Upcoming Nagra turntable
- Thread starter matakana
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the Saskia model two idler also uses the Pabst reel to reel motors, and it does not have any speed correction. it's pretty quiet. the Saskia has a separate motor chassis decoupled from the plinth, together which weight 180 pounds.
having owned a Nagra T and Nagra IVS, they are not the top level performing reel to reel decks, although were very fine at doing what they were designed to do and marvelous machines. top level reel to reel workhorse decks would be Ampex and Studer. the Pabst motors were used on an Ampex deck.
TLi, I am trying to understand what you mean by detailed and gentle. When listening to something like a string quartet, does that mean the presentation is similar to that of a close miked recording and one that lacks life and energy? Could you describe what you actually hear from a recording?
My belt Drive turntable also lacks speed correction as far as I know. It’s just a low friction bearing and massive platter that maintain consistent speed.
According to Fremer, who spent time at the Munich 2022 show spinning records on the Nagra table:
“The Nagra is certainly in the top tier in every way. I’ve heard it only in Nagra’s Munich show room where I played records for an hour and it impressed.”
The general consensus seems to be that Nagra had the best booth at the show.
I expect that when it’s reviewed, speed stability and related stats will put it near the very top. At first I thought, ‘what does Nagra know about making turntables’? But when you think about it: speed stability is crucial to making a great reel to reel machine. And it’s telling that TechDas is also leveraging reel to reel motors for the AF0.
At a price that is significantly below the OMA K3/AF0 & AF1/SAT XD1, I think the Nagra TT is very compelling. It also looks far better than any of these, although I realize that’s subjective.
By the way, according to a dealer I just spoke to, there are fewer than 20 units still available, out of the run of 70.
“The Nagra is certainly in the top tier in every way. I’ve heard it only in Nagra’s Munich show room where I played records for an hour and it impressed.”
The general consensus seems to be that Nagra had the best booth at the show.
I expect that when it’s reviewed, speed stability and related stats will put it near the very top. At first I thought, ‘what does Nagra know about making turntables’? But when you think about it: speed stability is crucial to making a great reel to reel machine. And it’s telling that TechDas is also leveraging reel to reel motors for the AF0.
At a price that is significantly below the OMA K3/AF0 & AF1/SAT XD1, I think the Nagra TT is very compelling. It also looks far better than any of these, although I realize that’s subjective.
By the way, according to a dealer I just spoke to, there are fewer than 20 units still available, out of the run of 70.
Aesthetically, It looks a lot like the new SME model 60, except for the awkwardly placed control panel and the clear platter showing the drive mechanism.
Will MF be reviewing it?
I think it looks 100X better than the SME 60, for only double the price!
Wow, I had forgotten it was that expensive. I wonder how different it sounds from the SME for double the price.
I actually think the SME is expensive! I have a V12 arm and it’s at a different level than anything made by Nagra. But then it was only about $6k when I bought it.
I watched the SME Model 60 factory video that Fremer did. SME doesn’t compare to Nagra, sorry. Night and day difference. Now when SME tables are 1/10th the price, that’s fine. When it’s getting close to 6-figures for an SME table, that’s no longer competitive.
Best sound at the show according to M fremer ?
You gotto be kiddin , i always give my honest opinion , but this demo was one of the worst $ / sound ratios i ve ever heard .
Best sounding TT to my ears was the Tech das in the rockport room
Together with the TT set up at FM acoustics
You gotto be kiddin , i always give my honest opinion , but this demo was one of the worst $ / sound ratios i ve ever heard .
Best sounding TT to my ears was the Tech das in the rockport room
Together with the TT set up at FM acoustics
I misunderstood you. I was not aware you had actually directly compared the two turntables. If the Nagra is that much better sounding to you, I understand your comments better. Thank you. I was just commenting on their relatively similar loopks, and asking about their sound not having heard either one and not knowing at all what to expect.
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Andro, how were you able to determine the contribution of the TechDAS turntable in the Rockport room to the overall sound you heard in the room? Or the Nagra turntable in the Nagra room?
Its difficult off course to determine what exactly the TT does , but in both cases it certainly was nt a limiting factor .
Great music in both rooms .
I just judge the overall package.
Ps i missed the XVX VTL set up . next show ill be starting up in the atrium and work my way down.
2 days is a bit short for MOC
It’s subjective of course but I read more than one summary from well known reviewers who claimed the Nagra / Wilson room was the best at the show. I’m not referring to price-performance ratio! That’s another can of worms that is so subjective it’s not relevant in a public forum.
