Belt Drive vs Direct Drive and which one?

Mike Lavigne

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Apr 25, 2010
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I have never heard the level where DD beats Belt Drive (absolute for those who need it ) isolation and controlled resonances is everything when discussing TT’s ..
talk to Mik (member @108CY)......he can tell you. he owns 3 Rockport Sirius III turntables......and pretty much everything else too.

or ask Jonathan Weiss. :rolleyes:
 
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morricab

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Belt Drive vs Direct Drive and which one?​

You will get lots of responses advocating for a particular turntable.

Before getting trapped going back and forth from this brand to that brand and various models, consider your own inquiry: Belt Drive vs. Direct Drive. The question of topology. Consider answering that question -- then, consider which one. The only respondent who lightly touched on this thus far was bonzo by asking you to what type of music do you listen.

Attached is a paper (pdf) by Peter Moncreiff that is purportedly about a famous older table, the Rockport Sirius III -- no longer available. But that table is not really coverred in the write-up, with the author saying he would do that in part 2. What is covered in considerable detail are: i) what is the job a turntable is supposed to do, and ii) a careful examination of the topologies of belt drive and direct drive in fulfilling the turntable's purpose.

It won't tell you what to buy. But it will give an understanding of the issues associated to each topology. Some of those issues are dealt with through technical advances since the paper was written, but the issues themselves are fundamental to turntable design and implementation. I found the paper highly informative.
Yes, read that a long time ago and it was influential on my thinking about TT design. I have only DD turntables now…
 
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PeterA

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:):):)

i'll answer you only to say than no design element exists in isolation. and there is a rainbow of approaches involving the whole design. change the degree of execution or precision of any of those elements and the balance of the design is altered. lower the mass of the AS-2000 platter and it's a different turntable. change the material of the plinth and arm boards and it's different. and that is just for starters. so the fact its a string drive is only one part of the design. degrees of execution matter. David's new super AS-2000 will be different than yours in various ways. but will still be string drive i assume.

Fremer is now reviewing the new magnetic idler drive Wilson Benesch turntable. i'm hearing very positive feedback. if he thinks it's the best will it be because of it being 'not' direct drive, or 'not' a belt/string drive? not really......it will be because of all the little design choices. not fundamentally drive dogma.

thank you Mike. I understand what you meant now. It’s an incredibly complex subject and difficult challenge for the designer. I understand very little about the factors involved.
 
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skinnyfla

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Yes, read that a long time ago and it was influential on my thinking about TT design. I have only DD turntables now…
… why‘s that?
 

sbo6

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:):):)

Fremer is now reviewing the new magnetic idler drive Wilson Benesch turntable. i'm hearing very positive feedback. if he thinks it's the best will it be because of it being 'not' direct drive, or 'not' a belt/string drive? not really......it will be because of all the little design choices. not fundamentally drive dogma.
Agree. Both technologies if implemented effectively can be excellent and the opposite.

Also, the turntable is one important component of vinyl playback, however the arm, cartridge, phono preamp and cables along with effective / appropriate isolation all play together in making an excellent analog system.
 

tima

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Yes, read that a long time ago and it was influential on my thinking about TT design. I have only DD turntables now…

It is an older article and things have changed with more modern technology. I also read it back then and it likewise influenced my thinking about TT design. There are the various technical considerations and of course there are other factors as some have mentioned -- as a source vinyl playback runs from setup and input at the cartridge through the phono amplifier.

A critical understanding I took from the article was that the amplitude portion of the musical waveform comes from the cartridge, but the frequency portion, the time element of that waveform, comes from the turntable. What struck me about the responses here is how the larger message of the article was ignored, viz. the fundamental qualification of a good turntable design is stable speed accuracy.
 
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skinnyfla

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It is an older article and things have changed with more modern technology. I also read it back then and it likewise influenced my thinking about TT design. There are the various technical considerations and of course there are other factors as some have mentioned -- as a source vinyl playback runs from setup and input at the cartridge through the phono amplifier.

A critical understanding I took from the article was that the amplitude portion of the musical waveform comes from the cartridge, but the frequency portion, the time element of that waveform, comes from the turntable. What struck me about the responses here is how the larger message of the article was ignored, viz. the fundamental qualification of a good turntable design is stable speed accuracy.
… but stable speed seems to be achieved „easier“ or „better“ by using DD (also according to Jonathan Weiss) - so why are 99% BD?
 
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skinnyfla

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bonzo75

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... just being curious - anyone have any experience with the stuff made by Thomas Schick?


If you buy that, I am visiting you to listen once it is set up. His stuff is the best sounding analog in Munich shows...next to the tape and the digital playing with it as well as Schroder stuff. However don't know how the stuff he sells compares, and if any of these tables have actually landed in the hands of private users. At Munich it is he himself and Schroder manning the analog in the WE room.

You might get more information on the Lenco heaven forum.
 
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jdza

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I own all 3 types of turntables. I have a direct drive, belt drive and idler (actually 3 types of idler). Although not as august as some mentioned here, none of the tables are exactly mid-fi.;

I find direct drives to be very precise. They capture notes perfectly and therefore appear very detailed. For me, they do chop off the decay of notes, making them precise but somehow robbing the music of its ebb and flow- just like digital. These elements are crucial in making music... well music. Other's perceptions may be different as their priorities are different. Who am I to say who is right?

