Esoteric Grandioso T1 turntable arrives; G1X Master Clock coming.

[Mike Lavigne]

Hi Mike,
Sound wonderful to hear you talk about your impressions… me myself have been listening to music all day (almost) but I never get tired of hearing about other guys music and hifi impressions.. so cool.

Hey Mike - when do you expect your Esoteric clock for the T1 to arrive? It’s getting close now… or..?

/ Jk

thanks Johan,

the clock is scheduled to arrive in town Tuesday (a month to the day after i ordered it as an in stock item), my Shunyata Sigma v2 Clock 50 cable is scheduled to ship to me (from Shunyata only 25 miles away) on Monday. if the cable actually ships (was suppose to ship last Thursday but was not ready), and will arrive at my home on Tuesday (possible), and 'if' the clock is actually in town Tuesday, i might go pick it up from the freight depot so i don't have to wait until they are good and ready to deliver it out to my place in the hinterlands.

lots of 'if's'. maybe Tuesday....maybe Friday.

 

[Johan K]

Whaoo… that sounds great. Yes I know that feeling… the eager to pick it up right away as soon as the packages are in the neighborhood. No audiophile can’t wait for the slow postal guy, right ?! Yeah unfortunatly there always a lot of ”IF’s”… but what can we do?! At least it seems like christmas is coming more than once in the US this year, haha.

Jk

 

[emoonie]

Hi Mike,
Thank you for sharing your latest endeavour. I'm still reeling from your Wadax thread. Which by the way do you think helped you appreciate what the AT-MC2022 is doing? What an incredible first/statement turntable for an established company like TEAC to undertake. Seems to me it has eliminated the need to choose between belt, direct or rim drive. I really admire your audio instincts and your generosity to share the joy.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Hi Mike,
Thank you for sharing your latest endeavour.

Hi David, you are welcome.

I'm still reeling from your Wadax thread.

me too. the Wadax is still wow'ing me now 15 months later and is 60%-70% of my listening. maybe with the new Esoteric and Ampex ATR's and MR-70 that percentage could change.

Which by the way do you think helped you appreciate what the AT-MC2022 is doing?

it fair to say that the AT-MC2022 is my most 'Wadax' like cartridge, it is so linear. a compliment to both.

What an incredible first/statement turntable for an established company like TEAC to undertake. Seems to me it has eliminated the need to choose between belt, direct or rim drive. I really admire your audio instincts and your generosity to share the joy.

the more time i spend with the T1 the more it jumps out as special.

thanks for the kind words.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

The G1X master clock has landed, waiting for the Shunyata Sigma v2 Clock-50 cable to arrive. Could be tomorrow, or Wednesday. it does look nice sitting there.

i'd really like to hear what this thing can do.

 

[Johan K]

The G1X master clock has landed, waiting for the Shunyata Sigma v2 Clock-50 cable to arrive. Could be tomorrow, or Wednesday. it does look nice sitting there.

i'd really like to hear what this thing can do.

View attachment 107143
View attachment 107144

Whaoo Mike…

Yes me too - I’m really exited to hear what your impressions will be, compared to without the master clock. Looks super nice indeed. I love the design of Esoteric’s equipment.

Cheers

/ Johan

 

[joey_v]

Excellent Mike

 

[Mike Lavigne]

got the Shunyata Sigma v2 Clock 50 cable. the clock has been on and stabilizing since yesterday afternoon. the cable is directional. with the T1 off, connected the cable first to the clock. then to the T1. turned the T1 on and you press the speed button to bring up the menu, selected "CLK", toggled it from 'off' to 'on'. then hit the on/off button to exit the menu. 'CLK10M' now appears above the speed read out. took 60 seconds.

member @SCAudiophile has recommended i install impedance-matched terminators on any unused clock outputs. so i have some of those coming tomorrow i will put on the unused outputs.

for now-- and

 

