Lenco and Garrard external ac power supply

I noticed that. Still on the drawing board, I think. Thanks to Vetterone, I can conceive of building one from a frequency generator (saw a very cheap solid state module on eBay with a built-in digital read-out) driving an amplifier that can push ca 120V into whatever is the load of the Lenco motor. (I would need to measure that.) Might be fun to try that.

Here is the thing, guys. The SDS and Walker Audio Motor Controller, and probably the PS Audio thingie, would not be expected to do anything for the Garrard or Lenco motors (apart from if you really do have noisy AC coming in). This is because at least the first two products are designed to control AC synchronous motors. The Lenco and Garrard motors are induction type motors. Mark Kelly showed that if you control such motors by reducing voltage, you lose torque until finally at a low enough voltage the torque falls off a cliff (no torque). Whether or not they can be controlled by AC frequency, I don't remember, but since they are not "AC synchronous", purely altering frequency is unlikely to be the solution. I think you have to control both voltage and line frequency. In any case, designing a controller for these motors is a specialized task. Mark Kelly was designing one, but the project is in limbo, at best. On Lenco Heaven there is a long term project to develop a controller and printed circuit boards, I think, will be sold to those who sign up. I have been wondering about the Loricraft, whether it is truly designed correctly to run an induction motor.

I don't see how it could hurt to use a PS Audio or other power regenerator in front of a Lenco or Garrard, if you have noisy AC, but don't expect miracles.

FWIW, my experience is identical to Dave's with his SDS; my Walker Motor Controller, which worked wonders with my Notts tt, does absolutely nothing for my Lenco. In fact, I took the Walker out of the way, because I think the operation of the motor was a touch less good with it vs without it.

I too have had dealings with Jean. My experience was mixed. There was some good and some not so good. But I did not come away thinking he was a bad guy. Sometimes he over-reaches or makes claims that just do not hold up to close inspection. He built up a Lenco in CLD plinth for me. Two tonearm mounts, etc. I had several issues with it upon initial delivery, some of which could have been due to shipper abuse; some not. I had to do the trouble-shooting myself. But eventually we resolved all issues.

Steve, Armed with the knowledge that you just dispensed, would it not then be possible to control an induction motor (i.e., my Lenco) with a power re-generator like those made by PS Audio, assuming that one or more of their products do allow for control of AC frequency? (I don't remember for sure whether that is true.)

"It has been told on lenco heaven that it was mainly for convenience when used with a PTP,as you can change speed at distance.For the sound not a great difference so not a replacement unit for the loricraft."

Dear Gilles, I don't get your point. If the motor controller is properly designed to match the motor it is controlling (and this is a big "IF"), then the motor controller ought to confer all benefits at once. If the Lenco Heaven controller is badly designed to work with a single-phase induction motor (e.g., the Lenco motor), then I do see your point, but I cannot imagine that the guys on that forum would be pursuing such a goal. In fact, I believe the Garrard motor is a 2-phase induction motor. (Doesn't Garrard use a capacitor to split the AC phase?) Which has always made me wonder whether the Loricraft controller is properly matched for use with the Lenco motor.

OK. I read what Jlovey wrote. He is saying that the main benefit of the Sanders controller in his opinion was the convenience of changing speed. But he does not say there are NO other benefits, merely that he is not overwhelmed by any improvement in sonics. But where does it say that the Loricraft controller will work sonic miracles with the Lenco motor? That's the part of what you wrote that induced me to comment. Indeed, it may well be that the single phase induction motor can benefit only minimally from any sort of controller. But you read what Steve Dobbins wrote: there likely is some voltage and some frequency which will cause the Lenco motor to run its smoothest and to therefore sound better because of reduced noise. We don't know what that magic combo is. Much more is known about maximizing performance of the Garrard motor, as Steve points out and as Loricraft is testimony to. Loricraft are rather opaque about the operation of their controllers, so one has no way of knowing for sure how they would work with Lenco.

Dear Jeremy, You wrote, ....."even dedicated lines (in a perfect world) if you really wanted the Lenco to be at its best"

The major benefit of a dedicated line would be that the noise put back onto the AC line by the Lenco motor would not then enter other components in the chain. This would be perceived as an improvement in the "performance" of the Lenco, when in fact it is addition by subtraction. By the way, this same benefit should accrue from using a power re-generator. So, it does not quite make sense to say on the one hand that power re-generators do no audible good but that using a dedicated line does do audible good. A power regenerator dedicated only to run the Lenco motor would isolate the motor noise from other components. (Maybe his customers were plugging more than one item into their power regenerators.)