Can you ever go back to belt drive?

[allthingsanalogue]

Okay, long story short

I had an SL1200G and an own an LP12, very decent spek.

I sold the SL1200G for financial reasons and kept the Linn. Trouble is, even though I have a Lingo 3 on the Linn, I'm missing the rock steady pitch of direct drive. Other people reckon I'm imagining but I still think I hear w&f from the Linn. It's only 3 years old and I've tried another new (£50) belt but no difference. The strobe says it's fine and am sure it is but the SL IMO was better.

I also think that with off centre pressing the SL1200G coped better??

I'm now trying to sell my LP12 and buy another Technics but the only thing that worries me is the few reports of warped platters?

[Pigmy Pony]

At the end of the day Andrew it's your enjoyment of the music that matters. So regardless of what the strobe tells you, or any other measuring device, if the Technics sounds right to you, then it IS right.

My current deck (a heavily reworked Technics SL1210) replaces my old LP12, and is going nowhere any time soon, in fact it will see me out It just feels right to me.

[JohnG]

After a few things that have happened over the past few weeks, that I have been involved in, using a extremely clean mains signal, supplied from a dedicated off board power supply on Idler Drive and then Belt Drive TT's, there is a large step forward to be had in the overall presentation and improved SQ.
If you can get access for such a device to trial, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

[allthingsanalogue]

After a few things that have happened over the past few weeks, that I have been involved in, using a extremely clean mains signal, supplied from a dedicated off board power supply on Idler Drive and then Belt Drive TT's, there is a large step forward to be had in the overall presentation and improved SQ.
If you can get access for such a device to trial, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Which did you prefer? I often hear about how good the Garrards are for example when fully serviced compared to many belt drive decks.

[Shovel_Knight]

To be honest, I have never heard a truly high-end belt drive turntable (such as a VPI or a Brinkmann) but the ones I've heard (Thorens TD-125, Linn LP12, Rega P6 etc) left me completely cold. When I'm listening to a belt drive turntable, I think I hear something about the sound that I don't like. I think it's some kind of temporal aliasing.

From the mechanical point of view, if you connect a heavy platter to a motor with a compliant rubber band, the resulting system acts as an oscillator, and if you add a spring-suspended subchassis to the equation, things get even more interesting. The rubber band being stretched and pulled by the motor and the platter creates a measurable amount of torque that rotates the subchassis and excites the suspension, this should result in pretty severe real world wow... Please take note that adjusting the suspension does nothing to eliminate this wow, it only shifts its frequency!

[Pigmy Pony]

I don't know how quickly the platter gets up to speed on my DD turntable, but it looks pretty instant, and the platter weighs an absolute ton. Power coming 'directly' from a high-torque motor I suppose, and that's as technical as I can get

[thingfish]

No, since experiencing Direct Drive I shall never return to Belt Drive or Idler Drive either.

[allthingsanalogue]

I don't know how quickly the platter gets up to speed on my DD turntable, but it looks pretty instant, and the platter weighs an absolute ton. Power coming 'directly' from a high-torque motor I suppose, and that's as technical as I can get

How is it I've never heard of this brand? The tt's look amazing!

[allthingsanalogue]

From the mechanical point of view, if you connect a heavy platter to a motor with a compliant rubber band, the resulting system acts as an oscillator, and if you add a spring-suspended subchassis to the equation, things get even more interesting. The rubber band being stretched and pulled by the motor and the platter creates a measurable amount of torque that rotates the subchassis and excites the suspension, this should result in pretty severe real world wow... Please take note that adjusting the suspension does nothing to eliminate this wow, it only shifts its frequency!

Could that make off centre records sound worse? I only ask as when I had an 1210 I never noticed the wow so prevalent on off centre records as I do on the Linn? It seems that now I've noticed it nearly every record suffers from it.

[Shovel_Knight]

Could that make off centre records sound worse? I only ask as when I had an 1210 I never noticed the wow so prevalent on off centre records as I do on the Linn? It seems that now I've noticed it nearly every record suffers from it.

Well, the armboard is mounted to the subchassis, and if the tonearm is moving back and forth I assume it would also slightly rotate the subchassis and excite the suspension.