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New Music Hall Stealth direct drive TT

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BamaBilly said:
Looks nice. Cloth dust cover is a little weird.
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A cloth dust cover won't break in shipping, unlike the dust cover of pretty much every used turntable I have had shipped to me from clueless eBay sellers.

I see they advertise a heavy platter and a low torque motor. My best turntable has a high torque motor and a heavier platter (SP10 MKII) and displays one third the wow and flutter (as measured on with an iPhone RPM app--no idea of its absolute accuracy but useful for comparisons) of any other DD I have tried (Sony PS-X70, Victor TT101, Yamaha PX-3.) I can understand using a lower torque motor as it made for a much lower price point than the Technics (or at least its modern equivalent,) but from their promotional flyer either they see it as a superior design or just hope it sound impressive to the punters. Are they right?
 
It's also not intended for a DJ or pro user where high torque is good for start up speed so I wouldn't be too worried about that.

It looks good. :)
 
belyin said:
A cloth dust cover won't break in shipping, unlike the dust cover of pretty much every used turntable I have had shipped to me from clueless eBay sellers.

I see they advertise a heavy platter and a low torque motor. My best turntable has a high torque motor and a heavier platter (SP10 MKII) and displays one third the wow and flutter (as measured on with an iPhone RPM app--no idea of its absolute accuracy but useful for comparisons) of any other DD I have tried (Sony PS-X70, Victor TT101, Yamaha PX-3.) I can understand using a lower torque motor as it made for a much lower price point than the Technics (or at least its modern equivalent,) but from their promotional flyer either they see it as a superior design or just hope it sound impressive to the punters. Are they right?
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Well dust covers ship everyday without damage. Not talking trash, seems like a good table just find a cloth dust cover odd.
 
belyin said:
. . . I see they advertise a heavy platter and a low torque motor. My best turntable has a high torque motor and a heavier platter (SP10 MKII) and displays one third the wow and flutter (as measured on with an iPhone RPM app--no idea of its absolute accuracy but useful for comparisons) of any other DD I have tried (Sony PS-X70, Victor TT101, Yamaha PX-3.) I can understand using a lower torque motor as it made for a much lower price point than the Technics (or at least its modern equivalent,) but from their promotional flyer either they see it as a superior design or just hope it sound impressive to the punters. Are they right?
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Audio Technica also lauded the lower torque motor of their update from the LP120 (1.6 kgf.cm) to the LP120X, saying, "The latest generation of the turntable, the AT-120XUSB, uses a slightly lower torque motor (1.0 kgf.cm) that does not have a reversible direction, but, in part, this motor enables the turntable to have higher overall fidelity due to its lower-noise design."

The Stealth, at least from what I can read about it, holds no appeal for me as a starter turntable. The price is too high, I don't like the idea of a cloth dust cover, and it comes with a cartridge I know I dislike. Music Hall's most intriguing starter 'table to me is the mmf 1.5.
 
BamaBilly said:
Well dust covers ship everyday without damage. Not talking trash, seems like a good table just find a cloth dust cover odd.
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+1 on the cover. This isn’t an eBay seller with no packing experience. Just seems like a poor solution overall for table, arm and stylus protection long term… almost like it was forgotten about and was a quick, easy, low cost solution.
 
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I haven't seen a TT before where the plater stops at the end of the record then you manualy lift the tone arm. Maybe others have used it I just haven't seen it. The VTA is a nice feature. I have a Music Hall, it's been a good table, it's what got me back into vinyl 20 years ago.
 
MRL_Audio said:
+1 on the cover. This isn’t an eBay seller with no packing experience. Just seems like a poor solution overall for table, arm and stylus protection long term… almost like it was forgotten about and was a quick, easy, low cost solution.
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I was being a bit tongue-in-cheek because it seems like obvious cost cutting for a turntable, while inexpensive in the audiophile world, that will compete with Technics and at that price point and below. But I have bought all my turntables used, and the ones with dustcovers all have cracks in the rare instance when they are intact.

I am curious about the advertisement of a low torque motor. The advantages of a high torque motor, if there is strong speed regulation, seem clear to me, but in audio there is always a bad side of the coin for every good side. So what are the advantages of a low torque motor in a DD turntable? Or are the marketers just making lemonade from the lemons they were given?
 
Hey Roy,
Put a REAL dust cover on it and a true auto-lift function at end of record and you might have something. Otherwise you're down in the trenches with competitors (the Chinese) who will undersell you at a loss to themselves just to put you out of the market.
 
belyin said:
So what are the advantages of a low torque motor in a DD turntable? Or are the marketers just making lemonade from the lemons they were given?
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Less noise, at least with conventional motors found on belt drives with heavy platters where it's called "mass drive". I don't see why it wouldn't also be true for a DD, especially where instant start times are not needed.
 
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