I've had many belt and direct drive units and the sound differences have all over the lot. Present belt is VPI Aries I, also running Denon 47F, a direct drive. While the Aries does beat the Denon, the diference is close and could be the cartridge or SDS on the Aries. I also run a Sony x800, direct drive, linear arm with a Grace Ruby. It often sounds as good as the Aries. I have listened to the VPI rim drive and found it transmits vibrations to the table and these apparently degrade the sound. Could be a defective unit or set up error. Overall, belts are the best value, at least for now.
Direct Drive turntables
I have been using belt drive tt's. I see some tt's around using direct drive and they are by far not as common as belt drive ones. Can someone enlighten me what are the pros and cons of direct drive vs belt drive on the sound? and why there are so few of direct drive tt's out there?
Thanks
Thanks