[Pokey77]

got the Shunyata Sigma v2 Clock 50 cable. the clock has been on and stabilizing since yesterday afternoon. the cable is directional. with the T1 off, connected the cable first to the clock. then to the T1. turned the T1 on and you press the speed button to bring up the menu, selected "CLK", toggled it from 'off' to 'on'. then hit the on/off button to exit the menu. 'CLK10M' now appears above the speed read out. took 60 seconds.

member @SCAudiophile has recommended i install impedance-matched terminators on any unused clock outputs. so i have some of those coming tomorrow i will put on the unused outputs.

for now-- and
View attachment 107235
View attachment 107234

Not sure if I am asking a silly question, but can you use the Esoteric clock to sinc the Wadax DAC and server? Maybe that is what the Akasa cable does?

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Not sure if I am asking a silly question, but can you use the Esoteric clock to sinc the Wadax DAC and server? Maybe that is what the Akasa cable does?

the Wadax Reference Dac does not have an external clock input.

it does have it's own Zepto Reference clock: doubled the master clock frequency with only 12fs total jitter. for reference the MSB Select II has a 33 femto clock....which i was impressed with. is this clock as good as the G1X? maybe? maybe not?

i can't say how involved in the clock related issues the Akasa is. if i get a chance to ask about it, i will post the answer.

 

[Bobvin]

Not sure how you do it Mike, so many Christmas‘s in one year!

That said, I’m looking forward to my next visit.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Not sure how you do it Mike, so many Christmas‘s in one year!

says the guy who got how many sets of speakers (3) and amps (2) plus a turntable (1) in the last 18 months?

yeah, yeah, yeah......you are in the business.

That said, I’m looking forward to my next visit.

me too, hope its soon.

 

[SL1800]

Looks fantastic Mike!!

 

[emoonie]

the Wadax Reference Dac does not have an external clock input.

it does have it's own Zepto Reference clock: doubled the master clock frequency with only 12fs total jitter. for reference the MSB Select II has a 33 femto clock....which i was impressed with. is this clock as good as the G1X? maybe? maybe not?

i can't say how involved in the clock related issues the Akasa is. if i get a chance to ask about it, i will post the answer.

I believe the timing error on the Esoteric is .05 billionths which is 50 picoseconds(. Wadax's designed Zepto clock's error is 12 femtoseconds.
That comes out to .00000000005 and .000000000000012 of a second if I didn't screw this up. Out of my realm but I believe these are theoretical limits. I'm guessing the location of the included Zepto would be beneficial over an external unit. Way cool on the temperature preheat. Always thought that would be a good feature for a phono cartridge so it would sound optimum right away. Most of mine have needed to play a side or two to fully warm up.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

so how does the Esoteric T1 sound with the GIX master clock hooked up?

for the last 3-4 hours i've thrown all my heavy artillery pressings at it. what can a clock do with turntable speed that is already very fine? my guess is that something like eliminating smear is taking place on a massive but molecular scale. logically if this clock is helping, it has to be causing the speed to be more steady. nano level stutters, fits and starts have to be being greatly reduced or eliminated, with only steady speed remaining....compared to without the clock when it was already world class drive, solidity and energy.

for a minute let's assume i'm right. which means on a nano level every grain of information in the groove is more accurately being read, and the resulting signal is more cohesive and coherent. more dynamic too. less wasted energy, less confused information. or at least significant degrees better than before.

i can see that this 'effect' could be along the lines of what an air bearing, massive platter could do for speed steady-ness. more than one way to get the desired result. debatable which method goes further.

is the magnetic rim idler drive design essential to attain this clock effect result? no idea. might a belt get the same benefit? no idea.

i may be completely wrong about the how and why, those are dangerous places for me to go. but i'm trying to connect dots. i'm sure mirco will scold me on some level about my faulty logic.

in any case, that is how my mind has rationalized, how every track i heard tonight was a new reference for me. each track moved away from reproduced music toward realism, every track had more inner energy mostly more micro-dynamics, big music was bigger. the ambience and space was more real and defined. spookily so on many cuts. i heard venue info i have never heard before. the sense of musical intent was much stronger, the sense of the players playing together more evident.

the only thing that changed was adding the clock.

if someone is buying the T1, don't hear the clock unless you are prepared to buy it. you can't unhear it.

