Thales Simplicity review in Stereophile.

simplicity

New Member
Jun 2, 2012
29
0
0
SW London, UK.
Yes I saw this and had heard from sources in the UK that it was coming.
For a review of this magnitude MH should have set the Thales up form MF himself, rather than leaving it for the (new) distributor and MF to have a stab at.
Obviously with hindsight......
 

david.m

Well-Known Member
Jan 15, 2014
11
1
133
Sydney, Australia
I'm also a (happy) TTT-C/Simplicity owner. I respect Mr Fremer's right and in fact obligation to honestly publish his experience and opinion, however, one would have thought that in the circumstances there was also a professional obligation upon him to communicate with either the manufacturer or distributor regarding the product fault (relating to the bearing/tracking issues) prior to publishing. There are already several reviews of the Simplicity, none of which identified such issues, therefore it was highly probable the issue was not a consequence of the design or normal production. As it eventuates the fault was caused by someone (innocently) interfering with the headshell bearings after the arm arrived in the US. It's also unfortunate that Stereophile, in the Feb issue, omitted to include this as part of Mr Huber's reply in their 'Manufacturers Comment' section. I would guess the whole of Huber's reply was too large to publish but surely there could have been some communication to enable preparation of a more brief but complete response. A Stereophile reader is left with the belief that the Simplicity has an inherent design/manufacture fault which it clearly does not. This is neither a fair or reasonable situation.

I agree with Mr Fremer in that there is room for improvement with the manual (cart installation instructions), though I would say when I was installing my cart it was obvious that if I followed those instructions precisely, as Fremer obviously did, catastrophe would almost certainly follow. I instead removed the headshell/cart from the alignment 'Sight Unit' device to tighten the screws then re-inserted and checked. The alignment markings on the Sight Unit could also be a little thinner, their width does obscure the cantilever, but a little time/care and initiative did easily solve this problem, at least for me.
 

MylesBAstor

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
11,236
81
1,725
New York City
I'm also a (happy) TTT-C/Simplicity owner. I respect Mr Fremer's right and in fact obligation to honestly publish his experience and opinion, however, one would have thought that in the circumstances there was also a professional obligation upon him to communicate with either the manufacturer or distributor regarding the product fault (relating to the bearing/tracking issues) prior to publishing. There are already several reviews of the Simplicity, none of which identified such issues, therefore it was highly probable the issue was not a consequence of the design or normal production. As it eventuates the fault was caused by someone (innocently) interfering with the headshell bearings after the arm arrived in the US. It's also unfortunate that Stereophile, in the Feb issue, omitted to include this as part of Mr Huber's reply in their 'Manufacturers Comment' section. I would guess the whole of Huber's reply was too large to publish but surely there could have been some communication to enable preparation of a more brief but complete response. A Stereophile reader is left with the belief that the Simplicity has an inherent design/manufacture fault which it clearly does not. This is neither a fair or reasonable situation.

I agree with Mr Fremer in that there is room for improvement with the manual (cart installation instructions), though I would say when I was installing my cart it was obvious that if I followed those instructions precisely, as Fremer obviously did, catastrophe would almost certainly follow. I instead removed the headshell/cart from the alignment 'Sight Unit' device to tighten the screws then re-inserted and checked. The alignment markings on the Sight Unit could also be a little thinner, their width does obscure the cantilever, but a little time/care and initiative did easily solve this problem, at least for me.

I'd be shocked to hear that that Mikey didn't upon discovering the issue with the arm call the distributor. He is a thorough reviewer.
 

david.m

Well-Known Member
Jan 15, 2014
11
1
133
Sydney, Australia
I agree though if he had contacted the distributor one would have expected some mention of that and the response given, as you would know these reviews don't happen overnight. Mistakes happen, that's life, it's just ashame the situation wasn't clarified in the Feb issue
 

JackX

New Member
Nov 22, 2010
18
2
3
Oslo, Norway
I've got the Thales turntable - and with both the Thales and Simplicity arm.

Had them both installed and aligned with Micha himself, in my listening room. Only way to go for me (being complete illitterate on the how-to & what not).

Do it deliver? You bet!

Cheers!
 

MylesBAstor

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
11,236
81
1,725
New York City
I've got the Thales turntable - and with both the Thales and Simplicity arm.

Had them both installed and aligned with Micha himself, in my listening room. Only way to go for me (being complete illitterate on the how-to & what not).

Do it deliver? You bet!

Cheers!

What did you have before and what were the improvements?
 

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