TechDas Air Force One

[tat88]

Hi Gary,
My question for Nishikawa-san, since it has a vacuum/ air operation system, does it produce water deposits under the platter that needs to be cleaned regularly? I'm living in a high humidity environment, could this somehow also affect the accumulation of water deposits? Lastly, can an air operated tonearm like the Kuzma air line be used in the Techdas?

 

[garylkoh]

Hi Gary,

What is his opinion of using the AF1 on an active isolation table like a Herz TS-140 as long as you go rigid on the vertical foot support ?

His recommendation is that there is no need. The latest version uses a combination suspension and there is no necessity for an additional suspension system if you have the international version that has also vertical as well as horizontal compliance.

 

[rockitman]

Thanks for asking him Gary. Much appreciated.

 

[garylkoh]

Hi Gary,
My question for Nishikawa-san, since it has a vacuum/ air operation system, does it produce water deposits under the platter that needs to be cleaned regularly? I'm living in a high humidity environment, could this somehow also affect the accumulation of water deposits? Lastly, can an air operated tonearm like the Kuzma air line be used in the Techdas?

He does not know. May be our owner from Thailand can chime in here. We have had it here in Kuala Lumpur for the past 3 days in almost 100% humidity and there has been no water accumulation. There is a possibility, but we have to see.

The Kuzma is compatible. He has customers already using this combination.

 

[JackD201]

I'm in a high humidity environment as well. To early to tell just yet but so far so good. I'll keep you guys posted when it gets really humid near the end of our summer.

 

[tat88]

Thank you Gary and Jack! Sometimes there are those small things unnoticed that may somehow or might affect the performance of a gear, and we don't want to experience that on such a great creation like the Techdas AF1 TT.

 

[rockitman]

Those pictures better show what a beast it is w/o seeing it in person. The motor is huge.

 

[mep]

Gary- Was Nishikawa-san responsible for all of the famous Micro-Seiki designs? Micro-Seiki had many outstanding turntables that are still sought after today and still command big money.

 

[JackD201]

I don't know about all of them but certainly the 8000. Some tonearms too like the Black Widow.

 

[mep]

I was just wondering how many of the famous Micro Seiki tables Nishikawa-san was responsible for designing. I thought he had a long track record of designing SOTA tables that are still held in high esteem today and have provided long-term value to their owners. If the AF-1 is the crowning achievement of all of his knowledge of turntable design. it has to really be something.

 

[JackD201]

Yup. The SX-8000II was Micro Seiki's statement deck. The AFO is the direct descendant with the pretty much the same feature set but benefitting from today's precision tooling. Materials, not so much. Duralumin has been around for ages.

One thing not touched on yet by the AFO crew here at WBF is how easy this table is to set up and use for something so complex. You can level the table in seconds, switch arms in minutes, just push buttons to play the speed of your choice, engage vacuum and release, adjust pitch and even program an automatic power down in case you're the type to get sloshed and leave a record playing when you pass out. LOL.

It took me an hour and a half including the arm and a big chunk of that was disassembling the DIN socket of the Phantom so I could mount it through the board and reassembling it afterwards. I did have the help of one of my guys to do the heavy lifting. After all, the platter alone is the weight of a big bruiser power amp. There was a bit of a niggle with the manual regarding the air suspension. I've suggested that they add a few pictures to the manual.

 

[Sound Affair]

Yup. The SX-8000II was Micro Seiki's statement deck. The AFO is the direct descendant with the pretty much the same feature set but benefitting from today's precision tooling. Materials, not so much. Duralumin has been around for ages.

One thing not touched on yet by the AFO crew here at WBF is how easy this table is to set up and use for something so complex. You can level the table in seconds, switch arms in minutes, just push buttons to play the speed of your choice, engage vacuum and release, adjust pitch and even program an automatic power down in case you're the type to get sloshed and leave a record playing when you pass out. LOL.

