A recent encounter with a JC Verdier dealer as well as a recent Audiogon discussion thread led to the start of this thread. He was in my house updating my La Platine which had been in storage for ten years with thread and oil. While he has high regards for the deck, his newer clients nevertheless prefer a Techdas iii than an 'old' La Platine. Given the proliferation of expensive decks in the past dozen years, La Platine has become very much under-appreciated.
It's clear to me that the influence of the La Platine is everywhere to be found. Specifically, the magnetic suspension system that was employed 30+ years ago. Even SOTA offers their newer decks with mag. lev. features. And if you read this review: https://www.callas-audio.nl/Callas%20Platine%20Mod%20Kit%20Review.pdf, the Continuum Caliburn uses the same concept, which was not acknowledged in Fremer's review, albeit with more sophisticated , and expensive, execution.
It is also clear to me that there is much misunderstanding of the workings of the La Platine. I for one have contributed to this. The motor of the La Platine, for example, has been much maligned. The thread drive is another aspect of the turntable that have been described as inferior. With regard to the motor and thread drive, I have been set straight by Chris @ct0517 and Lyubomir @lbelchev. Experimenting with the different types of silk threads, the tightness to the platter and a renewed understanding of the soundness of the Philips motor have been rewarded with better dynamics and transparency.
The funny thing is that during the past two years of re-engagement with audio, I have questioned ownership of every components in my arsenal except the La Platine. It has always been a keeper. I wonder if La Platine owners would contribute to celebrating this 'old' deck with tales, advice, and insights?
I had to watch a video of Royal Trux as I was unfamiliar with the band.
Your cartridge choice for the Safir is interesting, light and high compliance. But I remember Safir being a very heavy and stiff arm, so a heavier and low compliant cartridge might obtain even better results? The Safir with its unique bearing and stiff wand is really quite nice. I wondered if you could comment a bit more on the Safir as compared to other arms in your stable. Fremer’s review described how the bass produced by the Safir without resonant coloration brought forth the clarity, detail and transparency of the entire sound spectrum. I guess that’s what you mean by no ‘mechanical artefacts’.
How did you come upon the Transrotor belt? It has a round profile instead of flat ? What material ?
when fremer reviewed the safir i recall he used a variety of carts that wouldn't traditionally work with something of such high eff. mass. i can't say i see any issues in use. i agree it seems likely that another cart might do even better. i have a used lyra delos i will try. but the art9/safir combo seems extremely good.
i think the lack of artefact is a "sense" that is to a large extent contributed by the la platine. for example one doesn't hear the drive of the tt3 in it. i will need to hear the setup more to try and locate any specific contribution from Safir relative to others. definitely an aspect of its performance is bass and a lack of distortion.
i caved and have applied thread already. the transrotor is round and skinny and was recommended by an experienced la platine user. however i had to try thread (not the "right" thread, but instead synthetic sewing thread that is very skinny). it sounds even better with the skinny thread i think. soon i will have thread that is closer to the originally endorsed "Verdier" thread and i will give that a shot.
last night i listened to Princess Chelsea's latest record (NZ band - "everything is going to be alright"). it felt like i could hear everything without any distortion. clean and clear bass. backing vocals that are just tiny touches. i had atmosphere but no sterility. the art9 is a great cartridge i think and the very cheap AT 670T SUT i bought to use with it is unbelievable. $400 aud and it sounds flawless. it even can be used with a range of carts. i look forward to comparing it to a Silvercore sut i have coming but for now, it doesn't feel like it is doing anything wrong.
i do think floppiness can be an issue with the verdier. so with original feet on i am trying to not introduce other forms of floppiness. i tend to think the synthetic thread is slightly stretchy but not as stretchy as a rubber belt. rubber belt under tension sounded a bit "meh" and rubber belt with no tension was better but not as good as skinny thread with minor amount of tension.
i will also see how the "EPDM" belts fair before i come to any final conclusions about preferences. i have a gold ring belt that is thicker than transrotor but made of epdm and i know from my work with a garrard 401 that the kind of rubber makes a difference. silicon being about the worst and Viton being one of best. epdm i have less experience with but others have highly recommended it.
It’s very interesting your comment of the La Platine vs TT3, the former being the more ‘neutral’ deck. I just read through a Safir thread on WBF ( 30 pages in all ), and it was mounted on more than four or five different La Platines. Please give further impressions of the Safir on the La Platine as you live with it more. I would be very interested.
