Turntables — Michell Engineering Revolv

The Michell Engineering Revolv is a belt-drive deck and the British manufacturer's first all-new design in two decades. It sits between the minimalist TecnoDec and the fully suspended Gyro in the range. Where the Gyro isolates the platter from outside vibration with springs, the Revolv takes the opposite approach and controls energy at its source through mass and material damping, applying Michell's long experience with bearings and isolation to an unsuspended platform. Michell designs, engineers and hand-assembles it in Britain.

Key specs that matter

The turntable has a fixed, unsuspended chassis, a Delrin platter and electronic selection of 33.3 and 45rpm. The retail price is $5,999 without a tonearm, or $7,198 with Michell's own T8 tonearm, a record clamp and a dust cover.

Engineering and use context

Michell machines the chassis from a single 19mm block of aerospace-grade aluminium tooling plate, heavier than the suspended plinth of the Gyro. It is made with the same temperature-controlled process that holds flatness to 0.1mm, and its mass and uniform material are meant to carry energy away from the sensitive parts of the turntable, absorbing vibration rather than redirecting it. Without suspension the turntable is mechanically grounded, and the tonearm is coupled rigidly through a precision-machined aluminium arm plate. Six-node Sorbothane feet offer selectable damping modes, so the isolation can be matched to the support surface. The main bearing is an inverted mono-helix design with oil circulation, taken directly from the Gyro and built for quiet, stable rotation. The platter has 10mm brass weights around its edge to raise inertia and improve speed stability. The motor sits in a heavy freestanding housing that is completely separate from the turntable and connected only by the belt, which reduces the transfer of motor vibration. The motor unit and its power supply are both machined from solid billets of aerospace-grade aluminium, giving rigid enclosures with minimal gaps that block RF interference, and the whole system is fully grounded and linked by a shielded interconnect.

Pairing

The arm plate accepts a wide range of tonearms besides the T8, and the shielded and fully grounded motor and power supply suit a low-noise phono stage.

Alternatives

The Michell Gyro is the brand's fully suspended turntable, using spring isolation instead of the mass-loaded approach of the Revolv.