HiFi Subjectivist ¦ Audio Forum ¦ NVA User Group

Interesting turntable this.
Our Ant has taken my Goldring GL75/Rega R200 combo in for a bit of a service and has loaned me his restored JBE Series III turntable with slate plinth. It has my old Mayware Formula IV Mk III and Audio Technica AT440MLB cartridge fitted to it.

I must say it sounds superb. The JBE/Mayware/AT combination seems to be an excellent match. Fluid and brimming with musical details, the JBE sounds all of a piece with nothing emphasised at the expense of anything else. All instruments however loud or soft in the mix get their chance to shine. Plenty of good depth, width and individual positioning of instruments. Pitch is rock solid and edges are all there without being turned into a machine gun presentation. All in all, it is a superb record player.

I've only previously heard it in passing at our Ant's house, but actually listening to it in depth at my place, in my system, I'm forced to conclude that what the Flat Earth mafia mags did to this fine turntable during the early 80s, is a bloody crime, as for me, it is so much better than the LP12, it's not funny.

I think the Haymarket magazines went to town on this deck more than any other, it came bottom in competitive tests. I think Ivor was very worried.

The mid 70's 'KJ W1 Record Player' prior to the LP12 sweeping all aside was a JBE III with Formula IV and Sonus Blue. Swap the Sonus Blue concept for an AT440MLa or b and you've got it bang on. Used properly, it WAS a good 'musical sounding' turntable and with very quiet background noise from the vinyl I remember.

The JBE suffered one thing only as did all decks with this motor and that was dynamic wow if the cartridge tracked much over 1.5g. They all did it (JBE, Monitor Audio's nice looking deck - ET500?, Trio/Kenwood resin plinthed heavyweights 550 etc.) and it was a design issue in the OEM Matsushita motor electronics that wasn't there in the top technics models (1300/1400/1500 and all that followed). I doubt you'd notice it with the low tracking force AT440, but it was there and could be heard with some MC's tracking nearer to 2g I remember - the Dynavector 10X used to be a popular beer budget MC when judged by popular prices at the time (no longer in current Shibata form) and used to be fashionable when MC's first became more popular. A bit annoying that Matsushita kept the best non-quartz motor designs with no servo overshoot only for their top decks back then, but that's business I suppose...

Too many bloody memories. I can't help it..

Cheers Dave.
I must say I've never heard dynamic wow. Not saying it doesn't exist as I'm not an engineer, but at the time (early 80s) all the mags, bar HFNRR and Practical Hi-Fi were shrieking like the Daily Heil about dynamic wow, cogging, hunting, rumble and all sorts of FUD to pursuade us not ever to buy direct drive turntables. It seemed you couldn't win if you bought direct drive. Those such as the JBE suffered dynamic wow and those with servo motors ensured that because of hunting their platters never ran at the right speed. Idler drives rumbled, direct drives could never run at the right speed no matter how the motors were controlled, so belt had to be best, "stands to reason dunnit"

Even as far back as the mid to late 70s, Thorens were putting out an advert on "How to beat the rumble grumble" and how their then new, TD160 with decoupled belt drive, suspended sub chassis and "flywheel effect" platter, would beat any idler drive for rumble and any direct drive for speed stability.

The marketing arguments seemed plausible so all it needed was for Ivor to claim that the LP12 was the best belt drive TT on the planet. Belt was already being marketed in the UK, as being far superior to any other platter drive system, so if the LP12 was the best belt drive turntable on the planet then, by default, it had to be the best turntable on the planet bar none. Job done, marketing triumph!

And 10 to 15 years of fecked up hi-fi hobby followed.

I can remember the slating all direct drives got in the magazines. They made a big issue about susceptibility to acoustic feedback. I was taken in by it and would not consider one.

Yes, I was taken in by the whole thing and had 10 years of analogue frustration until I ditched the LP12 and bought a Roksan Radius 5 with Nima unipivot arm. Still belt drive of course, but it was/ still is an excellent turntable.
Then I got into idlers and DDs and discovered another level of performance.

In the early 70's, 1g tracking cartridges were the ideal, so high torque drives weren't important. Long before 'sound quality differences' from vinyl were acknowledged, acoustic feedback was and the AR/Thorens three point suspension, massy flywheel platter system on a single (ball) point bearing was the way to go and flexible belt decoupled the motor vibrations well and FAR better than noisy idler drives in direct comparison. Don't knock the ideals back then, they were and still are important.

Solid direct drives are sensitive to mid bass colouration - hell, I've heard enough in my time - and it's a different bass colouration to the LP12 'boing' at lower frequencies it once had in abundance. Modern feet, mats and siting have transformed them I agree and some were pretty good right from the off (the PL-71 was only around a short while and never had the pizazz of an equivalent Technics, which looked more space-age), in the same way the LP12 sub chassis has been completely re-worked in recent times and outer platter mass reduced slightly I gather to lose most of the bloom it added. Rega have reduced the mass of their plinth and improved the arms and so on, but the result isn't particularly involving now until you go to the Planar 6.

Vinyl is a bodge at best (when original source material is there as a reference in my experience) and a severe compromise and you'll never get it 'all' right in my experience. Some oil-rig types come very close though, but cost the earth. I'm certain a well sited JBE in proper working order, especially with the arm that suited it so well, would sound clear and fresh with an AT440 fitted. Hope you continue to enjoy it Steve.

I've only got it until my GL75 is sorted.

Keep it however long, it might as well get enjoyed instead of it gathering dust