I think on various aspect of the La Platine, it comes down to preferences. On the WBF, there are as many who defeat the suspension as there are sticking with it. There is a user, @thekong, who uses a pneumatic platform under the La Platine. And he defeated the suspension of the table to prevent interference. I have a solid wooden platform under both the plinth and the motor. And I would eventually like to place Townshend seismic pods, spring loaded, underneath, so defeating the table’s suspension is a first step.
The least elastic the belt / thread the better is the way to go. I too am using synthetic sewing thread interchanging with pure silk sewing threads. I feel they are better than the original linen thread; but with the linen thread incoming, I would appreciate your thoughts on the matterAnd as mentioned , Galibier Design, sells a Kevlar tape / belt that seems to work best with a suspension less La Platine.
i agree, alot of Safir plus La Platine action. i asked one user what cart he recommended with the Safir and he said the Aidas Mammoth. unfortunately that cart costs more than i paid for the la platine!
i have defeated suspension again. it sounds good.
one thing re: thread/belts. for me, i almost am too fast with the belts (too fast for 45 rpm, lowest i can achieve is 46). with tiny synthetic thread i am just making 33.3 but can't get within cooee of 45 rpm. so i need the thread to solve that issue really (i did previously trial floss and hence my confidence).
it does seem the la platine gets "better" the more squishiness we can pull out of it. so stiff feet, stiff base for motor, less elastic belt material. leaving the only squishiness to the magnetic bearing.
speculating but a reason the safir might be a good fit with la platine is because it is very good at extracting bass which hasn't been a reputed strength of la platine.
thread versus rubber belt, the difference to me is the slightest amount more air in the thread presentation.
ok rec'd thread today. this is linen thread with light waxing so a good match for Verdier's recommendation i believe. instantly the speed was perfect for both 33 and 45. as in i could dial in the speed and be around half way in range. that felt good.
sound wise i thought it was instantly better. the skinny thread i use is slightly elastic and this linen thread is not elastic at all.
it is in extremely poor taste for me to be making a series of posts however:
1. platine users aren't thick on the trees
2. i just tried a new cart last night and i just have to say how thrilling it was with the la platine/safir combo.
a second hand lyra delos i picked up. magical! dynamic. fleshy. detailed. perfect fit with my tube system. really spiced things up! platine sounding like nothing has ever sounded before. so seamless. not hifi but pure and fun and beautiful. i've got footers on motor, no footers for table and loving the thread!
ledoux, Did you ever get a response from either SOTA or Bill Carlin about whether the magnetic suspension would interfere with the Eclipse/Roadrunner system? Or maybe you have not yet asked.
Lew, thanks for asking but I am not there yet. I rather entertain a second arm than tinker with the motor at this point.
@mr_gray I think Herb Reichert recently had a very really positive write-up of the Delos. It’s funny how I lust for the higher level Lyras’, Etna or the Atlas. But I keep hearing good things about the Kleos and Delos. Basically my recent acquisitions of a re-tipped Transfiguration Proteus and a top notch ZYX Ultimate Astro will keep me quite content for a while, but very happy to know about your Delos experience.
yes i was inspired by Herb to be sure. it is really him that's gotten me into a vinyl switch it up mindset rather than "ultimate system" type thinking.
i am using a cheap SUT with the Delos that i picked up for 375 USD. total expenditure something like 650 USD for cart and SUT. it is a once in blue moon event but cheap thrills in high end audio!
i have a silvercore SUT coming in 1:10 so we will see if that improves on the 1:14 winding i am currently using via AT 670T
@mr_gray Having now owned cartridges from over $10,000 to vintage MM at $ 375, I, too, subscribe to HR’s approach, as you say a ‘ switch it up mindset’. The MM I have, Audio. Technica AT-170ML stylus in a AT-180ML body, was also TOTL during the 80’s and you learn / hear different qualities from this cartridge. And most certainly it is enjoyable and a keeper.
delos with silvercore is a home run. early days but sounds great.
i have a Audio Note M6 as my RIAA. it plugs into my integrated amp.
things almost perfect with my turntable setup. only thought left now is toward an isolating base. would radically increase expense of project but :
1. i have a footfall issue. even walking away after dropping needle i might make a skip happen. not good.