It took me an hour and a half including the arm and a big chunk of that was disassembling the DIN socket of the Phantom so I could mount it through the board and reassembling it afterwards. I did have the help of one of my guys to do the heavy lifting. After all, the platter alone is the weight of a big bruiser power amp. There was a bit of a niggle with the manual regarding the air suspension. I've suggested that they add a few pictures to the manual.

My understanding is that the Micro Seiki statement product was the SZ-1T/SZ-1M weighing more than 120kg and double the price of the SX 8000 II when new. I wonder how much input Nishikawa-san had in that design?

 

[Bill Hart]

HammerTone Audio has/had one of the big Seiki decks for sale recently.

 

[JackD201]

My understanding is that the Micro Seiki statement product was the SZ-1T/SZ-1M weighing more than 120kg and double the price of the SX 8000 II when new. I wonder how much input Nishikawa-san had in that design?

I've never seen one. Must have been quite a rare bird. No idea what Nishikawa-san's contribution to that deck was if any. Maybe Gary can ask.

 

[mep]

 

[JackD201]

Googled it and found a Portuguese forum with pics including the air suspension base not shown above. The weight of the AFO's platter is a bit more, the 3 legged air suspension bass also has 3 inlets like its Daddy. The overall weight of the system is about the same. Can't say anything about the motors of the two since I know little about either. The belts are different though. The AFO belt is like a baby fan belt and like fan belts use a belt tensioning system but with a program sequence to get the right tension instead of moving the motor until you think you've got it just so. I like that there's some guess work removed if only to deal with analog paranoia LOL. Plinth material is totally different. Daddy has a brake function the AFO has none. When you hit stop it takes forever to stop spinning. I'd have liked the break function although if you press stop for 10 seconds you can leave and it will automatically power down to standby when the platter stops spinning.

 

[jcarr]

The SZ-1 came in two versions - one with a naval bronze (gunmetal) platter, and one with stainless steel (which is what I have). The outboard motor runs on air-bearings and integrates a flywheel (the disc covering the motor in the photo above). I know that the stainless-steel platter version was paired with a stainless-steel flywheel, but I don't recall what flywheel was used for the gunmetal platter version. I believe that the plinth is the same in either version.

The plinth is painted in dark chocolate-brown, making it hard to see what it is made from, but it appears to be cast-then-machined zinc. No way that an aluminum plinth of that size would weigh so much (lol)!

 

[JackD201]

Hi Jonathan, love my Atlas!

 

[Sound Affair]

The SZ-1 came in two versions - one with a naval bronze (gunmetal) platter, and one with stainless steel (which is what I have). The outboard motor runs on air-bearings and integrates a flywheel (the disc covering the motor in the photo above). I know that the stainless-steel platter version was paired with a stainless-steel flywheel, but I don't recall what flywheel was used for the gunmetal platter version. I believe that the plinth is the same in either version.

The plinth is painted in dark chocolate-brown, making it hard to see what it is made from, but it appears to be cast-then-machined zinc. No way that an aluminum plinth of that size would weigh so much (lol)!

jcarr you are a lucky man it is hard enough to find information on the SZ-1 let alone find one for sale, do these come up for sale fairly often on japanese markets or did you purchase yours new before the demise of Micro Seiki?
I assume you have heard and compared it to a SX 8000II and the Techdas AF1, what is your opinion on all 3 decks?

 

[garylkoh]

I've never seen one. Must have been quite a rare bird. No idea what Nishikawa-san's contribution to that deck was if any. Maybe Gary can ask.

Nishikawa-san left last night, and I left early this morning before voting in the Malaysian elections start..... now in Hong Kong.

He was the chief designer of the SX8000 II, and when asked if he also designed the other Micro Seiki decks, all he said was "yes". Nishikawa-san also mentioned that he saw one member of WBF having 6 copies of one of the tonearms he designed. I assume that's our Thai friend here.