The Archivist 💫

 

Further insight about the new turntable by Jean Nantais:

“A quickie post on my new model, The Archivist! Sorry for the late report, still more to post after this but I'm so busy building various idlers I don't have time and most of all this new model was a shock! The first customer, who owned TWO two-tonearm Ultimates sums it up perfectly here: "All bets are off. I don't know what any piece of equipment sounds like. I don't know which records sound best. Reborn. I don't know which records sound best for demo because all hold surprises."

A well-known and loved client had bothered me for years to improve on the Ultimate, which I answered repeatedly couldn't be done as, after all, the Ultimate Lenco was the ultimate, combining the strengths of digial (perfect speed stability thanks to the much greater inertia of the 14 1/4" platter, razor-sharp transients) with the best of analogue, (silkiness, much more information including sustains and decays, resonances, a realistic soundspace etc.).

But increasingly, with the development of my own Mighty Mite and lately the Mighty Mite Super which was a smash hit at the recent Montreal Audio Show ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=io1UBQXzC1I ) , and my work on older idler-wheel drives like the Rek-O-Kut Rondine, the aesthetic of a simple tall platter on a flat plat/chassis appealed to me.

Then two clients at the SAME time wanted an Ultimate Lenco built for FOUR tonearms! Since this couldn't be done with the Ultimate Lenco design for a variety of reasons, I decided it was time to design a turntable homage to the '50s,!!

And I couldn't do this without at least attempting an improvement in sound. Since the Ultimate already had all the elements of taking an idler-wheel drive all the way (extremely low noise floor, off-the-scale inertia/speed stability imparted by the 14 1/4" diameter platter) I simply increased the Direct Coupling (greater expanse of chassis to plinth contact) and inertia (add more mass to the rim). I also developed a new bearing to handle the greater stresses of the platter. The new bearing also was an imrpovement on the Ultimate Lenco, I learned something new here as well!

Since it was literally impossible to even imagine improving on the Ultimate, I had no idea what better would even sound like. Would the greater inertia even be audible? Could the noise floor - already impossible to hear - be even lower and the difference audible? 

When I finally had the 'table up on the stand and playing, I literally could not believe what I was hearing: STUNNING dynamics I wasn't sure wasn't an exaggeration, bass reach and detail I couldn't be sure wasn't a colouration, the smallest details emerging clearly from LPs I had played thousands of times, resonances and decays permeating the sound room, incredible depth and placement of the soundstage, even in comparison to the Ultimate Lenco!

And so began several months of testing, to be sure the Archivist was "telling the truth": it seems it is, but perhaps this is irrelevant given the performance! As the client said above: "All bets are off. I don't know what any piece of equipment sounds like. I don't know which records sound best. Reborn. I don't know which records sound best for demo because all hold surprises."

As you can see the visual design owed a LOT to the Rek-O-Kut Rondine, HAD to have the big knob, had to have the level, had to have the Art Deco lettering 😃

More later on the journey with more sonic details, it took years for me to design and make reality the Ultimate, had to find all the suppliers and businesses needed along the way, this one I realized in a record year because most of that work was already done.

Enjoy the music, I'll end with another quote from the same first Archivist client: "How foolish to worry about pressings. Just put anything on. Enjoy it. Archivist is the cure for audiophiles. It is Freedom." Couldn't have said it better myself! But still trying to get to the bottom of it.”

Well done, Jean 💫