For nearly four decades, Michell Engineering has been at the forefront of turntable design, engineering and manufacturing.

Still a family run business dedicated to the continued development of the turntable range whilst retaining a belief that build quality, performance and value for money is essential.

As products are developed existing customers are offered the opportunity to upgrade their products to the latest specifications, indeed Michell still service products that are thirty years old. A real commitment to customers.

Orbe SE wins Group Test in UK's HiFi Choice Magazine

The Orbe SE has won the recent group test in the January edition of the UK’s HiFi Choice Magazine. Although the competition was fierce, the Orbe SE (fitted with Techno Arm “A“) beat off the competition to take the coveted Grouptest Winner badge.

Pitched against five of the strongest contenders in the £2,000 to £4,950 price category including VPI Classic, Clearaudio Performance SE, Inspire Eclipse SE V2, Pro-ject RPM10.1 and Roksan Xerxes.20plus, the Orbe SE once again proved what a classic and timeless design it is. Summing up the Orbe SE, Jason Kennedy wrote, “It has a breadth and appeal that none of the alternatives could quite match which is impressive to say the least.”

In concluding the test, Kennedy says, “The Orbe SE manages to do everything well and at a competitive price, considering the quality of the sound, build and engineering.” He continues, “It avoids the leanness found in other pacy designs with a deep, calm bottom end that’s rich in texture and throws up a full-scale, three-dimensional soundstage that invites you to walk right in.”

Gyro SE Wins UK's HiFi Choice Top Award

The Gyro SE with Techno Arm A has won the Best Turntable Over £1,000 in this years HiFi Choice Awards. The UK publicatication recognised the Gyro SE’s continued development over the original model yet still proclaimed that it is ‘still the turntable to beat.’

Commenting on the Gyro SE’s award, HiFi Choice said ‘The evergreen Gyrodec saw off all-comers in our Blind Listening Group Test (HFC 345). Although the Michell has been around for decades, the soundness of the design and continuous small improvements mean this is still the turntable to beat. We love the sheer musicality of the Michell, the tuneful and textured bass and the sense of entertainment it brings to all forms of music. We also love the looks and rock solid build quality. The Gyrodec proves that age is no impediment to being an award winner.’
This is yet another fantastic award for the Gyro SE, this ground-breaking product is still making waves over 25 years since it’s launch.

Why not take a closer look at Michell turntables or contact us for further information.

The original high resolution music format - vinyl!

From university students to young professionals, an all-but-extinct music medium has been showing up lately. And we don't mean CDs. Vinyl records, especially the full-length LPs that helped define the golden era of rock in the 1960s and '70s, are suddenly cool again. Some of the new fans are baby boomers nostalgic for their youth. But to the surprise and delight of music executives, increasing numbers of the iPod generation are also purchasing turntables (or dusting off Dad's), buying long-playing vinyl records and giving them a spin.

Vinyl's resurgence has benefited from its retro-rock aura. Many young listeners discovered LPs after they rifled through their parents' collections looking for oldies and found that they liked the better sound quality of records, the more elaborate album covers and liner notes that come with them, and the experience of putting one on and sharing it with friends, as opposed to plugging in some earbuds and listening alone. "Bad sound on an iPod has had an impact on a lot of people going back to vinyl," says David MacRunnel, a 15-year-old who owns more than 1,000 records!

The music industry, hoping to find another revenue source that doesn't easily lend itself to illegal downloads, has happily jumped on the bandwagon. Contemporary artists like the Killers and Ryan Adams have begun issuing their new releases on vinyl in addition to the CD and MP3 formats. As an extra lure, many labels are including coupons for free audio downloads with their vinyl albums so that Generation Y music fans can get the best of both worlds: high-quality sound at home and iPod portability for the road. While new records sell for about £15, used LPs go for as little as 10p --perfect for a teenager's budget--or as much as £2,000 for a collectible, autographed copy of Beck's Steve Threw Up.

Big players are starting to take notice too. "It's not a significant part of our business, but there is enough there for me to take someone and have half their time devoted to making vinyl a real business," says John Esposito, president and CEO of WEA Corp., the U.S. distribution company of Warner Music Group, which posted a 30% increase in LP sales last year. In October, Amazon.com introduced a vinyl-only store and increased its selection to 150,000 titles across 20 genres. Its biggest sellers? Alternative rock, followed by classic rock albums. "I'm not saying vinyl will become a mainstream format, just like gourmet eating is not going to take over from McDonald's," says Michael Fremer, senior contributing editor at Stereophile. "But there is a growing group of people who are going back to a high-resolution format." Here are some of the reasons they're doing it and why you might want to consider it:

Sound quality
LPs generally exhibit a richer, more nuanced sound than CDs and digital downloads. MP3 files tend to produce tinnier notes, especially if compressed into a lower-resolution format that pares down the sonic information. "Most things sound better on vinyl" says MacRunnel, the young record collector.

Album extras
Large album covers with imaginative graphics, pullout photos (some even have full-size posters tucked in the sleeve) and liner notes are a big draw for young fans. "Alternative rock used to have 16-page booklets and album sleeves, but with iTunes there isn't anything collectible to show I own a piece of this artist". In a nod to modern technology, albums known as picture discs come with an image of the band or artist printed on the vinyl. "People who are used to CDs see the artwork and the colored vinyl, and they think it's really something". Some LP releases also come with bonus tracks not on the CD version, giving customers added value.

Social experience
Crowding around a record player to listen to a new album with friends, discussing the foldout photos, even getting up to flip over a record makes vinyl a more socially interactive way to enjoy music. "As far as a communal experience with family and friends, it feels better to listen to vinyl"

OXFORD AUDIO are also experts in:

COMPUTER AUDIO
Music Streaming, Hard disk
players, CD Ripping, Wireless
Audio, NAS hard disks, DACs,
Internet radio, iPod, iPhone, iPad,
iTunes

ROBERTS RADIOS
with DAB, FM, recording, alarm, CD, Internet radio

CD PLAYERS
All-in-one players, CD players, Valve CD players,

AMPLIFIERS
Valve & Solid State Amplifiers,
Integrated Amps, Pre-amps, Power amps, dual mono amps

SPEAKERS
Active & powered desktop, Stand
mount, Floor standers, In-wall, In-ceiling
& On-wall, Sub-woofers

LOEWE
TVs, Blu-ray, speaker systems, media centres

HOME CINEMA
HD Projectors, AV
Amplifiers, Blu-ray players,
Central Blu-ray & DVD Media
Servers

WHOLE HOUSE
AUTOMATION
Multi-room audio, Multi-room
movies, Lighting, Security