TT drives- your preference?

I have no preferrence ....they serve their own purposes...but as for changing the Sound...ie...warmer ...or more wow and flutter...they are such small anounts that it more or less would'nt make a difference...its all personal taste...IMHO....and maybe a little bias...

I believe the cartrige is the contributing factor in wheather or not the sound is right
 
Direct Drive or Belt Drive

I have to go w/the belt drive, quieter, and dead on rpm. I think the weight of the platter makes a difference, a light weight platter has less stability, I think that it is due to momentum. I should ask my daughter, the physics major. The platter on my Thorens weighs a "ton" and is very smooth.
Uri
 
TT drives

I think, as some have said, that each system can work very well if it's properly engineered. I, personally, would go for a big DD like the L-07D, as this has a heavy platter with a large-ish moment of inertia and sounds really very musical when properly set up and serviced. The idea of DDs constatnly hunting for the right speed is certainly the case with cheaper, non-quartz examples, but in my experience, well-engineered, PROPERLY-SERVICED quartz-lock DDs just don't do this. I suspect the frequency of the wow is more of an issue in terms of musicality, etc, although this is me speculating wildly here, so take this with a grain of salt the size of a phone box.

I think many quality vintage DDs have picked up a bad reputation because the bulk of them are either mal-adjusted, having drifted over time, or because they're solid sub-chassis decks set up on solid shelves. They really need to be on something like a Townshend Seismic stand.

One problem I have with many (though not all) belt drives is the bass. I suspect the compliance of the belt, the moment of inertia of the platter and the stimulus of the motor create a low-frequency resonant circuit causing very low frequency wow. One of these days I'll get round to sticking on a test record and comparing a few DDs to a few belts with some spectrum analysis freeware I have on my PC. The difference in bass solidity between a good DD and a good belt is usually very obvious IME - the DD usually sounds a lot more solid than the belt. OTOH, in DDs the platter is coupled directly to the motor, but in better DDs with decent bearings and motors, and hefty platters, I'm not so sure this is really a problem. Dynamic wow is also a problem, and here I think almost all cheaper DDs and many belts (although, again, not all) suffer from insufficient torque, not a problem for the likes of the SP-10 Mk2!

I like the Garrard 401 I used to use for it's sense of unstoppability (plenty of torque), but there was too much motor noise for me to really stick with it.

Cheers, Jon.
 
I've owned or used good turntables with idlers, belts, and direct drive. I've also owned a few that weren't so good.

All three of my current tables are belt-drive. I have a heavily-modified AR, a Dual, and a Pioneer.

Direct-drives are great if they are done right.

Some of the best tables ever made used idler drive: Garrard 301 and 401, Thorens TD-124, DUAL 1019, 1219, 1229. This design is super simple but requires great precision and proper execution. Done wrong - cheap and plasticy - and it is dreadful.

Belt drive has the fewest compromises and is easiest to get right. It's my preferred method.
 
DD preference, here

Currently, I'm using an older Sony DD, the PS-X6, which was my last turntable back in the 70s before the family stuff started. I let the original go and found one on eBay for $50 - paid that much again for good packing and cross-country shipping. While I'm quite happy with it today, its only drawback is the fixed tonearm, which clearly did not get the attention of the designers relative the complexity of the motor controls. Done again, I would go after an SP-10 and use a better tone arm. Still, the Shure V15 I'm using seems to like it just fine. I must say, too, that the auto-return is quite a nice feature.

I do have a Rega P2/3 with plenty of upgrades. I'll have to say that the rumble is far less but the original motor was the pits with plenty of wow/flutter until I did the motor upgrade, which helped - but didn't eliminate it. Still the Rega tonearms are excellent for the money. I'm using the Super Elys on it and the setup is about as no-brainer with the Rega 3-point mounting system.

I also have a Miracord 50H which does quite well but does need new spindle bearings. Amazing that the 40 year old idler wheel cleaned right up and still works fine. Quite a complicated mechanism, too.

That's the long answer, the short one is:

* Preference: DD but only a few are really up to today's standards
* Settle for: A nice Belt drive *if* the motor is up to the job

Cheers,

David
 
I own TTs with all three drive systems, and IMO bearing quality and platter weight is of greater importance.
Many people frown on "noisy" idler drives without actually having heard a good one ( have done this myself...) but from a well constructed and properly lubed idler drive you actually get PRAT, dynamics and a bass response that is seldom heard from DDs and belt drives.
There are good and bad examples on all three drive systems.
 
One of the most novel Turntables I ever owned was the Beogram 8000. It featured a magnetic drive system similar to the spinning disc in an electrical meter. When it worked it gave me the most precise speed control and lowest WOW and Flutter of any system I have used. The rest of the table was good but not spectacular, although the 80's answering machine form factor was clutch.
 
Back
Top Bottom