I was reading your observations on The Michell Synchro. Did you ever hear the Mycro? How was it by comparison?
At one time Subjective Audio stocked the entire range of Michell Engineering turntables including the Prisma and the twin-platter Prisma.
Sonically we heard little difference between the Mycro and the Synchro. This was pretty much the case with many of their designs. To some extent, in those early days, John was preoccupied with outstanding aesthetic design and attention to cosmetic detail. Consequently outstanding sound quality was, at that point, not top of his list of priorities.
He took the view, and I have to tell you that I pretty much agreed with him in this because the evidence was clear to hear, that rigorous attention to mechanical engineering ("The bits you can't see Howard") would automatically result in first rate sound.
Thus while all of his models, from the budget ones upwards always looked the part (John would have been acutely if not mortally embarrassed to have sent out anything looking sub-standard) the mechanical engineering design in the higher models such as the Gyro and then the Orbe resulted in significantly superior sound. Closer tolerance bearings, superior isolation, platters that were increasing acoustically dead, and so on.
Other than this, all I can add is the fact that both the Synchro and Mycro really benefit from high quality isolation platforms, the like of which really weren’t around at that time. Hope this helps.