Idlers I find interesting. My smallest is a ThorensTD 124, then an EMT and lastly an extraordinarily large monster that is so complex that it works as often as a Goldmund arm. All of these add excitement to the sound. As the table gets larger and its motor bigger the sound gets more exciting. The biggest has the same congenitally flawed motor as the largest AF.

I have a theory and it may be wrong. I believe idlers add a subliminal amount of quiet noise to the sound. This is not heard as noise but does push the noise floor slightly higher. This, I believe is the same as a creative engineer recording music but then gently adding a compressor to make sounds "pop" .This element makes the sound of an idler so exciting and why an idler with a bigger motor sounds so much more exciting than one with a smaller motor. Most of these machines. have the same speed and W&F, yet the bigger motors sound faster and more exciting. Just a theory, don't shoot me. I certainly know that my EMT idler with Banana arm and the latest, Thales-built, TSD is far from the best I own, yet if I do not get my "fix" at least every few days, I am grumpy.

Pre-ATR Ampexes have the same exciting sound, much more than the contemporary Studers. The Studers are mechanically quiet machines and a 440 is hell of a noisy but sounds more exciting. Same reason?
 

skinnyfla

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If you buy that, I am visiting you to listen once it is set up. His stuff is the best sounding analog in Munich shows...next to the tape and the digital playing with it as well as Schroder stuff. However don't know how the stuff he sells compares, and if any of these tables have actually landed in the hands of private users. At Munich it is he himself and Schroder manning the analog in the WE room.

You might get more information on the Lenco heaven forum.
Haha - I`ll let you know, you can bring some good British IPAs on the way ;-)

He was actually recommended to me by Michael Ulbrich from Consolidated Audio, who made my SUT. I`ve been in touch with Schick briefly, because I was interested in his Tonearms and he offered me to demo his TT and actually sell one... might pick up on his offer later this year... still making up my mind which way to go about this whole TT change... good thing is, there`s no rush... my Brinkmann just came back fully serviced :)
 
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bonzo75

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Haha - I`ll let you know, you can bring some good British IPAs on the way ;-)

He was actually recommended to me by Michael Ulbrich from Consolidated Audio, who made my SUT. I`ve been in touch with Schick briefly, because I was interested in his Tonearms and he offered me to demo his TT and actually sell one... might pick up on his offer later this year... still making up my mind which way to go about this whole TT change... good thing is, there`s no rush... my Brinkmann just came back fully serviced :)

i would definitely take up the demo. Don’t miss it for anything. If you are in Germany there is a lot for you to learn from Schick, Mayer, and Silvercore on systems, set up, horns, amps etc. much better to do that then take opinions from strangers on forums. You will get many opinions and you will find out if they are correct or not only if you follow many…that’s expensive.

if invited I will come over for the demo. Ready to fly on short notice. Will bring good rock LPs.
 
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skinnyfla

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i would definitely take up the demo. Don’t miss it for anything. If you are in Germany there is a lot for you to learn from Schick, Mayer, and Silvercore on systems, set up, horns, amps etc. much better to do that then take opinions from strangers on forums. You will get many opinions and you will find out if they are correct or not only if you follow many…that’s expensive.

if invited I will come over for the demo. Ready to fly on short notice. Will bring good rock LPs.
... really kinda forgot about this - next time I`m in Berlin I´ll see if I can get to visit... I`ll let you know :)
 

abeidrov

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Thanks for sharing - the Stabi R is actually pretty high up on my list and I believe it is one of the less expensive solutions - but I really love the design and would probably even prefere it to the TechDAS V (which to me is similar designwise)… I did read about it playing very precise and like a good mix between BD and DD for that exact reason - the rigid belt… also is a classic at an interesting price… it`s all interesting
I’ve moved from Stabi M to Techdas IIIP, and they are quite different sounding tables. Techdas is very quiet (low noise floor) compared to Kuzma. On a clean record, it sounds like digital, but in a good sense:) And I think, as a consequence, it is a more resolving TT. But it is a bit less dynamic than Kuzma. Kuzma also has a slightly different tone, richer than Techdas, definitely less neutral. Anyway, it’s all very subjective and you can enjoy both, but in my view Techdas is a superior table, as it should be at almost 3 times the price of Kuzma.
 

skinnyfla

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I’ve moved from Stabi M to Techdas IIIP, and they are quite different sounding tables. Techdas is very quiet (low noise floor) compared to Kuzma. On a clean record, it sounds like digital, but in a good sense:) And I think, as a consequence, it is a more resolving TT. But it is a bit less dynamic than Kuzma. Kuzma also has a slightly different tone, richer than Techdas, definitely less neutral. Anyway, it’s all very subjective and you can enjoy both, but in my view Techdas is a superior table, as it should be at almost 3 times the price of Kuzma.
… you‘d probably have to compare the TechDAS to the Kuzma XL to be it fair though…
 

skinnyfla

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Why not consider the Melco for sale here on WBF. It’s already in Germany
… I know very little about that TT, the model and the table itself… also I really want to take my time and not go for the quick occasion, there‘s no rush as my Brinkmann is fine and I want to see where any alternatives may get me… of course a used TT can be an option, but I need to figure out what I really want first…
 
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Bonesy Jonesy

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