Gem Dandy
For many of you, your introduction to “high end audio” was an AR-XA, AR speakers and Dynaco electronics. Those products did more for audio than all the Marantz 9s, JBL Paragons and McIntosh 3500s added together. What’s the point of audio that you cannot afford?
As “decent” as these popular products were, it didn’t take much ingenuity to radically improve their performance. Chief proponent of the AR-XA was George Merrill. Through various upgrades, adjustments, tweaks, etc.., an inspired DIY audiophile could have cost-no-object performance (for the ’70s and ’80s) on a reasonable budget.
Since then, George has produced a number of award winning products, most recent being the Gem Dandy PolyTable. Having received rave reviews, and even Product Of The Year from TAS in 2015, the PolyTable is a rare combination: no BS; easy to set up; amazing performance; reliable and affordable.
PolyTable
The PolyTable is designed and manufactured by George Merrill, in Tennessee, for the budget-minded music lover looking for a top quality turntable. Whether you are looking for your first high-end turntable, or you are tired of tweaky unreliable exotica, this design covers all the bases, and will not be embarrassed when compared against more expensive competitors.
The looks are striking. The sound performance will best any table in the price category, and many very expensive designs. You will be very pleased!
Key to the excellent sound quality is “Energy Management Design”. As shown on the spectrum analyzer, the chassis resonance frequency is the ideal 19HZ. This puts the chassis resonance comfortably away from the arm/cartridge resonance, and below recorded information. George Merrill’s products are not loaded with fancy polished gimmicks; just excellent engineering.
- PolyTable price with the Jelco SA-250 tonearm $1595.00
- With the Jelco SA-750D tonearm $1795.00
- With the Jelco SA-750E 10 inch tonearm $1995.00
- Digital Motor Drive (DMD) purchased with turntable (Installed) $690.00
- Digital Motor Drive Kit (DMD) for turntables sold without DMD $690.00
Design Features
- Designed with Energy Management Technology.
- Plinth is designed to minimize energy flow.
- No Metal or Glass used in the critical energy path.
- Two piece platter system with Damped Drive Platter.
- Precision Custom manufactured motor.
- RCC Mat bonded to the record support platter.
- Oil Well Bearing.
- Adjustable leveling feet with built in bubble level.
- As with the most good tonearms the Jelco SA-250 features VTF adjustment, VTA adjustment and azimuth adjustment. This allows an upgrade to any cartridge.
- A quality 1.5 meter Audioquest cable is provided.
- Optional cartridges and tonearm cables available.
- 33.3 – 45 RPM operation. Available for 50 HZ operation.
- Made in the USA with craftsmanship and pride!
PolyTable set up video:
Reviews
The Absolute Sound
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/gem-dandy-polytable/
Record Collector News May-June 2016 Issue 54
http://recordcollectornews.com/2016/05/taking-a-spin/
Stereophile Michael Fremer Super review August 2016
Stereophile Class B in the recommended components.
Fantastic review in Home Theater and High Fidelity
http://hometheaterhifi.com/reviews/vinyl/turntables/gem-dandy-polytable-turntable-review/
PolyTable Digital Motor Drive (DMD)
Any turntable that has fixed speed (no variation) cannot retain speed accurately under all temperature and humidity conditions. The expansion / contraction coefficients of the drive materials will vary with the environment. For example, acrylic will grow or shrink dramatically with normal room temperature changes. A variable speed control (DMD) solves this problem. The result is retention of accurate pitch.
The AC line power is contaminated with random frequency trash. Without a buffer, this trash is fed directly into the motor and coupled into the drive system and record support platter. A properly designed Motor Drive will totally isolate the turntable drive system from this trash. This will help to eliminate the clouding of micro level information and lead to improved resolution culminating in better imaging, detail and musical realism.
The Motor Drive uses a regulated DC power supply powering a microprocessor, employing crystal controlled adjustable dual oscillators for sine and cosine drive. The low distortion precision sine wave dual oscillators drive two high power low distortion amplifiers that power the motor. This allows total isolation from the power line. Speed sweep is plus or minus 2 percent. The turntable speed is checked with an on board strobe light driven by a short pulse crystal controlled square wave oscillator.
Speed accuracy is two parts per million.
Touch button logic control is employed.
The PolyTable Digital Motor Drive System is the most advanced drive system available.
It affords a noticeable improvement in performance.