 

[tima]

I believe the timing error on the Esoteric is .05 billionths which is 50 picoseconds(. Wadax's designed Zepto clock's error is 12 femtoseconds.
That comes out to .00000000005 and .000000000000012 of a second if I didn't screw this up. Out of my realm but I believe these are theoretical limits. I'm guessing the location of the included Zepto would be beneficial over an external unit. Way cool on the temperature preheat. Always thought that would be a good feature for a phono cartridge so it would sound optimum right away. Most of mine have needed to play a side or two to fully warm up.

Thanks for that information. Not questioning what you wrote though I'm not sure what it means, so a few questions, please, out of technical curiousity:

What is being measured? Are the numbers about the accuracy of the clock or its crystal? Or are they a measurement of the magnetic rotor? Or a measurement of actual platter speed?

How are the measurements taken? Is there an error correction mechanism or do the claims rely on the clock accuracy?

 

[Klonk]

I always enjoy reading your adventures in HiFI land/music land. Have you reached Nirvana with your new turntable/clock? Or will you continue to improve the sound with different tonearm, cartridges? Anyway best of luck.

 

[plasmod3]

so how does the Esoteric T1 sound with the GIX master clock hooked up?

for the last 3-4 hours i've thrown all my heavy artillery pressings at it. what can a clock do with turntable speed that is already very fine? my guess is that something like eliminating smear is taking place on a massive but molecular scale. logically if this clock is helping, it has to be causing the speed to be more steady. nano level stutters, fits and starts have to be being greatly reduced or eliminated, with only steady speed remaining....compared to without the clock when it was already world class drive, solidity and energy.

for a minute let's assume i'm right. which means on a nano level every grain of information in the groove is more accurately being read, and the resulting signal is more cohesive and coherent. more dynamic too. less wasted energy, less confused information. or at least significant degrees better than before.

i can see that this 'effect' could be along the lines of what an air bearing, massive platter could do for speed steady-ness. more than one way to get the desired result. debatable which method goes further.

is the magnetic rim idler drive design essential to attain this clock effect result? no idea. might a belt get the same benefit? no idea.

i may be completely wrong about the how and why, those are dangerous places for me to go. but i'm trying to connect dots. i'm sure mirco will scold me on some level about my faulty logic.

in any case, that is how my mind has rationalized, how every track i heard tonight was a new reference for me. each track moved away from reproduced music toward realism, every track had more inner energy mostly more micro-dynamics, big music was bigger. the ambience and space was more real and defined. spookily so on many cuts. i heard venue info i have never heard before. the sense of musical intent was much stronger, the sense of the players playing together more evident.

the only thing that changed was adding the clock.

if someone is buying the T1, don't hear the clock unless you are prepared to buy it. you can't unhear it.

Amazing mike! look forward to hooking mine up to the cybershaft to see how it goes. This hobby keeps surprising me again and again

 

[Carlos269]

so how does the Esoteric T1 sound with the GIX master clock hooked up?

for the last 3-4 hours i've thrown all my heavy artillery pressings at it. what can a clock do with turntable speed that is already very fine? my guess is that something like eliminating smear is taking place on a massive but molecular scale. logically if this clock is helping, it has to be causing the speed to be more steady. nano level stutters, fits and starts have to be being greatly reduced or eliminated, with only steady speed remaining....compared to without the clock when it was already world class drive, solidity and energy.

for a minute let's assume i'm right. which means on a nano level every grain of information in the groove is more accurately being read, and the resulting signal is more cohesive and coherent. more dynamic too. less wasted energy, less confused information. or at least significant degrees better than before.

