Direct drive vs Belt drive

[cmalak]

Many threads on Agon about this but Jeff (A V Solutions) cited many people who have placed the Technics table (in this case the SP10 MkIII seems to be the most sought after now because Albert Porter gave this table some notoriety). Here is his system post on this special project: AudiogoN Forums: Albert Porter Technics SP10 MK3 Project

Also, here are some additional threadsd on the topic (i am sure there are even more on the Vinyl Asylum forum):
AudiogoN Forums: Direct drive/rim drive/idler drive vs. belt drive?
AudiogoN Forums: Belts vs Direct Drive and correcting experiments
AudiogoN Forums: SP10 Mk II vs Mk III

These are but a few that may be of interest to you. Enjoy

[turntable]

I have always had belt drive up to about 6 months ago, when I decided to try my luck on some vintage, very well respected Pioneer Japan only Exclusive turntables. P10 & big daddy P3.
WOW, they sound fantastic. the biggest difference i find is that they have a dynamic drive in the bass that is uncanny and the bass refuses to overload into the lower midrange, giving you a nice tight fast bass with no overhang. There is also something special in the ability to start and stop extremely quickly and have a continous in tempo that my belt drive tables seem to not have.

[two dot]

tt,

You have some beautiful tables... afraid to ask if you have a favorite...

Have you ever seen, heard, listened to one of these????





Still cannot get that sound out of my head... perfection...maybe...

[turntable]

Two Dots

Its like trying to choose between children. Like almost anything, the newest thing gets most of the attention - that is the Exclusive P3. that is also the table that has the wonderful ortofon A90 cart.
the Raven is wonderful as well with a slightly slower bigger bass.

That table would be a Garrard 301 with EMT arm and Ortofon SPU cartridge - however this is probably the Shindo turntable package. Yummy

I have heard a 301, but not the Shindo. Personally i like the look of the 401 better.

When are you getting one ?

cheers

[Tolstoi]

The bad reputation of direct drives probably goes back to the times where a lot of cheap direct drives flooded the market somewhere in the late seventies and the beginning of the eighties. In Europe there was definitely some kind of brainwashing in the high end sector regarding the belt vs direct drive discussion.
It is very expensive to produce a good direct drive motor and something only big companies can or could afford like Technics/Matsushita with their famous SP 10 and SL-1200 motors.

Cheers

Joerg

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by Tolstoi

The bad reputation of direct drives probably goes back to the times where a lot of cheap direct drives flooded the market somewhere in the late seventies and the beginning of the eighties. In Europe there was definitely some kind of brainwashing in the high end sector regarding the belt vs direct drive discussion.
It is very expensive to produce a good direct drive motor and something only big companies can or could afford like Technics/Matsushita with their famous SP 10 and SL-1200 motors.

Cheers

Joerg

I kind of agree with you. Design execution is probably more important that whether belt drive or direct drive is used. I bought into the whole Linn hoopla twice, once in the late 70's and again about 10 years ago and in neither instance did those units sound better than my Sony Limited Edition 8750.
Now that the 8750 past 30 I use it to clean records. It is a lot easier on a direct drive than a belt drive.

[two dot]

Direct Drive Convert here...

There is just something about the firmness in the low end and the Micro Sieki is a complete pleasure to use, clean records on etc.

I love the fact the speed is controlled by the servo motor and always spot on.

Listening to 45's today gave me another big plus over my LINN LP-12.

Let's not forget, one of my favorite things that the DD-40... removal head shells.

All in all, a package I really like. And, one that I will be happy with until I make the big step up to a fully restored Garrard 301 w/SME 12" Arm and Low Output MC cartridge...

[jdandy]

Direct drive for 30 years. The Micro Seiki DD40 is an awesome turntable. The high torque direct drive motor is up to speed in a quarter of a turn, rock stable speed control at both 33 and 45 RPM's. The motor is completely silent, no cog effect, wow or flutter. With the stylus on a silent groove there is no noise coming from the drive system into the sound system at any volume, and no feedback problems either. No belt drive for me, thanks.

[f1 fan]

I've got the Rega P25 which is belt driven. It's well designed and engineered and very simple and fully manual which can be a pain. It's speed at 331/2 & 45 are spot on which is good since it's a tt All this said, I like the torque of a dd and the ability to change heads. I'm a big fan of the Technics 1200's and big Denons. It's like apples and oranges both play music which is what's all about anyway.

Dave

[two dot]

Amen Brother!!!