2. everyone says the la platine really does well on a platform like vibraplane etc.
i guess i would have the la platine on platform and motor not on the platform.
the main features i find of the la platine that might distinguish it are:
- continuity - no feeling of effort or mechanical intrusion. with the 401 for example or tt3, one can hear the intense "push push" of the setup. this is nice in some ways. but it seems more pure when it is not there
- silence - small sounds and large sounds occur on a very soundless back ground. it is as some say "just the music"
i do not have any speed issues nor any w/f issues. i am on thread and it is excellent. i might give it one more crack with the cms footers.
@mr_gray Which Silvercore SUT are you using? 1:10 ratio with the Delos? have been interested in this German brand for a while.
I stumbled into a vinyl setup that is the opposite of yours regarding cartridge and phono stage choices, using entry level phono stages matched with higher performance cartridges. I know you have used higher level cartridges, but choose to dip into more entry level ones to experiment. The tube phono stage, SunValley EQ 1616D was introduced by HR, and with Telefunken ecc83s’ and Millard ecc83, does not sound like an entry level preamp.
i have a silver 1:10. i think it is the pro version. i wanted the largest silver cans i could get my hands on. it wasn't cheap unfortunately.
what i like is to listen to other gear so i can get a sense of how good the good gear is. i feel it helps with system insights and comprehension. plus fun.
the silvercore keeps getting better. very dynamic, very quiet, on solid state it would sound dry i think or crisp - but that's probably just as it burns in. it is a great match with the delos.
i can well imagine good carts and less decorated gear. i can also well imagine a relatively cheap tube based RIAA doing a very good job as i did have an Abbas EL84 riaa before the m6. having said that, the m6 is kind of amazing when compared to the Abbas, so you do get something for your money.
i am sure if i had it all over again there are better ways to skin the cat.
i have an iogold/s9 combo and i eventually the iogold will be repaired and i will get to listen to that in context of say silvercore/delos. it will be interesting as the iogold/s9 setup is around 7 times more expensive. i did previously listen to the s9/iogold combo but not when my la platine was so sorted and also prior to understanding how critical setup of cart was and so without benefit of analog magik and smartractor.
You have an envious arsenal of high end gear. And you are right about good set up allowing the best gears to perform at their best.
The level of care in setting up the TT / tonearm / cartridge has been at the center of attention for me in the past several years. Given I use a linear tracker, the set up parameters are much less than with a pivot arm. And I am still adjusting with microscope and ear. The one parameter that has the most effect on sound is azimuth. And as I do not use a Fozgometer or Audio magik, I adjust by listening to the widest and deepest soundstage with a most subtle bass response, not very ‘ scientific’, but I do take time and care in doing the minute adjustments.
@ledoux1238i have gone overboard it is true. a big positive is i have learnt a bit and become comfortable working with a cart, tonearm and table. i am yet to crack azimuth if i am honest. i struggle getting vision on it even with a microscope (much easier for use with vta from side). when i use analog magik i seem to be only really checking zenith, which it is fantastic for. i don't find azimuth adjustment approachable on the kuzma safir. it would be much easier to attempt on the AS arche headshell i have but currently obsessed with the Safir.
@mr_gray
Adjusting azimuth electrically involves measuring cross talk between the two channels of the cartridge. Typically you use a voltmeter and test record and measure the output of your cartridge with one channel suppressed. Then you do the same for the other channel. The outputs of the two should be as close as possible to each other for best azimuth alignment. This should mean the least crosstalk and the widest channel separation which should translate into the widest sound stage and the least channel imbalance. That is what I try to hear without using measuring tools.
i have seen videos of azimuth alignment using AudioMagik, a bit more complicated than using a Fozometer, but the principle is the same, measuring cross talk. And your Safir has a tool to rotate the arm tube to adjust for azimuth. It may involve a few back and forth rotating the arm tube, or you might just get it perfect on your first try.
aha! thank you very much for your insight here. i think i knew this once but it was before i was ready to cope with another variable and i had well and truly forgotten. just y'day i saw the arrow on the safir and wondered as to what the heck it was for. thank you very much. this is very pleasing. i also was not aware that cross-talk related to this. i had another cart, an ART9, with terrible cross-talk numbers so i will see if i can do anything about that. now i can do something with analog magik besides zenith.
