitational force, it took two of us just to lift the base below:

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50 Kg of cast iron and steel, not something to drop on your foot!

Set up was done the following day, with much care but it was actually quite straightforward once the mass was safeley on the rack (bit nervy ;) ) I did take the precaution of ensuring the rack would take the weight by adding 4 aluminium support blocks to the already very rigid frame directly underneath the Melco's dedicated platform.

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One thing to note here is the serial number; #1 , not a bad one to own eh?

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This Melco actually has an additional 6kg Brass top plate to the platter, I guess Be didn't reckon 35Kg of gunmetal to be enough :) :) So we are up to over 90 Kg so far. Then the arm boards came out. Bespoke parts, made in west London to take the FR66, this was another 4 Kg of 316 Stainless Steel, then the arm:

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The motor unit for the Melco sits on its own isolated support shelf, which was ideal as it can be a tricky one to get set up to be noise and vibration free, and my friends had concerns of hearing the hum through the cartridge, but thankfully for me, the rack did a good job of blocking all mechanical bonding of the two, with just the silk thread linking them together:
 
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Uk Paul

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nef7597.jpg

Once set, the motor is adjusted for level via 3 adjusters until the silk thread runs in the centre of the pulley. Speed adjustment is by a lever on the front of the motor housing.

So the arm was adjusted, the Koetsu Onyx (1983 Sugano original, untouched since) fitted and aligned, with some checking with test LP's, but mainly relying on set up by ear. The owner has been in the recording industry at the BBC for 30 years and is more than happy doing it this way..

The phono section here is the ASR Basis Exclusive, into the Audio Note (Japan) Pre, then CAT JL3 monoblocks, Wilson Sophia 2's.

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Did I mention the record weight's yet? 2 options, the baby one is 2Kg, the big one is 6Kg! We only used the baby one to begin with, but did try the heavy one the next eve when we regained a bit of strength :)

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MRJAZZ

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View attachment 38086

Once set, the motor is adjusted for level via 3 adjusters until the silk thread runs in the centre of the pulley. Speed adjustment is by a lever on the front of the motor housing.

So the arm was adjusted, the Koetsu Onyx (1983 Sugano original, untouched since) fitted and aligned, with some chcking with test LP's, but mainly relying on set up by ear. The owner has been in the recording industry at the BBC for 30 years and is more than happy doing it this way..

The phono section here is the ASR Basis Exclusive, into the Audio Note (Japan) Pre, then CAT JL3 monoblocks, Wilson Sophia 2's.

View attachment 38089

View attachment 38090

Did I mention the record weight's yet? 2 options, the baby one is 2Kg, the big one is 6Kg! We only used the baby one to begin with, but did try the heavy one the next eve when we regained a bit of strength :)

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Very nice......not sure if it’s an optical illusion, however is the VTA unusually high ( the last picture)...?

Cheers.....
 

Uk Paul

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Yes, the vta is higher at the rear, though this Onyx tapers slighly too accentuating the look, but this is how it sounds better balanced, which leads me on to listening quite niceley.. :)

First LP was chosen for paino content, I wanted to hear how it dealt with this first and foremost; we both concurred that Vladimir Ashkenazy/Rachmaninov 3rd piano concerto on Decca would be a good start point as we both own this, my copy being the Decca test pressing with the engineers notes still with it, so we know it pretty well. My friend at this point, although he has lived with and used the Melco for many many years really didn't know how it would compare to the Sony PSB80 that is his 'daily', and has seen off some pretty exotic front ends over the years he has owned it, ( 2 of them in fact). So, the Sony was not too embarrased at all, it held up very well in fact, but the immediate realisation was that piano simply sounded more real than with most other sources we have heard/ used/ owned, digital or analogue. It has major credibility, the sound so solid, crisp and tight in space. We moved through several Lp's that eve, no tweaking, just trying to ascertain where the fundamental differences lie, and for me, timing and an eery lack of overhang that you have to experience to understand. I guess that those that have heard the AS that David has been busy with may say the same. It goes beyond the better direct drive's for stability, and the profound effect this has on instruments like piano when well captured is absolutely fantastic. It deals with full on orchestral sections very calmly, no hysteria, just as it should be. The next day I bought some LP's in some of Edinburgh's many record shops (quite envious here!), one of which was Tord Gustavsen's latest release on ECM, 'What was Said' and yes, at last a vinyl copy! Thank you Manfred! This just sounded so sublime that evening, truly captivating, and this LP gets a wholehearted recomendation, just beautiful music..

We ran out of time to fit the Kondo IO-m that weekend as my journey home was 450 miles the following day, but it has since been set up for the FR and may be the main cart in use, more open top and a bit more sparkly than the Onyx aparently. When we tried both in the PSB80, my preference was for the Onyx, portraying a better tone with Elvis's voice than the Kondo, something that surprised me at the difference.

Next week a new tonearm cable will go in to replace a very modest one used to get running, I'm hoping that this will open the sound up even more maybe opening up the hf for the Onyx that little bit..

You may notice no digital in this room ;)

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Uk Paul

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Some more about the Melco's and this one can be seen here on my friends website:

https://www.mysonic.space/melco-turntables/

Much more detail than I have added here, for I am no authority on these, mereley the messenger!
 

spiritofmusic

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Hey Paul, fantastic. I really look forward to hearing about this when I visit you soon. Will take my mind off my own analog reinstall saga.
 

Syntax

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Very nice......not sure if it’s an optical illusion, however is the VTA unusually high ( the last picture)...?

Cheers.....

Done wrong of course.
But, who cares ...
 

gian60

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When Be Yamamura went to Italy around 1989,i was his first customer/friend and built this TT all in bronze and graphite with platter air suspension and tonearm like a pantograph all hand made with graphite

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gian60

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and did a system to me with mono tube and amp with mono external power supply,8 stack with the weight of total 260/280 kg,with nos tube,old capacitors,and superpermalloy trans
Sound was more than amazing.
Then some years later Be had health problems and went to Usa first and to Japan for some years.
This system had some problems and Italian technician cannot repair well and did disaster,so i sold everything and pass to Audiotekne in 1994

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These are the photo of my TT and my system that did Ken Kessler in my home and did a report in HI FI News in 1992
 

microstrip

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Very nice......not sure if it’s an optical illusion, however is the VTA unusually high ( the last picture)...?

Cheers.....

No, it is the lower side of the body of the Koetsu that its slanted. If you look at the previous image of reflection the shell in the vinyl of the LP you see the top of the cartridge and shell looks parallel to the LP. Photographs can distort the perspective.
 

Uk Paul

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Gian,

Thank you this is fascinating, he certainly was pushing the boundaries with his ideas on design and implementation. My friends lost touch with him when he went to Italy, I believe he had been conned here by another partner and suffered financially. That system looks so far from the norm back then, just crazy!
 
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Uk Paul

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No, it is the lower side of the body of the Koetsu that its slanted. If you look at the previous image of reflection the shell in the vinyl of the LP you see the top of the cartridge and shell looks parallel to the LP. Photographs can distort the perspective.

Yes, this Onyx (remember it's vintage) slants up to the rear on the underside, so it is not as wrong as it looks when comparing with later Koetsu's which are rectangular in side profile. Wide angle lens does have effect too.. You can see how thin the walls are of the body here though, it is like a baby fish, still transparent so you can see it's organs inside..
 
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