Kudos to speed controllers

I agree,I don't know how long I own the Walker controller for my Basis Debut now, maybe 4 years.
The Basis is one of those turntables which is a real top product from scratch. Real cleverness behind. The Walker Controller is a good addition.
I think, that's the reason why Basis offers an own Controller now, but don't know how good it is

Motor control units do substantially improve the sound of tables, though probably NOT because of more accurate long term speed control (what is measured with the strobe). The motor on the Basis table is an AC motor. It's speed is is determined by the 60hz alternating current frequency. Power companies must maintain that speed to a quite high degree of accuracy.

If the strobe shows that speed is slightly off, that is probably because of such factors as belt tension and slippage. But, even people with so-called perfect pitch would not hear the slight difference in steady state speed. What you probably are hearing is the great improvement in the smoothness of the motor turning (i.e., rapid changes in speed) because of the improved purity of the 60 hz sine wave that the motor controller is providing. Good controllers actually are amplifiers that regenerate the AC current as a more perfect sinewave (better shape, less noise).

If the Walker is a plug-in unit that does not require modification of the motor itself, then it is fundamentally different from the control unit supplied by Basis. The Basis controller requires modification of the motor itself. Turntable motors have mutliple poles to reduce cogging. That means that the different sets of poles have to be fed AC at different times. In the regular Basis motor, capacitors are used to delay part of the ac wave by 90 degrees to feed the other set of poles. With the Basis motor control, the capacitors are bypassed, and the controller itself generates a 90 degree out of phase wave that is purer than that which can be achieved with just a capacitor.

It would be interesting to see which controller actually does a better job.

Larryi, I think you're right on the AC purity part and this Walker must be doing its lob well.

To your second point, I'm willing to buy the $3500.00 Basis Motor Controller (not the correct name), but I wanted to try one first in my system. I tried my closest dealer in San Diego (500+ Mi.) for a loaner with the full intent of buy it if it worked well. After all, I'm modding the motor. No loan. I tried J. Conti several tries with no reply. So with no loaner, I'm not sure how much of an improvement it is. BTW, I already bought Basis recommended. precision belt for my system as is.

What Larryi says about why motor controllers make such a readily apparent difference is true, but the Walker may do the same thing as the Basis one, i.e., supply two sine waves in quadrature (90 degrees) apart in phase. I own a Walker and love it, but in truth I am not sure about whether it supplies two sine waves. I have been meaning to take mine apart to have a look. Regardless, it makes a huge difference. With a little web searching and elbow grease, one could build one's own two-phase motor controller for quite a bit less than $3500, however.

The Walker motor controller as supplied does not generate a “quadrature AC” source. The purpose of a “Quadrature AC” power supply in a synchronous AC motor application is to eliminate the phase delay capacitor. The walker motor controller is very good but it does not eliminate the capacitor used inside the AC motor. Apparently the reports I've heard from friends have stated that the Walker motor controller is able to drive the motor smoother than the VPI SDS with less vibration and noise transferred into the platter. I’ve listen to the VPI SDS drive a VPI table and it performed well. I've also worked with a few systems that have Walker motor controllers in them and they work very well. I’ve never directly compared the SDS against the Walker motor controller.

There is really no way to demo the Basis Syncro-Wave Power Supply with your current motor because it requires the motor to be sent to Basis to be modified. Therefore, one would need the entire drive system (controller and motor) to witness the results. Unfortunately, you are not going to find many, if any, dealers with Snycro-Wave drive systems available to send out for demo. It’s really unfortunate because the drive system really pushes the Basis tables even further forward in performance.

My personal turntable is using a version of the Synchrotron AC-1 that I built which is similar to the Basis Syncro-Wave Power Supply. Both of these units require the removal of the phase delay capacitor in AC motors that run off the wall power. The result is a quieter motor with significantly reduced vibration. This is extremely apparent with the 45RPM setting because that particular speed is much more difficult for the SDS or Walker controllers to keep vibration down. Anyone with a Walker or SDS can test my observation in real time by feeling the motor in 33RPM vs. 45RPM mode. The synchronous AC power supplies are so smooth that it's difficult to tell (feel) that the motor is on without seeing the platter rotating in both speed settings.

All that being said, the use of a motor controller (Walker or SDS) on an ac motor is great for adjusting precise speed. If I had to choose between the SDS and the Walker, I’d pick the Walker even though it’s not as nice looking. I lean significantly more toward substance, operation, and function than aesthetics…

For those with Basis turntables (Except the Debut) without speed controllers, you can still get the speed set precisely by adjusting the distance of the motor pod from the platter. My estimate would be that you could have as much as a .2% range of adjustment using extreme distance changes. For the most part, the basis tables using the proper belt are very close, if not on speed, to being correct to begin with so the extreme adjustments are most unlikely.

Hope this helps,
Dre