@ledoux1238wow! this really made a difference. the Delos i have was v cheap because the cantilever is askew. it needed an azimuth adjustment more than most carts would perhaps. the difference is profound. when you said "The one parameter that has the most effect on sound is azimuth" i thought there might be some hyperbole. to anyone reading it is not hyperbole. it is, shockingly, fact. a significant progression for me. thankyou @ledoux1238!
The previous arm on my La Platine was a SME V, a well regarded tonearm, and a popular pairing with the turntable. This was many years ago, my set up skills were, admittedly, very poor. I used the supplied protractor for cartridge alignment, and the arm does not allow for azimuth adjustment. The result was really very poor SQ compared to what I am hearing today. I believe I would be able to optimize the V’s potential more today, however, its lack of azimuth adjustment dissuades me from owning it again.
Your skewed Delos may be worth sending back to Lyra for a repair, no? Other issues may be lurking holding back its full potential.
You may have mentioned but what are using as an isolation platform for the La Platine, if any?
you could be right re: the Delos but i am quite broke right now and it sounds brilliant. I don't think I have ever had my stereo running like this. when i adjusted the azimuth i corrected a 2 dB channel imbalance. so now the channels match, inter mod distortion is well within spec and optimised. vtf is cool and i used microscope to check vta. it sounds amazing and cost me 600 AUD so i will enjoy it for a bit whilst the Silvercore SUT keeps running in. takes ages to play 40 hours of records!
currently i have the motor on CMS footers (i like the rigidity) and the la platine is on its own feet. there is an isolation platform (Seismion) selling locally 2nd hand i'd love to pick up but as above, no budget right now. instead i am waiting for my local haberdasher to supply me with silk thread and cotton thread so i can try them out versus my current linen thread (which is excellent). i hope the silk thread will just have a touch more give in it which will reduce transfer of motor vibration.
Enjoy your Delos, for 450 USD, you cannot do any better. I have a 450 USD cartridge that I cherish, an Audio Technica AT-170 ML mm vintage. Probably not as capable as a Delos, but shockingly good.
i doubt you will hear the difference between linen and silk. I pretend to hear a difference between my black silk and red viscose threads, but in truth they are both good. I think thread drive is the way to go with the original motor. But do share your thoughts when the silk threads are installed.
well surprisingly it was very easy to hear differences between the threads.
- have been running silk or linen thread. as i suspected silk is much quieter than linen thread. in fact after returning to linen thread for perceived dynamics, i got rid of it. much better with silk. extraordinarily quiet. also using shaknspin2 the silk achieves better W&F readings and better speed stability.
- i thought to myself maybe i need to drop the spindle so i am all magnet. i don't know how i got here but i don't think i'd heard it with zero bearing. anyway i did just that and lo and behold!
- suddenly the music was completely "free". i don't know what this really means but that was the sense of it. the music unfolding with zero sense of mechanical device running. much quieter again.
so here we are: motor on footers, la platine on its own footers, about a mm or so play between platter and spindle, the Rocol X5 lubrication as the maker intended. great speed stability but very much at upper end of range for motor to achieve 33.3.
- with the linen thread i had 33.3 and 45 easy. i think with silk i will struggle to hit 45. this is a problem but currently worth it to explore benefits of silk.
- extraordinary transparency of voice. variable stage width according to what record i'm playing.
All in all i reckon the la platine has many faces. with a thick rubber belt and bearing contact it sounds alot like my garrard 401. with silk thread, loose, and no bearing contact, it pretty much disappears and the music unfolds without impediment, without seemingly any "flavour" from the turntable. early days but seems very nice.
Your experience on the silk drive mirrors mine. It’s very quiet, though I have not done A/B with linen in a while. And holding speed on 45’s is a struggle with loose fit. I cheat and tighten up the tension on the silk thread.
I tried a Micro Seiki belt made by Original Live today. And sure enough it produced more noise and sounded slower.
@ledoux1238 this is good. If we hear the same things then I think that is very reassuring. Because frankly with so many variables on the la platine, and it being quite sensitive to these variables, one could easily trick oneself. It’s perhaps tedious of me but I returned to thread lastnight due a perceived lack of dynamics with the silk. A sort of listless sound unless I had the volume turned right up.
anyway at some stage thought came to me to try a double loop of silk. I’m now listening to exile on Main Street. At relatively low volume. It sounds alive. Dynamic. Transparent. And has jump. I think you should give it a shot. It’s toe tapping without sounding all thick and plastic like garrard did.
also dover had the same thoughts although he identified "surgical" silk and said if loose it could be "chalked" (presumably to give grip). i have the motor partially under the turntable now and a double loop of silk thread and it is driving!