I think the price performance ratio is an interesting subject and worthy of discussion. Of course what everyone thinks of it is very personal and subjective. Didn’t you bring up the issue in your post?
Thats probably the reason i stopped reading reviews long long time ago .
Im not in it for component dissection im in it for music .
I just mean that it’s so personal and subjective, I’m not sure there‘s a point to discussing; but just my opinion, of course.
On another note, I’m hearing from a respected dealer who has an SAT XD1 on order and is not a Nagra dealer, that the Nagra cartridges are phenomenal. He’s testing it now, along with a few other top contenders, to see what he prefers for his XD1. He said the Nagra cartridge is one of the best he’s heard.
I was there while M. Fremer played some lacquers and records. A couple of my friends and I visited Nagra room every day once and we listened a while every time. According to our judgement it was the worst sounding room in the show by far. I can not describe how lifeless and bad the sound is. I'm compelled by the horrible sound cause I used Nagra PLL for a long time and heard many Nagra components before. They're not the best but have a good sound in general.
It's impossible to seperate turntable's sound from the others but I don't think anything wrong with the turntable's sound. Surely Wilson XVX is not the culprit either so there must be something very wrong in somewhere. Although the sound was terrible the records and lacquers brought by M. Fremer were incredibly good cuts. That was very obvious when a regular audiophile Lp is played afterwards.
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I wrote and deleted a couple of times cause I don't want to comment on those reviewers. The sound was simply terrible in Nagra room. They were using huge mono blocks to drive Wilson XVXs and volume was almost at full, around 5 o'clock position at normal listening level but still wasn't adequate.
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Summarizing some of the comments I have read from the Nagra room:
“The Nagra is certainly in the top tier in every way. I’ve heard it only in Nagra’s Munich show room where I played records for an hour and it impressed.” - M. Fremer
"The big Nagra room, however, might have been even more popular since it took several efforts to wait long enough to procure the sweet spot. If the Avantgarde drew big crowds inside the room, the big Nagra room drew big crowds in the room, the vestibule leading into the room, and the hallway outside. Once I settled into the sweet spot in the big Nagra room, I was surprised that I heard none of that “bigger than life” sound that sometimes accompanies mega-rigs such as this. I heard an uncommon clarity in the sound of this system, and a smooth balance and musicality that hasn’t always existed with the larger Wilsons I’ve heard in the past. (I tend to like the smaller Wilson models.)"
"There was buzz about many rooms at the High End Munich show but perhaps few were as talked about as the Nagra/Wilson Audio Specialties setup in Atrium 4.1 F130. It seemed to be among the more packed ones, a tough room to get into... Highly resolved 3D images, convincing sense of life and scale. Full, flawless-seeming music emerged from dead-silent backgrounds in a seamless, continuous flow. Instrument timbres and vocals sounded right. I closed my eyes and felt swept away."
www.stereophile.com
There were more but these were readily found.
“The Nagra is certainly in the top tier in every way. I’ve heard it only in Nagra’s Munich show room where I played records for an hour and it impressed.” - M. Fremer
"The big Nagra room, however, might have been even more popular since it took several efforts to wait long enough to procure the sweet spot. If the Avantgarde drew big crowds inside the room, the big Nagra room drew big crowds in the room, the vestibule leading into the room, and the hallway outside. Once I settled into the sweet spot in the big Nagra room, I was surprised that I heard none of that “bigger than life” sound that sometimes accompanies mega-rigs such as this. I heard an uncommon clarity in the sound of this system, and a smooth balance and musicality that hasn’t always existed with the larger Wilsons I’ve heard in the past. (I tend to like the smaller Wilson models.)"
"There was buzz about many rooms at the High End Munich show but perhaps few were as talked about as the Nagra/Wilson Audio Specialties setup in Atrium 4.1 F130. It seemed to be among the more packed ones, a tough room to get into... Highly resolved 3D images, convincing sense of life and scale. Full, flawless-seeming music emerged from dead-silent backgrounds in a seamless, continuous flow. Instrument timbres and vocals sounded right. I closed my eyes and felt swept away."
Nagra Room: Nagra Reference Anniversary Turntable, Wilson Chronosonic XVX Speakers, Crystal Cable, Shunyata Research, Modulum Audio
There was buzz about many rooms at the High End Munich show but perhaps few were as talked about as the Nagra/Wilson Audio Specialties setup in Atrium 4.1 F130. It seemed to be among the more packed ones, a tough room to get into. I passed by twice before I was able to poke my head in, then was...
www.stereophile.com
There were more but these were readily found.
I think we can agree to disagree, @metmur! You must like a very different sound profile than what was presented.
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