DIY TT

I have referenced a  Denon DP-80 with a Gunmetal Platter as these become available for sale and might have proved attractive to the OP.

From my many years of acquiring Japanese Design Vintage DD TT's, I have not seen a Gunmetal Platter as a singular item for sale, even though I have seen the whole Platter Assembly, minus TT,  and inclusive of the Gunmetal part for sale.

There are commonly seen Gunmetal or Stainless Steel options for a Platter that are belonging to other Japanese Vintage DD TT's. Maybe there is a want for such add on parts to a TT within the Japan Market, and I was fortunate to find a DP-80 wiith this part included, I have seen m any since my purchase and there is a premium asking price for such a model.

The jury is out on Massey vs Lightweight Plinths, the point is argued in many forums, I let my listening experiences produce the evidence I needed to motivate my making a change.  

I do not get too caught up in the absolute mechanical theories for a device used in a TT Set Up, much of the precision that is suggested should be in place is inaudible to most listeners and definitely will be very difficult to determine to a well trained ear that has an older body coupled to them. 

There are multiple TT's that have a Platter Spindle that has an eccentric rotation in place as part of the poor design for the interfaces or usage has allowed the interfaces to wear.

The eccentric rotations are detrimental to the Stylus contact in the Groove and Speed Stability, but the replays on a TT with such a Spindle Interface are thoroughly enjoyed y the TT's owner.

Obsessing over thousands of a mm, is not for me, or in that case many manufacturers, who seem to have at time flagrantly flouted the ideas associated with tight tolerances, these things add to the bottom line.

I do meet and share time with individuals who do take microns seriously in the work they produce, one trusted friend also has devices that enable them to measure the effects of some of the work undertaken. They keep there keen eye on such concerns for the workshop, and can separate listening pleasure during demonstrations from the work produced, and I see this as a very attractive trait.

The listeners reactions to the demonstration is enough to see the qualities that are on offer.  

The theory of the mechanics and the obsession with the theories is good fuel for some to rant and attack over, and these rants from my experiences are seen to manifest from a small group only.

I have yet to see a Manufacturer go toe to toe with somebody on the design theories, and it is these bodies that the average user has only got to trust in such matters.

The challenges are usually directed at a user who has made known a choice they chose to use, and one which I am sure in many instances has proven to be a very enjoyable encounter. 

As most comes from a very small faction, it is quite tolerable, even though sometimes there is an unsavoury element to the expressions being made.

Why not just look for a nice Denon dp 37f or 47f quartz  lock direct drive with the servo tonearm and the gorgeous wood plinth already included? Those tables were terrific.

Dear @fsonicsmith  : There is no real contradiction. Over the time we learned in different audio subjects and I learned ( not because SAT but way before) that 12" tonearms in reality does not helps to the cartridge job, the 9"-10" tonearms can control in better way resonances/vibrations developed during play and that's why I sold almost all my 12" tonearms including the SAEC WE 8000 and the 506 even that these ones are really good looking " boys " but that double-knife bearing is not the best for LOMC cartridges and it's not my " voice " Dr. Sao Win that manufactured TT/tonearms/cartridges puts a warning in the operation manual of its LOMC cartridge ( truly good performer ) against the knife bearing with its LOMC cartridge, I owned that Win cartridge and time after sold it I really regret that decision.

The long arm wand in 12" arms develops higher resonances/vibrations/feedback than in shorter arms. Yes, the 12" arms performance are for some audiophiles a better quality and " rich " performance levels than the shorter but the true is that what those gentlemans as you like in the 12" are its higher distortons, nothing wrong with that and there is a " problem " with 12" tonearms and is in its cartridge/tonearm alignment parameters because when we make that cartridge/set up always exist the possibility that we made it 100%  accurated and the      tiny errors in the alignment set up in the overhang/offset angle/P2S and the like goes higher in a 12" tonearm than in a 10".

In theory the tracking distortionn in a 12" is lower than in a 10"-9" tonearm and we audiophiles always look that as an advantage but how much lower is that error in the 12"?

well the average distortion in a 12" is 0.31% and in a 9" is 0.38%. Maybe you can detect that distortion difference of 0.07% but certainly what you and any one can detect is the distortion between both tonearm groove after groove that is around at 0.0025% but that it's changing at each tracking groove. So in reality that distortion advantage in a 12" tonearms has no influence in what we listen and the disadvantages in the 12" certainly we can listen it.

