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Balifly
Listening
Here is a very reliable source for belts:
Technics SL-220
http://www.vintage-electronics.net/technics-sl-220-belt.aspx
Hope it works well for you.
maxhifi
Addicted Member
I buy belts from www.turntableneedles.com
I like their search feature and haven't had any complaints about quality.
I like their search feature and haven't had any complaints about quality.
My suspicion is that most belts are made rather similarly, and that problems arise mostly from getting the size wrong. People tend to focus on length, but width and depth matter, maybe even more than length.
Of course I'm sure there are lousy cheap imitations, but does it make sense to go into business to sell a small number of crappy belts for ten bucks? I've bought wrong belts, and I've had decades-old belts harden, soften, or break, but I don't think I've had a seriously defective belt.
Of course I'm sure there are lousy cheap imitations, but does it make sense to go into business to sell a small number of crappy belts for ten bucks? I've bought wrong belts, and I've had decades-old belts harden, soften, or break, but I don't think I've had a seriously defective belt.
The last belt I bought from Vintage Electronics, for a Pioneer PL50, was too thick, causing the table to run fast.
In a subsequent conversation with Bob, he was adamant that belt thickness was not a variable in platter speed. As a result, I soured a bit on using him as a belt source.
I end up buying from whoever can provide a belt of the correct width, thickness and length...which can sometimes take quite a bit of time/effort to find.
In a subsequent conversation with Bob, he was adamant that belt thickness was not a variable in platter speed. As a result, I soured a bit on using him as a belt source.
I end up buying from whoever can provide a belt of the correct width, thickness and length...which can sometimes take quite a bit of time/effort to find.
ejman
Super Member
I have a Pioneer PL 112D and have tried a variety of belts from E-bay, all listed as the right ones for this turntable. They all made the turntable run at the wrong speed some too fast, some too slow. I finally found the right belt from Thakker in Germany. Speed is dead on. Near as I can tell the thickness of the belt is what is making the speed differential. The ones that made the table run fast are slightly thicker, inversely the thinner ones made it run slow. I have heard the theory before that the turntable speed is strictly related to the pulley to platter ratio and that belt thickness makes no difference. Well, in my experience not so. The best explanation I read for this phenomenon is that the belt actually moves the apparent center of rotation slightly and thus belt thickness is important.
The belt bends around the center of it's thickness - the inside of the belt is in compression and the outside in tension, but that half thickness is functionally added to the pulley diameter, just as you've noticed.
I don't doubt that unusually tight or loose belts may also affect speed, but that's easily explained by stretching thinning the belt or increasing friction in the motor and spindle bearings, or by slippage. In normal usage, it is the thickness of the belt that matters.
I don't doubt that unusually tight or loose belts may also affect speed, but that's easily explained by stretching thinning the belt or increasing friction in the motor and spindle bearings, or by slippage. In normal usage, it is the thickness of the belt that matters.