For the most part belt drives are simpler, so I guess all of us spinning DD could be considered to be living on the edge. Complexity does come with its share of bugaboos.
Started my journey with an idler driven Dual back in 76 I believe. Then thinking like a lemming I jumped on the DD band wagon in 78 and a plethora of cheap tables followed in an attempt to get my lost music back.
Fast forward to the early 90s when I picked up an AR XA at a garage sale for the grand total of $15. Contacted AR, they still had replacement belts so I ordered two. Purchased a Grado Platinum, modified the headshell to accept a top mount cart and my music was back.
Later putting together a bedroom system I found mysdlf needing a table again. Purchased a Thorens TD166MKII, installed a Pickering XV15 1200E / D1200 cartridge stylus combo and thought I was set.
I’m not sure what happened to find me looking for another table, but for some odd reason I decided to give DD another go. Purchased the big Kenny, installed the Grado Platinum and was blown away by how much improvement I was hearing over both my other tables, both belt drives.
This lead me to my next Kenny table, the KD770D, and what a table it is. Currently running a Clearaudio Concept V2, nice quality cart I could live with, but it’s obvious the table cries out for more.
So, are we living on the edge with our vintage DD tables? I say, "who gives a flying ......" when they sound this good for just a song and a dance.
Started my journey with an idler driven Dual back in 76 I believe. Then thinking like a lemming I jumped on the DD band wagon in 78 and a plethora of cheap tables followed in an attempt to get my lost music back.
Fast forward to the early 90s when I picked up an AR XA at a garage sale for the grand total of $15. Contacted AR, they still had replacement belts so I ordered two. Purchased a Grado Platinum, modified the headshell to accept a top mount cart and my music was back.
Later putting together a bedroom system I found mysdlf needing a table again. Purchased a Thorens TD166MKII, installed a Pickering XV15 1200E / D1200 cartridge stylus combo and thought I was set.
I’m not sure what happened to find me looking for another table, but for some odd reason I decided to give DD another go. Purchased the big Kenny, installed the Grado Platinum and was blown away by how much improvement I was hearing over both my other tables, both belt drives.
This lead me to my next Kenny table, the KD770D, and what a table it is. Currently running a Clearaudio Concept V2, nice quality cart I could live with, but it’s obvious the table cries out for more.
So, are we living on the edge with our vintage DD tables? I say, "who gives a flying ......" when they sound this good for just a song and a dance.