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Direct Drive Rumble

I remember back in the 70s when direct drive was an upgrade from belt drive in every manufacturers lineup. This was before Linn, SOTA, etc. took over the world of turntables. Conventional wisdom has it that direct drives couldn't compete because they were noisier than belts. The theory advanced at the time and still held by many was that the belt mitigated the influence of motor vibration on the whole system. What I recall, however, is that there were consistently lower rumble figures for the DD tables over the numbers posted by the belt drive units. Is there another measurement besides rumble to indicate motor vibration and its deleterious effects?
macrojack
nsgarch's avatar
nsgarch
2,524 posts
 
I hope there will be a new generation of DDs in the future. It would be interesting to see them made with an inverted platter bearing. Is the Teres made that way?
psychicanimal
1,738 posts
 
Direct drive or die.
rgordonpf
82 posts
 
If you have been following the threads over on Vinyl Asylum regarding idler-wheel turntables you will know that the next few months should see a new DC motor drop-in replacement for many of the idler-wheel tables of yesteryear. Removing the motor vibration from idler-wheel tables will give those TTs a major sonic improvement. And could spur the development of totally new idler-wheel tables.

Teres is just one of several companies coming out with new DD turntables. It looks like belt drive TTs are going to be caught between an upsurgence of direct drive and idler-wheel tables. That has got to be good for vinyl lovers.
macrojack OP
1,303 posts
 
It will only be good for the vinyl lovers who can afford them.
The rest of us will have to find ways to make do with yesteryear's product. Of course, that may only apply to DD. Do you have any idea what the retrofitted Idler motor will cost?
rgordonpf
82 posts
 
Hi Macrojack,

"It will only be good for the vinyl lovers who can afford them."

I disagree. Everytime someone with bucks buys a new DD or rim drive TT, a used belt drive TT will probably go up for sale. With the supply of used BD TTs going up and the demand for BD TTs going down, there should be real bargains available in the used market for us mere mortals. Everyone benefits, except the manufacturers who can not keep up with the change in technolgy.

No price has been announced for the DC idler-wheel replacement motor. It will initially be sold in Japan.

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