For the vintage Luxman direct drive turntables with an integrated tonearm, the PD121 outperforms and is preferable to the PD272. Now, regarding the PD441/444/555:
The PD444 is a monster but it's not "magnetic direct drive" unless you simply consider anything with a motor magnetic. The PD444 and 441 have the same direct drive system for which there were two different iterations of the Tokyo Electric motor. What's otherwise "magnetic" about these turntables is that the direct drive motors also incorporate a magnetic-repulsion "load-free spindle."
It's not actually a load-free spindle. It's load-reduced. When the platter is not on the subplatter, the subplatter sits high against the upper mechanical constraint of the spindle/motor structure. With the platter mounted on the subplatter, the full load of the platter's mass is mitigated by the magnetic repulsion spindle. But it does have a full-contact main bearing.
The PD441/444 are outstanding turntables and far better than most of what they competed against during their 1976-1980 production run. The PD444 is the better sounding of the two, primarily because its wide, two-tonearm-accommodating plinth has considerably more mass than the single tonearm 441.
If you want the bearing to have the longevity and performance intended, don't use heavy record weights or anything but very light clamps with these turntables. Use the stock mats or replace them with something very close to the same weight.
The most dated aspect of these turntables is their coil spring+elastomer feet. These turntables sound much better if you replace the feet with dense cones and place an Aurios Classic media bearing under each one. I use BBC large 1 pound brass cones attached to the underside of the plinth with Herbie's double-side-adhesive Grungebuster Dots. The dimple receptors for the cones fit perfectly in the top recess of each Aurios bearing. The improvement isn't small. If for some reason you need or want the blurring effects of the squishy feet, placing an Aurio bearing under each will still improve things somewhat.
I've owned a couple of PD444 turntables for over 30 years, one of which began as a 441 but I had a chance to build its working bits into a non-functioning PD444.
The PD555 is a belt drive turntable built into the essence of a PD444 structure, so also very good but different. However, like the smaller PD300 the 555 also had vacuum hold-down -- troublesome. The 44X turntables anticipated some contemporary turntables, including the VPI Classic -- the PD44X have an anti-resonant chipboard (better than MDF) core sandwiched under compression between a heavy iron plate and an aluminum top sheet. If you can find a PD121, you'll also have an excellent 1970s LP player, but if you find the scarcer PD444 intact, or 441 as a step-down, and install an appropriate arm and cartridge, better still. These are magnificent turntables from the 1970s analog peak before 1980s plastic plinth era yielded to the CD.
The Luxman PD444 was the most musically satisfying consumer direct drive produced at that time and samples were absolutely consistent. It can sound better than most vaunted belt drive sprung-subchassis competitors, including the same-era Linn Sondek. I preferred it to the Technics SP10, the various Sony contenders, the Denons, Kenwoods and the DD Micro Sieki TTs of the same era. As with any decades-old PLL servo-controlled turntable, be sure the drive electronics are functioning. Resistors and capacitors are easy to replace but some of the active components can't be sourced with a direct match.
Phil