@mr_gray I have visited this thread reading Posts from 2024 and 2025, as certain content has an appeal to me.
You have Stated " It sounds absolutely tremendous ", such a statement really does touch home with my own discoveries made over many years of investigative learning, where experiences had have been extremely impressive and wanted to be maintained and encouraged furthering the learning to see where betterment has been able to be added.
I have been involved in being closely associated with others who are using their knowledge and skills for eking out improvement from Mechanical Interfaces on a TT for near 30 years.
I started during the 90's when a Martin Bastin design for a Garrard 401 Platter Bearing was adopted. The impression this exchange made, has been the foundation for the long time follow up for investigating variants of a design on a Platter Spindle Bearing, to get betterment at Interfaces where Sacrificial Parts within a Bearing Housing are occurring.
Learning that followed, led to discussion about designs, where low coefficient of friction interfaces within the Bearing Housing and what is able to be achieved for quietness of operation for the Platter Spindles Bearing Mechanical Function were to be pursued. This same discussion led to showing an interest in what was required for accurately maintaining a True Axis for a Platter Spindle Rotation.
Always running parallel with these disciplines has been materials selection and machining tolerances that can be produced and maintained at an interface. Stability of materials functioning in a particular type of environment and produced to have extremely tight dimension tolerances, is a critical property when the lowest coefficient of frictions able to be produced are part of a design intent.
As Trueness of Axis Rotation was proved to be available, this then led to the importance of producing accurately and maintaining Spindle to Pivot Distance.
Materials used to attach the separate Parts for the Replay of Vinyl to occur, during the earliest days were being selected for their stability in a range of environments. Minimum expansion/contraction of a material has been the property wanted for a selected material as the earliest designs objective.
Mass Stone (Granite) was my choice, over other choices that could have been adopted, other Stone, Metal or Complex Timber Structure were alternates to be used.
A continued interest for materials, led to the most recent material I am a advocate of, being a Resin Impregnated Densified Wood Board.
Densified Wood Board, is a material type that compared to other more typical options, excels for Damping / Dissipation Properties and is also extremely stable in a multitude of environments, a Typical Home environment is no challenge to it.
Densified Wood Board as a material is very suitable for managing energies transferred from a TT's mechanical operation, as well as managing energies transferred from the Ambient Environment.
( Linn recently decided to charge $8K+ for their TT owners to experience Densified Wood Board as a type of material).
The end of the road is not yet met, as interest in this subject remains strong, the areas needing to be considered is extensive. Alternate methods for mounting items are already in place and under assessment, Optimisation of Source Medium is also now a discipline that has very satisfying results, Optimisation of the Electrical Signal Path through adopting differing designs have proved through recent designs put in place proven to be game changers. All designs are now wanted to be maintained, but there are those that will not be reversed, only to be built on.
All are combined into one improvement for the End Sound and All are very important as they are indicators that the evolved disciplines in practice are very worthwhile.
For myself, I am fully getting your wonderment and the keenness to build on what is already seen as positives to be maintained, that add up to more than the sum of the Parts used to achieve the experience.
Mr gray, can you better describe “double loop” of silk? Do you mean two separate silk thread belts or one double size loop that you make into a figure 8? Also I wonder what you mean when you say the motor is under the TT. Thx.
- figure 8. that way i guess u get the double but don’t have to make 2 exactly the same length silk belts which i think i would fail. also only one knot! i am using sewing thread made from silk. i have ordered surgical silk thread which is a bit different apparently.
- when i made my doubled belt it was so short i had to have the motor half under the plinth of the turntable. my latest loop is too long and so now i don’t have that anymore, instead the motor is one foot to the left. making thread loops is not straightforward i find. a bit of trial and error.
- i am continuing to listen to this. i feel like it sounds very good. i remember reading about the la platine when i was getting into them and the callas mod. a fellow said the la platine, when not on bearing, lacked for piano. so i pay alot of attention to the piano. maybe it is the cart/tonearm combo that helps, but i do feel the double wrapped has helped with piano. everything sounds more dynamic and with a better toe tapping beat.
