Review: Michell Orbe SE – a turntable that takes us back to the golden era of sound

With the growing interest in vinyl and turntables year after year, we couldn’t stay away and tested the “classic of the genre” – the British Michell Orbe SE turntable. This device, housed in a small case and offered at a relatively modest price by modern High End standards, is, in our opinion, an example for many manufacturers. But first things first.

Appearance

When developing Michell Orbe SE, the goal was to achieve the sound quality of the company’s senior turntable, Michell Orbe, but in a smaller package (150x490x375 mm). This is how the Spider Edition solution appeared – devoid of a large base and a dust cover (you have to buy it separately). Michell Orbe SE uses a system with two layers of isolation and a 60mm thick vibration damping Polymer platter. The drive system is belt, supports speeds of 33 1/3, 45 revolutions, high performance DC motor with dedicated “Never-Connected circut” power supply is used. The turntable weighs 13.5 kg. The turntable looks increbidly.

Design

The main secret of Michell Orbe SE is a double suspension system. As is known, vinyl players are extremely sensitive to resonances - therefore, the system can be improved both by increasing its weight (the so-called high mass turntables), and by using decoupling modules of the turntable with the shelf. In our case, a combination is used - a double damped chassis with suspended pendulum sub-chassis (solid aluminum feet and three suspension towers are fixed to the secondary acrylic base) and 60 mm thick massive acrylic/vinyl platter with a high moment of inertia.

Technology

This scheme provides a rigid dense platform to mount the main inverted oil-pumping bearing (as the company writes “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”), platter and tonearm assembly and drawing away unwanted vibrations from the sensitive elements of the turntable. Additionally, the included screw-down record clamp, compatible with standard and 180g audiophile pressings, also helps improve the sound.

The Michell Orbe SE turntable uses high-quality standalone DC motor with tacho feedback speed control and free-standing servo motor control technology-based power supply unit with Never-Connected circuit (the only connection between the motor and the turntable is the drive belt that drives the platter). Company recommendation includes to use Funk FX3 or Tecnoarm 2 tonearms, SME tonearms also is effective with this turntable.

Test system

When testing the Michell Orbe SE we used SME V tonearm and Lyra Helikon MC-cartrige. The main system based on ProAc Response DT8 speakers, and a set of electronics from YBA, namely, a CD player – YBA Signature CD player, a preamplifier – YBA Signature Preamplifier and a power amplifier – YBA Signature Stereo Power Amplifier. As a phono we used YBA Passion PH 150 Phono Pre-Amplifier.

Listening

Vinyl has a significant advantage over all digital sound formats in terms of fusion and continuity of the sound canvas. Where fatigue from listening to digital sound sets in after a couple of hours, using vinyl can result in listening to music all day long - the engaging factor with analog playback is exceptionally high. It is not for nothing that Haruki Murakami writes his novels only while listening to vinyl. B Michell Orbe SE puts this very presentation at the forefront - in which the music flows like a river, takes you by the hand and leads you into the land of the author's musical concept.

The famous album Jethro Tull Thick as a Brick seems to have nothing to surprise with, but on Michell Orbe SE the work blossoms and offers gorgeous macrodynamics and an amazing sense of rhythm. Clearly outlined bass parts, all shades of vocals - such a presentation. And indeed, it reminds one of a river with a strong current, and not fragments of former greatness, as we often hear in digital form.

The incredibly expensive Led Zeppelin I 1st pressing with a turquoise lettering on the sleeve and a plum LP guarantees a dense and rich bass - its extension may not be as great as it can be on much more mature High End turntables, but the velvety delivery can surprise even seasoned audiophiles. Moreover, this velvet easily turns into perfectly drawn dynamic splashes.

Finally, the UHQR clarity vinyl Jimi Hendrix Experience Axis: Bold As Love shows us a whole scattering of details, offering a full-fledged time machine for transferring to the past years - one can only applaud such a wealth of textural shades and the construction of a spatial picture. A truly impressive performance that much more expensive competitors among vinyl players can fail.

Conclusion

Michell Orbe SE confirms the saying "classics never age". The company's engineering solutions for dampening resonances and vibrations seem to be exceptionally effective to this day, and the smooth and lively performance will not leave anyone indifferent. Our warmest recommendations for a real gem among vinyl players.