i can see that this 'effect' could be along the lines of what an air bearing, massive platter could do for speed steady-ness. more than one way to get the desired result. debatable which method goes further.

is the magnetic rim idler drive design essential to attain this clock effect result? no idea. might a belt get the same benefit? no idea.

i may be completely wrong about the how and why, those are dangerous places for me to go. but i'm trying to connect dots. i'm sure mirco will scold me on some level about my faulty logic.

in any case, that is how my mind has rationalized, how every track i heard tonight was a new reference for me. each track moved away from reproduced music toward realism, every track had more inner energy mostly more micro-dynamics, big music was bigger. the ambience and space was more real and defined. spookily so on many cuts. i heard venue info i have never heard before. the sense of musical intent was much stronger, the sense of the players playing together more evident.

the only thing that changed was adding the clock.

if someone is buying the T1, don't hear the clock unless you are prepared to buy it. you can't unhear it.

The irony of it all: you have turned the drive of the turntable into a more obvious digital system and therefore as you say on a “nano scale” the data acquisition into a digital system, away from the continuous analog retrieval process. In the old days you would call doing this “dumbing it down”. I guess this one slipped by you. So the take away is that in the Esoteric Grandioso T1 turntable system, digital gets “each track moved away from reproduced music toward realism, every track had more inner energy mostly more micro-dynamics, big music was bigger. the ambience and space was more real and defined. spookily so on many cuts. i heard venue info i have never heard before. the sense of musical intent was much stronger, the sense of the players playing together more evident.” Than analog.

I guess that I’m the only one that noticed this great irony? Sorry but it needed to be pointed out. Why didn’t the “Industry Experts” render this point and bring it to the surface? I wonder why!

For the ones pondering this, take a look at the magnetic induction drive system:



Discrete torque impulses, a digital drive system before the external clock is even added.

It must be much better in Mike’s ears to brushless DC motors. Time for others to build turntables with stepper-motors, with digital clock inputs, as I’m sure this new class will evolve: belt-drive, direct-drive, rim-drive, and now digital-drive.

 

[Lagonda]

so how does the Esoteric T1 sound with the GIX master clock hooked up?

for the last 3-4 hours i've thrown all my heavy artillery pressings at it. what can a clock do with turntable speed that is already very fine? my guess is that something like eliminating smear is taking place on a massive but molecular scale. logically if this clock is helping, it has to be causing the speed to be more steady. nano level stutters, fits and starts have to be being greatly reduced or eliminated, with only steady speed remaining....compared to without the clock when it was already world class drive, solidity and energy.

for a minute let's assume i'm right. which means on a nano level every grain of information in the groove is more accurately being read, and the resulting signal is more cohesive and coherent. more dynamic too. less wasted energy, less confused information. or at least significant degrees better than before.

i can see that this 'effect' could be along the lines of what an air bearing, massive platter could do for speed steady-ness. more than one way to get the desired result. debatable which method goes further.

is the magnetic rim idler drive design essential to attain this clock effect result? no idea. might a belt get the same benefit? no idea.

i may be completely wrong about the how and why, those are dangerous places for me to go. but i'm trying to connect dots. i'm sure mirco will scold me on some level about my faulty logic.

in any case, that is how my mind has rationalized, how every track i heard tonight was a new reference for me. each track moved away from reproduced music toward realism, every track had more inner energy mostly more micro-dynamics, big music was bigger. the ambience and space was more real and defined. spookily so on many cuts. i heard venue info i have never heard before. the sense of musical intent was much stronger, the sense of the players playing together more evident.

the only thing that changed was adding the clock.

if someone is buying the T1, don't hear the clock unless you are prepared to buy it. you can't unhear it.

Nice Mike ! And add a little expectation bias to the pot ! This is why i would recommend any distributors/manufacturer of very expensive equipment to give Mike the best deal they can put together ! He is the ultimate first mover/influencer in the business ! Now lets see what sticks, i reserve my judgment until you have lived with it, and kept it for about a year !