- last night i listened to bob dylan’s oh mercy late at night. like 1 am. i was expecting a closed in record which is as i recall it. instead it was open, dynamic and quite extraordinary (both in absolute terms but also versus expectation). i felt like i was looking at huge format paintings that hang in the sapporo gallery. i had been expecting a tiny 12 inch by 9 inch vague landscape with age dulled colours and instead i got grand exposition. it was thrilling. prior to that earlier in evening wife and i listened to ’Cabaret". the depth of Liza Minelli’s talent was on full display and it was staggering.
I do have to acknowledge comments by @pindacabove about his vinyl journey. But more importantly it is about your enthusiasm for the La Platine, in particular, and your joy on full display with vinyl playing in general. It is infectious! I now feel guilty when not playing records.
Just when I thought all stones have been turned, you come up with this double loop idea. It seems counterintuitive at first. The logic was to reduce the contact area as much as possible while still maintaining speed. But the truth was the tiny silk thread was struggling to maintain speed especially on 45s’. And the additional loop really increase very little. It now looks like the thickness of the original linen thread. But the soundstage is more defined with better width / depth presentation. I have planar magnetic speakers. At low volume, the soundstage flattens. That has not changed. But at regular listening levels ( 75-80 db ), the soundstage is holographic. Because of the back and forth on this thread recently, I further refines my setup. The soundstage was improved already. But this takes it further, a very nice uptick.
The threads we use are regular sewing threads that we tie together. It is impossible to tie two loops with identical diameters. The first attempt at the double loop resulted in a very similar situation as @mr_gray. The loop was too small and the motor almost touched the plinth. I have a better managed distance between the two now.
This is some thread, no pun intended. This spring I was going to purchase a Verdier La Platine, until I landed here, to complicated for me lets get something else. Summer came and being Canadian I behaved like a cow that exited the barn for the first time after a long winter and decided to wait until fall for my turntable purchase. Yesterday I had coffee a little to late and could not sleep, due to my google history I fell on a few La Platine threads where owners where ecstatic for their Verdier, I told myself, "why did I not purchased this table", until I fell on this thread, which reminded me why. Ouch, steel ball or not, ceramic ball, touch the ball not touch the ball, different motors, different suspensions, infinite belts, someone even bought extra magnets. I cant even find a seller outside Europe that sells the recommended oil and it's min 5 liters. Something else, I admire your persistence, thumbs up.
Mr. gray, Do you live on Hokkaido? Our son lives in Tokyo, and we visit him every year, usually when it's relatively warm on Hokkaido. So we have visited Sapporo and the. surrounding area on three separate occasions. Hokkaido is a beautiful place to live with the best sushi I have ever eaten. We still have much to see on Hokkaido, and I hope for future visits.
I stumbled upon this ad on the German audio-mart for a La Platine. This seller is a French audio reviewer and a neighbor of JC Verdier. He claims that his TT, bought directly from JC, has the original magnets from Holland. In his photo, the gap between the magnets is wider, hence more powerful. The ‘newer’ TT has magnets made in China. It does seem from his photos that the gap between magnets in his TT is much wider than mine. I measure a gap of 1cm, in his photo it looks more like 1.5cm, if not a little more. When did Verdier change magnets?
I understand your point. The message sent by this entire thread could be as you intimated, that the La Platine is a complicated device. But to put it in perspective, all we are discussing are tweaks to a fundamentally unique and musical turntable. Truth be told, knowing what we all know now, I would be happy to treat it as a plug and play. Use the original motor with the rubber belt and go to town.
Since the production of La Platine has been taken over by Project ( though there has not been news about delivery date at all ), a new production La Platine may be priced $15,000 ?. I have seen used one priced as low as $5000. Admittedly, there are many other TTs in this range that may be comparable in performance. But to not choose to buy it because it is too tweaks / complicated should not be one of the reasons. I hope you can see that it is a fundamentally ‘sound’ design that people are willing to put in the time to enhance its performance. And if one had to say what are the improvements of all these cumulative tweaks, maybe 10% better. And again, knowing what l know now, I would be happy to leave it alone, and just play music. That’s why all the other projects, e.g. better isolation platform, better motor control…. has been put on hold.
