In the eighties, Nakamichi introduced its legendary TX 1000 turntable, designed by its founder Etsuro Nakamichi. The TX 1000 is an outrageous 40kg beast with one standout feature: An advanced center search mechanism that semi-automatically aligns your records. A separate pop-up arm measures the inner groove, and a complex mechanism built into the platter repositions the spindle to center the record and make it sound in pitch. You really should check YouTube to admire its engineering here.
Paying hommage to the Nakamichi TX-1000: Wheel 2's Constant Groove Speed
The TX-1000 is the opposite of Wheel 2 in almost every way, but the center search mechanism inspired us to build a correction solution into Wheel 2. We call it 'Constant Groove Speed'*, and it's a bit like Center Search on steroids. Constant Groove Speed works automatically on the fly, in the background.
How does it work?
All variables of Wheel 2's drive systems are analyzed: alignment, weight, balance, position, etc. These values are used to calculate a constant 33,3 or 45 rpm only where the stylus tip touches the groove. Unlike the Nakamichi, no mechanical adjustments are performed, but motor speeds are recalculated every millisecond. Once the record starts spinning, a compensation profile is being made, and a self learning algorithm continuously optimizes this on the fly. In the past months, we significantly refined Constant Groove Speed. 99% of the records we know of play within specification. (We called the earlier version of this feature 'Constant Track Speed', but after all refinements we think Constant Groove Speed is a more appropriate name for what it does.)
Wheel 2's new Purist Mode
In rare occasions, if a record is severely out of balance or alignment, or if the lead-in groove is too short, processing isn't finished when the music starts playing. After much internal discussion, we decided to give Wheel 2 an extra user setting to take care of the remaining 1% of records, called Purist Mode. When activated, Wheel 2 first plays a few seconds of your record silently. When all relevant data is processed, the stylus is moved to the lead-in groove again and audio starts. Depending on the severity of misalignment and imbalance, this takes 10-15 seconds.
In rare occasions, if a record is severely out of balance or alignment, or if the lead-in groove is too short, processing isn't finished when the music starts playing. After much internal discussion, we decided to give Wheel 2 an extra user setting to take care of the remaining 1% of records, called Purist Mode. When activated, Wheel 2 first plays a few seconds of your record silently. When all relevant data is processed, the stylus is moved to the lead-in groove again and audio starts. Depending on the severity of misalignment and imbalance, this takes 10-15 seconds.
Please note: Purist Mode is only meant for records with audible deficiencies. Normally, you can leave Purist Mode off.
White Wheel for Christmas
To celebrate what we achieved, and to fund upscaling our production capacity, we hand built a limited edition of 10 White Wheels. Apart from being bright white, White Wheels are very special. We squeezed even more sonic sophistication out of our preamp, and with the built-in AT Nude Shibata cartridge, the White Wheel is a firm notch up. Each White Wheel comes with a special stand, free user engraving on the front, signatures of the Wheel team on the back, and a personal certificate. Because we already built them, we can guarantee delivery before Christmas. Check our website for the White Wheel.
Working hard to get you your Wheel,
Peter and the Wheel team