Sell Me Your Women, Your Children, Your Vintage Turntable...

Before I chose an idler for my array of turntables, I auditioned Garrard 301, Thorens TD124, and Lenco L75 or GL78. (I think they’re the same.) Lenco won. Did not like the TD124 at all. Belt driving an idler seemed to combine the problems of both. Apologies to TD124lovers. Lenco was just a little less noisy than Garrard but with similar effortless drive. I’ve no doubt the Garrard can be made to outperform the samples I heard. My current Lenco is highly tweaked. Slate plinth, PTP top plate, dampened platter, graphite mat, enormous custom bearing and spindle, Phoenix Engineered drive, Dynavector tonearm. I love it. What might set the Lenco apart from the typical idler is the vertical orientation of the idler wheel and its tiny contact patch. These features might make for less side force on the bearing and much less potential for rumble. For more info go to Lenco Heaven. Or google PTP Lenco.

Without going into the gory details of which drive system is best or whether vintage turntables or cartridges are worse than, equal to, or better than modern ones, my opinion is that the biggest gains in vinyl reproduction over the last 45 years (roughly my tenure as a vinylphile) are with respect to the electronics. Modern well designed phono stages are just eons better than anything that was available back in the 70s or early 80s. With respect to solid state options, this is not even worth debating. Modern SS designs are in another universe from vintage, if only because modern transistors and ICs are faster and lower in distortion. With respect to tube phono stages, I would say the same is true. One, but only one, reason for this is the availability of much better parts with which to build these stages. Another reason is the evolution of design philosophy. I think the same is true of cables and power cords. These devices enable us to appreciate the virtues of vintage turntables and cartridges to an extent we did not dream of, back when they were current products. The same reasoning applies to linestages and amplifiers, of course. The very best speakers of yore still hold their own against modern efforts, provided the drivers are in good shape, in my opinion. But I do think there are more great speakers available these days than was the case 45 years ago. This is all without considering cost, which is slave to inflation over time.

Of course, anyone here knows I would disagree emphatically with much of what Mijostyn espouses, so I won't bother to point that out for the Nth time.  But I did want to remark upon his last line: "There are a few that dabble in idler and direct drive but it does not appear the market takes them seriously."  Without knowing the actually numbers, I would wager that the Technics 1200G, GR, and GAE combined, or possibly even singly, outsell any belt-drive turntable on the retail market.  So, whatever may be Mijo's opinion of direct-drive turntables, others DO take them seriously. And rightly so.