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After market Motor + Belt drive for Verdier

I have been looking to upgrade my TT motor and belt drive for some time now. I use a Nouvelle Verdier and its only sore point is its motor and silk thread drive. It is not bad, it gets the job done. The sound is neat and in general non-offensive. However, when I used a 0.25 inch magnetic tape (reel to reel) to drive the platter the overall sound became more dynamic, voices sounded younger, instruments sounded happier. It was as if the pitch of all the instruments became more realistic. But then I also heard more of the irregularities of the motor rotation, the timing of instruments messed up a little. The background was no more as clean as the thread drive.

This told me two things:
1. Silk thread is good but it affects music in a way that makes the performance a bit sleepy.

2. The stock motor is not good enough to accommodate a tighter coupling with the platter.

So, I am now looking for after market motor and belt drive solution. I looked at Teres motor but for that to work they require a sensor to be placed under the platter but my TT doesnt have enough gap between the platter and plinth to place the sensor. I am looking for some viable suggestions here.

A friend of mine suggested me to consider a flywheel between the motor and the platter which will absorb the motor irregularities. I dont know if it is worth a try because I see many good TTs do not have a flywheel, that means a good motor is all I need I guess but I am open to the flywheel idea also.
pani
ct0517's avatar
ct0517
2,041 posts
 
Hi Pani
Re: my fishing hobby comment earlier.

As someone who sport fishes in the summer I find similarities between that hobby and this Verdier. With fishing the line will vary as it is based on the type of rod/reel at one end, the line itself, the lure at the other end; the target game, water conditions and performance that you want. Thinner lines cast farther, are more transparent – to humans anyway - have more sensitivity but are not as durable.

The Verdier similarly allows us to tweak the sound by changing the line/thread between the motor and platter system. The difference in threads is significant in my room more so than any belt changes I have done with previous TT’s. I also listen in nearfield.

For me there is a similarity to interconnects, and speaker cables that we use between our components. While some audiophiles have difficulty grasping how interconnects/speaker cables can change the sound. With a TT once it is understood that its all mechanical and we are dealing with resonances / vibrations - I feel its much easier to understand.

So I have maybe ½ dozen fishing lines in the house. I tried some Trilene XT for fun again.
Ultra Low Vis Green, .30mm Diameter, 8lb test

In my system it brought the vocals a little more forward. A little more revealing (dynamic) similar to the Kevlar. At first it was nice and different, but after 3 or 4 lps I noticed a tad more noise than the silk and a smaller / condensed soundstage. I will look for some smaller diameter 4 lb test and try it. I have an area near the Verdier where I just hang past tied threads. IMO - If someone was a little OCD you can could probably identify which threads work best with which lps (as they are all engineered differently) and use different threads.

Do you guys ever worry about catching the stylus when putting the new thread on?

Cheers
pani OP
1,218 posts
 
Ct, could you try reel tape ?
marty_t
23 posts
 
Maril555
I removed the motor cover revieling the motor and circuit board, then I spliced into the wires coming out of the AC to DC converter and just before the circuit board. This enables you to still use the speed adjustment knobes.

I don't know what weight uses the led lights. My weight is 4 lbs, available fron Redpoint.
marty_t
23 posts
 
Ct0517
I use a DC to DC converter to regulate the voltage. As battery voltage drops the speed changes, the DC to DC converter maintains 12 VDC within .02 volts from 15 VDC to 10 VDC. The Verdier regulation is not as accurate.

Thanks for the thread info.
ct0517's avatar
ct0517
2,041 posts
 
Pani
Ct, could you try reel tape ?

Pani – I tried to do this with reel tape for you but was not successful.

My Vintage Granito is one of the old ones. It did not come with a setup ball, or a switch on the back of the motor for belt versus linen options. It was designed to run only with thread or a thin line.

I did tie some tape together but even at the lowest motor speed setting, the platter is running way to fast. Thats when I looked for the switch and found none. lol. I have seen them in new manual pics. So no listening test, sorry.

I did find something out though that you and the others may find interesting.

I have mentioned that with thread the inertia and braking in place allows the platter to spin for about 30 seconds when the motor is shut off in my room. When I tried this with the reel tape even though it was not optimized and spinning way faster than 33 1/3 – the platter spun a little over half the time (18-19 seconds) when the motor was turned off.

This tells me that I really affected the original inertia / braking design that Mr. Verdier built into the platter behavior to deal with lps. Imo - with tape the platter's magnet braking and increased friction becomes dominant. No longer an equal marriage with the motor.

Cheers
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