JOIN OSCAR AND KELLY TO GO BEHIND THE SCENES WITH BRITISH TURNTABLE BRAND MICHELL
HiFi PiG visits British HiFi brand Michell for the launch of the brand new Michell Revolv and Michell Gyro turntables, and a look behind the scenes at Michell HQ in Stevenage, UK.
On the 16th October, Michell held an event in collaboration with their UK distributor PMC, to unveil two brand new turntables. At this exclusive press event, Jonathan Nye (Michell’s Managing Director) talked through the design and technical aspects of the new models as well as demoing the new models. We were also treated to a tour of their factory in Stevenage, to see where these iconic turntables are made, and have a look at their history.
MICHELL REVOLV AND NEW MICHELL GYRO LAUNCH
Starting with the launch, we were invited to the Cromwell hotel in Stevenage and were greeted with tea, coffee, and pastries. After filling up on refreshments, Jonathan unveiled the new Michell Revolv turntable, a model that sits between the TechnoDec and Gyro. This model comes in at £3995 (without tonearm or cartridge) and features a Delrin platter and heavyweight aluminium base, DC motor and clever damping feet with 6 carefully optimised Sorbothane nodes on the bottom of each foot. This new turntable has a more compact footprint with their classic solid brass weights on the platter, record clamp that essentially turns the vinyl record and Delrin platter into one solid mass, and a new external power supply with built in speed controller. From the brief demo of this turntable, it really does sound impeccably well-balanced, and Jonathan explained that both models make up a more neutral base for vinyl playback then previous models.
NEW MICHELL GYRO TURNTABLE
Next up, they unveiled the replacement for the GyroDec, the Gyro, and don’t be fooled into thinking this is just a simple upgrade; this is a new model, designed and built from the feet up. The isolation has been fine-tuned with springs that ensure external vibrations don’t make it through to the vinyl that’s playing, as well as having the Delrin platter and clamp that forms a solid mass. They haven’t forgotten about the signature look with the brass weights for the flywheel effect, yet the entire platform is new and improved. You don’t have the same soft suspension that the old model was renowned for, yet the clever design here does a better job whilst also offering improved stability in terms of playback speed. We listened to Massive & Crew by Chase & Status, and it sounded brilliant, tons of energy, punch, and dynamics.
For more details about the new Michell Revolv and Michell Gyro, read our news story here
MICHELL FACTORY TOUR
After unveiling their new models, we had lunch and then visited the Michell factory down the road. One thing that’s very apparent here is that Michell is a small, family-owned company that really cares about the quality of their products. They have been working with the same metal shop for decades, and their drive belt supplier tends to mostly do military spec components. This focus on quality allows them to produce precision-made products with a high level of consistency, especially on the new models. We got to see where the turntables are assembled, how the weights carefully slot into the bass, and their service department, where they have models that are 50-60 years old still being serviced.
They also have a machine setup that beds in every new drive belt, it ensures the quality of each belt, and tests them for speed stability, again ensuring consistency. We got to see the bearing assembly station, Michell use an inverted bearing and the new Gyro has a double helix design for improved oil flow. They still inspect and put together every bearing by hand.
Next up, we had the Michell Apollo phono stage assembly and got to see the internal design. Michell use Rega based arms, however, these are bare arms, and Michell fits their own tonearm cabling along with a new counterweight on the Gyro, an underslung design that I am sure will be very popular with regular Rega owners too. We then had a tour of their tooling room, they don’t use this room as much anymore, however it is still used for prototyping and making certain parts.
Lastly, we were treated to a tour of their legacy products, along with memorabilia from some films with links to Michell. These include the original Star Wars films, where certain parts from turntables were used as props on costumes, yet more importantly it was Michell who made C3-PO’s brass eyes. Looking away from the awesome memorabilia, this room had all the legacy models from Michell, which show their history, as well as a prototype CD player that never did make its way to becoming a full product.
A huge thank you to the team at Michell and PMC Distribution for putting on this event, and for letting us have a little glimpse behind the curtains of this iconic British HiFi brand.
Find out more about the new Michell Gyro and Michell Revolv here
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Oscar Stewart
Additional photography by Kelly Bowden
