Beguiling behemoth from the 1980's very rare, believe it or not this usually looks cleaner. I'd like this to go to someone that likes to fettle with a TT possibly a collector, as theres a fair few levels to this to build. Its more of a piece of history. I replaced the notoriously sagging elastomer suspension with still points, inverse risers & stainless studs as recommended by snoopdog another Crystal owner, and was perfect fit at a few hundred to do. The designers idea was to combine the best worlds of suspension and mass loading. The blingy gold bit is actually solid machined phosphor bronze, topped with dished acrylic.
Its quartz regulated hence the crystal name. It sounds fantastic, weighs seriously over 100lbs and has its own built in pedestal and is probably 1 of only about 100 in existence. This prefers 33.3, as the inverted oil bath bearing is effectively a massive gimbal and being belt driven from one side causes it to pitch slightly, so "Dave Double Decks" should not apply. Its a Crystal thing they all do it to a greater or lesser degree. The good stuff is the beautiful bass from this thing, and even with a marmite cartridge like my dynavector XX1 and a £70 phono stage it sounds fab. Only up for sale due to needing to finance a personal project as journey of a thousand miles begins with a cash advance.
The arm is mounted as the TT came and original from time of purchase, its a beautiful thing but lacks the sled adjustment of the high end SME's which is a bit of a pain, the tonearm cable is a custom job removable but not a standard fitting. I had the arm serviced by Helius (great bloke) at a cost of £150 in the last couple of years and its been lightly used since then. The arms have sold historically for up to £2k at feeding frenzy levels. They only made 1000. I've had the TT a few years now, and will be so sorry to see it go. Buyer gets to hear it, then we take it to bits and bubble wrap it up then nip over the road for some lunch at the veggie cafe. You don't lift this like a table, due to the weight involved. You start with the column that also houses the control board, then build upwards levelling at each stage, the upper plinth connects via umbilical. The skirt at the bottom of the pedestal sides up to reveal a metal footplate, optionally you can add 6mm spikes to level/isolate this further but I never did as I worried about it punching straight through the floor!
This particular turntable spent 10 to 15 years in storage as its owner went to work in the Middle East which probably explains partly its condition. Decide carefully if this is for you as its a very rare vintage piece of equipment, and I can't offer any guarantees. Anyone that knows me here can vouch for me as a seller. Oh yes one more thing. These take michell gyrodec belts using bit of string to get these on works great. You get the TT and the Helius arm for £2400 (the mat and cart are not included).
Without the mat this will require the VTA to be dropped a little. I have the box for the helius and a spare weight somewhere.
Please bung this in turntables, sorry I'm a little in shock about selling her!
Its quartz regulated hence the crystal name. It sounds fantastic, weighs seriously over 100lbs and has its own built in pedestal and is probably 1 of only about 100 in existence. This prefers 33.3, as the inverted oil bath bearing is effectively a massive gimbal and being belt driven from one side causes it to pitch slightly, so "Dave Double Decks" should not apply. Its a Crystal thing they all do it to a greater or lesser degree. The good stuff is the beautiful bass from this thing, and even with a marmite cartridge like my dynavector XX1 and a £70 phono stage it sounds fab. Only up for sale due to needing to finance a personal project as journey of a thousand miles begins with a cash advance.
The arm is mounted as the TT came and original from time of purchase, its a beautiful thing but lacks the sled adjustment of the high end SME's which is a bit of a pain, the tonearm cable is a custom job removable but not a standard fitting. I had the arm serviced by Helius (great bloke) at a cost of £150 in the last couple of years and its been lightly used since then. The arms have sold historically for up to £2k at feeding frenzy levels. They only made 1000. I've had the TT a few years now, and will be so sorry to see it go. Buyer gets to hear it, then we take it to bits and bubble wrap it up then nip over the road for some lunch at the veggie cafe. You don't lift this like a table, due to the weight involved. You start with the column that also houses the control board, then build upwards levelling at each stage, the upper plinth connects via umbilical. The skirt at the bottom of the pedestal sides up to reveal a metal footplate, optionally you can add 6mm spikes to level/isolate this further but I never did as I worried about it punching straight through the floor!
This particular turntable spent 10 to 15 years in storage as its owner went to work in the Middle East which probably explains partly its condition. Decide carefully if this is for you as its a very rare vintage piece of equipment, and I can't offer any guarantees. Anyone that knows me here can vouch for me as a seller. Oh yes one more thing. These take michell gyrodec belts using bit of string to get these on works great. You get the TT and the Helius arm for £2400 (the mat and cart are not included).
Without the mat this will require the VTA to be dropped a little. I have the box for the helius and a spare weight somewhere.


Please bung this in turntables, sorry I'm a little in shock about selling her!
Last edited by a moderator: