Grand Prix Audio Monaco Turntable

Speed accuracy, speed stability, lack of stylus drag, lack of temp drift and other variables was all overcome in all intents of purpose by late 1970s' to mid 190's Japan Inc. direct drives, especially quartz locked ones.

Ability to spin an LP with a high level of accuracy at least to a point of being imperceptible to the human ear is nothing new. My Technics SL-1200MKII offers superlative speed performance and sped accuracy specs.

The Monaco has solved any sped issues, from there like every other turntable, cheap or expensive it's all about tuning the sound to give the end user a table that makes them happy. One will find that no table be it the $299 specials to the $100,000+ uber brands will be perfect. All will have things listeners may like or not. Of course one expects a higher priced table to basically perform better than a cheaper one, but this is not always the case. It's a black art vinyl spinning that is and price is only one loose indicator of apparent quality.

When I came back to vinyl after 16 years being without was initially brainwashed into thinking direct drive sucks. Boy was I wrong. It is not noisier than belts and it offers certain advantages no belt drive can give. I'm not saying belts can't work exceedingly well, but I am saying direct drive is not junk and has proven to work very well too. As I said Japan Inc. darn near perfected the speed performance of direct drives back in the 70's.

A great test to compare would be the Monaco vs the Teres Certus.

Most Japan Inc. DD's of the late 70's and 80's had W&F with a load from a tonearm/stylus of .025%wrms or lower, .035% Din. at the platter on motor into the .008% wrms. speed error was typically .002% for most and drift from thermal temp. even lower.
I noted Certus vs Monaco because they are both pricey direct drive concepts.

I'm not sure why you have an issue with Japan Inc. direct drives from the 70's. Sure there were numerous low end models but Japan Inc. darn near perfected the direct drive table by the late 70's and each of the top named makers had shining examples of direct drives that would give many a higher priced, highly hyped and coveted tables made today a solid run for the money.

The very fact is not many of us vinyl spinners and audiophiles will want to nor can afford the money spent on a beautiful Monaco or Certus. But we also are tired of the low brow attacks on all too many audio forums on direct drives especially when all too many of the so called wonder tables made today from many of the cottage industry makers are overpriced and often over-hyped. I'm not saying name brand table today, belt drive or otherwise are not worthy, many are to be coveted but many of the more affordable ones would be hopelessly outperformed by many of those darn Japan Inc. DD's from the 70's. Japanese engineers were/are not stupid and they had the financial resources of large companies to help R&D these tables. Go to Vinyl Engine and the library, look up the brochure and manuals loaded on site of see some of the excellent better quality late 70's- early 80's direct drives from the numerous Japan Inc. makers.

If I had the money I'd love to hear a Certus or a Monaco to possibly buy. But I'm damn right impressed with my KAB modified SL-1200MKII (err. basically unchanged since 1979 model) and I enjoy from time to time looking on eBay at some of those beautiful Japan Inc. better quality DD's of the 70's and 80's.

If it works and works well it should not matter if its vintage or brand spanking new I say. After all its not like designing Moon rockets. :-)

Mtkhl567,

No doubt that the Monaco is a good example of using some current technologies. I was not trying to compare any turntable from Japan Inc. of the 70's and 80's directly to it. Only in that it is not rocket science in making a turntable that works well. In essence all that a turntable must do is spin a record at measured speed, do it quietly as it can and withing allowable tolerances. These points were generally made by the better to best Japan Inc. tables of the late 70's and early 80's.

From here it is all about tuning the table. In a perfect world it would be trying to make a turntable sound as neutral as possible be affected by external resonances as little as possible and be generally user capable in operation. Fact is all turntables new and old add colour or flavour to sound. All add noise and all will vary in user friendliness and some are better than others over any and all speed issues. Direct drivers from the 70's and 80's would all score among the best of any tables made new or old when it concerns speed issues. Japan Inc. tables of that era will vary wildly inability to do other things, control noise, control resonances etc. The best ones back then did an admirable job and as good as very many new ones today, many that are praised as good to great turntables today. Just because a turntable may be vintage does not mean it cannot perform as well or even kick the arse of numerous newer models.

To be fair to better to best vintage DD tables from Japan Inc. None ever sold for $20,000. not even half that even if you factor in inflation. The best generally went for between $500-$1000 given the year.If their manufacturers would reopen lines and build them as they were but brand new today, they'd be bargains for what they give a listener.

None of them would truly rival a Monaco or a Certus (I'd enjoy owning either if I could), but the again one did not have to spend the amount equal to a price of a small car to buy one of them. Just look at the Technics SL-12xx series. It verifies my point. I'm not saying my KAB arm rewired SL-1200MKI is a rival to a Monaco or to some of the other uber priced units. But for under $1000 it sounds great and would embarrass some other tables, again often other which are praised. In reality its ability to run an at and hold speed is not too far off that of even a Monaco. It is the most speed stable table I have ever owned, sure I have not plunked many thousands down on tables over the years but I'm glad I can get great performance without having to take out a significant loan.