Turntable speed accuracy


There is another thread (about the NVS table) which has a subordinate discussion about turntable speed accuracy and different methods of checking. Some suggest using the Timeline laser, others use a strobe disk.

I assume everyone agrees that speed accuracy is of utmost importance. What is the best way to verify results? What is the most speed-accurate drive method? And is speed accuracy really the most important consideration for proper turntable design or are there some compromises with certain drive types that make others still viable?
peterayer

Showing 3 responses by lrsky

No doubt repeating a point someone else has made.
If the speed is off, the pitch is off, a cardinal sin for me.

Interesting story which I shared years ago.
I was in Chicago at the CES...circa 1984. I had lobbied Magnepan for their line a lot. A LOT, LOT, LOT. To their credit THIEL beseeched me to carry Maggies.
At the CES in Chicago that year, I went in to the Magnepan booth...they were, as I recall playing the MG III's.
Jim Winey asked me to 'have a seat, listen and tell me what you think.'
I had told him on entering that I'd been trying to get his line to no avail...like a Zen Master, he listened and nodded patiently...'Sit, Listen'.

After I listened to a cut I knew, from 'Jazz at the Pawnshop', I stood.
Mr. Winey said, 'What do you think?'
I said, 'It sounds great, just one small issue.'
'Yes?'
'Your turntable is turning too fast, the pitch is sharp.'
He only nodded.
A week later, I got a phone call from their then Director of Sales Dave Carambula (memory)...
'If you still want the line, we'll ship tomorrow.'
They did.
When Dave showed up, I introduced my Wife...he said, I don't remember her, but we remembered you...especially Mr. Winey remembered.'
'Oh?'
'Yes...he told me, give that man our line, anybody who notices the pitch differential deserves to have us in his store.'
He turned to my wife, 'Yes, your husband's the one who told us that our turntable was set up wrong.'
That is how I ended up with the Magnepan line.

Funny how the best stories are always the true stories.

Larry
Lewm asked, 'What Turntable', I'm thinking that he was asking what Magnepan was using at the CES.
Memory of 30 years ago tells me it was a Linn Sondek, but that seems wrong...
Funny, Linn ruled for a while, when SOTA entered. Sota which was more neutral, maybe less 'musical', but they did some things that were 'better' from a design standpoint. The center of gravity, with weight sprung beneath the platter...for better stability and less 'skip' with 'footfall' issues in homes.
That, and an 11 pound platter, for greater 'speed stability'...the inertial effect of the 'drag' of the cart, having less effect as the inertial effect of that weight made for fewer speed issues in the short term/time interval.
I still have a Linn, that's not been used much AT ALL...perfect condition...I may sell it...my vinyl has dissipated over the years.

Great discussion and a great memory lane moment for me.

Larry
Lewm,
Been thinking about your 'what turntable' question...
It may have been an Oracle...it's been a long time...sorry.
The tables of note then were, as I said, Linn, SOTA, Oracle...no doubt a few others, but they were, in my little part of the country the bigger names.

Larry