I have the beginnings of an idea in the back of my mind to build another idler turntable, but so far I've not been able to find a suitable motor.
Turntable motors generally come in four types: Direct drive, which isn't where I want to go; tiny gutless AC synchronous motors as used by Linn, Thorens, Rega etc (yeah, OK, me too in the TT2); tiny slightly less gutless DC as used by Origin Live etc; and the great big beefy motors used by the likes of Garrard or Lenco which is what I'm looking for, but which no-one's used for turntables for the last 40 years.
These motors are powerful, and have a large rotor rotating at relatively high speed which therefore stores a lot of energy, and I'm convinced this is a major part of the reason why the Garrards and Lencos have that wonderful solid relentless feel to the sound. Trouble is, I can't find anyone using that sort of motor for other purposes today that could be adapted. The nearest I can find are a couple of ranges of pancake motors, but these are either cheap and nasty Chinese rubbish, or German and horrendously expensive. The other possibility is the external rotor brushless motors used by R/C modellers (which have the added advantage of looking very sexy) but involve some serious electronics to control speed and provide the right waveforms for smooth running.
Anyone know of any alternatives? My last attempt used tghe motor from an Akai 4000DS reel-to-reel which was fabulous, but they're not that aesy to get hold of. I need somthing that could be supplied in small numbers in the unlikely event that I take this any further than a DIY home-build project. (Retirement looms. I'm going to need something to do, so who knows...).