turntable speed control

[shire]

Hi, I have previously used the project DS strobo with my Ariston turntable, very very good, I was looking to buy another for another turntable venture, but find they are discontinued,only alternatives i have found at reasonable price, are the HEED AUDIO ORBIT 2 and a model called PHOENIX ENGINEERING, anyone with experience of these, or suggest alternatives

[Ammonite Acoustics]

I have a Martin Bastin Wave Mechanic, but specifically the version designed for the Nottingham Dais that drives the larger Airpax/Premotec AC motor in many decks including your Ariston (not to be confused with the more common WM version for use with the Nottingham Spacedeck and Hyperspace which use a tiny low-torque AC motor). The Wave Mechanic can output 50Hz or 60Hz (internally switchable and adjustable) with a small knob on the front for very fine adjustment of output frequency and therefore fine speed. Voltage output is also adjustable internally via a trimmer pot. It's quite nice to be able to adjust both voltage and frequency since these ubiquitous AC motors do have sweet spots for both voltage and frequency and it doesn't take too long with a stethoscope to work out what happens in terms of noise and vibration if you push frequency too high, or voltage too low. The Wave Mechanic uses a precision oscillator circuit feeding a monolithic chip amplifier before outputting via a step-up transformer - pretty normal stuff for this sort of thing, but nicely executed - Martin does know his stuff.

I bought it for a personal Logic DM-101 project but I moved the DM-101 on when I realised what a complete PITA that deck is (ever wondered why Linn won the superdeck challenge in the 70s and 80s - just try to set up the suspension of a DM-101!). The Wave Mechanic is not doing anything here so if you or anyone else is interested in it, just get in touch.

[REXTON]

I have the pheonix engineering tachometer and PSU linked to my 301. I dont think you cant buy them anymore as I think the website is down and the chap making them refused to export to the UK for a while. It's the best piece of kit I've ever seen to regulate a Garrard 301, mine runs withing 33.333 rpm +/- 0.001 - 0.003 rpm .

[shire]

I have the pheonix engineering tachometer and PSU linked to my 301. I dont think you cant buy them anymore as I think the website is down and the chap making them refused to export to the UK for a while. It's the best piece of kit I've ever seen to regulate a Garrard 301, mine runs withing 33.333 rpm +/- 0.001 - 0.003 rpm .

there is a phoenix FALCON speed control on ebay right now, is this the one?
cheers