But I have no problem with what you like it.

R.

Dear @holmz : Yes, you are rigth I need to understand your whole " scenario ".

The SOTA is a decent unit, Iowned the Star one paired with the ETtonearm tha was the fashion in those old days. Btw, I like that Garrot that’s better that we could think.

If I was you what I do will be to put on sale your today TT/tonearm and go for a really solid alternative that in some ways is even better than the Denon DP80 option and I’m refering to the Micro Seiki DD units where the one in the link is the MS top one that permits almost mount " all " the tonearms you want it and where you have to make nothing about plinth or any other modification . Well maybe a TT mat alond the Basis Audio clamp. In reference to tonearms I will go with today ones as Reed, OL or Kuzma and with the AT ART cartridge series but if you are biased for Hana then the Umami one:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/393561597001?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item5ba2196449:g:tQcAAOSwah5hOc89&amdata=enc%3AAQAGAAACoPYe5NmHp%252B2JMhMi7yxGiTJkPrKr5t53CooMSQt2orsSU8qUIAeVPdz29zRlje3LgxPcI04nprdpG8GsKrdqfjCEPmCJbgykNJZHl90RL%252BgTLtbIaX6exWL%252BNH5r9dKSzx25UP63dGjPXrAnRbbyb2To8t2BR%252FUJZa5bVzHn1bEHuabYMRhoLBWTgUSQJfsGwFEC8eLKktwVVwThqk1MsMHEm%252BU0jqUSoW%252FwGMl1UI2MEixwQr6PLAMGD8ON%252BhtyN%252FCls3%252FVKyVlcbd8J1zwuaLWyk1zgfqmb8Ii6ihesH48MNq8whQnV%252F3parKGjxuNVWHmy65yEA4XfbwY7a%252BwalRIx4cwcw2BU1eBdjfruxF%252FDWVapJ%252BtsG31rHQMbXG%252BuvSjZ3abyuwSqWk3Z8j91dldZCzYBGRelZ2RyBGT188c4AR5Pa0MKP570CiXcGDR0GSfChHLjPir1Ij0y5h7bV%252FlUNapFDCce5HYc3lbrfJoUwBeik9dhPFZXR9WnezoQygJWwPJ3uYr6V5saQgHgRZF%252Fh2yfgeCOScuSmH8ZM6oaQDnHCiEaByGQyLbP1ahTeF%252F3Mv9ZwbR6vLumta3ypBeKrTVnrCVG1hE3adWFDiW3LVWblZ3ojKZG97Q6sGOfIl5RjasgioFNmEPL%252BPjgsO83xBQQRwJMMRh8kr7rmwRoLBtzH8w120unqWYukdPpwR0OXDsMkq5F2TzVMZMAlqSLzY0Dfmk2C%252BhrYNgMvZ2nR%252FP9kZvhjdaNLpmPxq%252FKxR2wTjAJmW388pgoNxQn5R3NWsvMEzc6g0kG1vOv1nB4yCQP%252FNHza2oJvDOnpsLd5I7yOi1XSRHZtzPy%252BMwvn%252FZXd3tr3BV%252BBIEiRcnUVzik6YPV%252FEoPyXWlS5ZqqBdHA%253D%253D%7Cclp%3A2334524%7Ctkp%3ABFBMqIOL3PNf

Well, that's me.

R.

Raul, is that really you?  Most persons who have examined the M-S DD units up close (I have not) come away with the conclusion that they are not well made, in sharp contrast to their behemoth belt-drive models, but most of all you (and I) have not liked the idea of mounting a tonearm over a footer, thereby assuring that environmental disturbances are radiated right into the tonearm pivot.  Sure, there are possibly better DD TTs than the DP80, but I don't agree that the DQX1000 is one of them.  Not everything made by M-S is pure gold.  Also, to Holmz, the DQX is the only one to consider among the M-S DD TTs, because the Q indicates a quartz-referenced servo control.  The DDX models do not have that feature.

Pindac, If you ever again to see a DP80 with an optional gun metal platter, I would greatly appreciate it if you would call that to my attention; I am very curious as I have never seen it or read of it.  Moreover, the DP80 is basically a "lightweight" platter design, relatively speaking.  The Denon literature makes a big deal out of the split in the platter, between inner and outer elements held together by shock absorbing bridges.  It is difficult to imagine how gunmetal as a build material would fit into their split-platter strategy.  I certainly may be uninformed, and I am always curious to learn something new.