@charobi would feel terrible if all of this forum talk has put you off. as @ledoux1238 says, it is very plug and play. all the fiddling is just for people who want to fiddle.
i bought the 5L of Rocol and will send you some for free if you buy a table. i have enough to last me several lifetimes i think.
i was listening to bob dylan's "when he returns" from slow train coming. it is just him and a piano. for pure piano i think the linen thread sounds best. the double silk however is quieter. it simply communicates less motor noise and lets the music play more purely. however with the double silk i cannot hit 45 rpm sadly. since i almost never listen to 45s this isn't much of an issue, and if it were i simply slip on the linen or rubber belt and i'd be right in 2 minutes. i can understand if people think that's an unattractive level of faffing.
i am unsure though if matching or beating the la platine is so easy. i am surprised by consistently hearing from people i am interacting with recalling hearing a la platine and being impressed. i think that's because it really does sound quite non-mechanical. for me right now the music arrives in the lounge room, no connection to the speakers or turntable. summoned and projected into the space in front of me.
i recently went back to audionote iogold cart and s9 step up transformer on the kuzma safir tonearm. this setup is much more costly than the previously used delos/silvercore sut i had been using. so a reasonable Q is does it sound alot better?
the answer is yes/no. the iogold/s9 simply gives you a feeling of total resolution, zero distortion and extreme nuance of tone/dynamic. no shorthand, no notes, just a very complete exposition. having said that, my enjoyment is not necessarily proportionally larger.
i do plan to disassemble the platine, see if i can align magnets better, then setup the fr64s tonearm on it so i have two tonearms (which i have never tried before). i could put a mono cart on and see how that goes. might put the denon 103 on since that was a verdier favourite and it goes with the fr64s so well. i think the delos might be too same same. all totally unnecessary but it's a hobby right :-)
Please go to 53:33 of the video. Fremer interviewed the owner of Pro-Ject Audio, Heinz Lichtenegger, and introduced the ‘new’ La Platine at this years Munich show.
If you look at the workings of their expensive EAT turntables, despite the lovely plinths and massive platters - the actual bearings are puny, and the "speed control" circuitry would fit in a cigarette packet.
Their high end products are all smoke and mirrors - lots of "features" but don't look under the bonnet.
@dover In the video, lichtenegger claims that the new TT is a straight copy of the original. He talked about the bearing being made from zamak, a soft alloy used in the original. Notwithstanding your concern about Pro-Ject’s own TTs, If the metallurgy and production processes for the platter, magnets, bearing ..etc of the original La Platine are given, sticking to the original recipe should produce something if not exactly the same as the original, than very close. He is not talking about ‘improving’ or otherwise tinkering with the original. It’s a‘copy’. And the MSRP of 15000 is probably close to the original price.
The fact that the La Platine has been produced without much modification in forty plus years is pretty remarkable. And now for production to continue by someone else must indicate some faith in its viability. I’d give Pro-Ject the benefit of doubt.
@ledoux1238thanks for sharing this. brilliant. i have been in email contact with Heinz. $15k USD for the non-granito, $18K for the granito. Not terrible I guess. be interesting to see how people respond to it. First I'd ever heard of this Zamak thing!
I presume they also did the motor for it. i wonder what motor they put in the housing? and whether this is as before entirely or if they did a new powersupply and regulator and motor.
the following won't make an argument for plug n play but last night:
1. i pulled everything apart and carefully made the magnets symmetrical in their housing. used blue tac to try and make sure they would stay in place when i reassembled (just blue tac in gaps). i thought this might simply improve w/f stats (mainly wow)
2. i removed the ball. my recent understanding was the ball was not in contact with platter so i assumed this would make no difference
3. upon reassembly it seemed to me perhaps i was wrong and with my dohmann spindle weight on the turntable, perhaps it was touching on the bearing previously
4. i then backed off the spindle so i could get it floating as it should
5. LO! suddenly i think my la platine was without any bearing contact for first time. spinning it up (by hand) seemed effortless.
6. OMG! it sounded very different. but of course was this vta?
7. OK so after owning it for months i think finally i was totally floating. was suddenly alot less like my garrard was my feeling. suddenly more ethereal, less "grounded".
in answer to above:
- i live in sydney australia. trip to sapporo was just a holiday. beautiful place. art gallery is a must see. i've never seen anything like it.
has anyone else tried to post photos. i have luck with some but not others.
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