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Turntable Speed

I own a Transrotor "Atlante" turntable. I purchased it about 2 years ago with all the available upgrades (platter and tonearm). This unit was $4500.00 without cartridge. It is a belt driven product with an outboard power supply which lowers the incoming voltage to the 18 volts the motor requires. My problem is turntable speed. My 'table speed is about 34 rpms. I could be more accurate if I had better measuring equipment. Anyway, that's about 2% over the correct speed and you can definitely tell the difference in sound quality between 34 and 33 1/3 rpm!. I was a little upset with this revelation and called my dealer about it. I also talked with the dealer's supplier. I received several reasons from these people as to why the speed was not accurate among which was that my power was "out of tolerance." But when all was said and done, none of the given reasons held water and I am now being advised that really there is nothing that can be done. That there is no defect in the equipment and if the speed problem continues to bother me, I should invest $1700.00 in a Transrotor speed controller. As I think over this, I wonder why platter speed is never mentioned or measured and reported on in the reviews for turntables in the major audio mags. (This could be because there isn't any problem, except for my 'table, or there is and no one is admitting it). To my way of thinking, platter speed has to be one of the primary functions of a turntable and that manufacturers would be making sure that their products' platter speeds were within strict specifications. At least better than 2% margin of error as is the case with my turntable.

My question is: Is platter speed error a given in this industry or is my 'table actually in need of repair? And, if platter speed is an industry problem, why are we as consumers paying thousands for equipment which actually doesn't work up to expectations?

frepec
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isanchez
276 posts
 
Frepec,

Your speed issues are not uncommon with turntables without a speed controller. I found myself in your same situation when I had a Wilson Benesch turntable and ended up buying a speed controller for it. I went for the Clearaudio Synchro since it also cleans the power fed to the motor, besides controlling the speed.

It is possible that the speed is faster because of voltage/frequency you're getting from the wall outlet.

I totally agree with you in that all turntables should come with some sort of speed controller if you spent more some serious cash on it, since accurate speed cannot be guaranteed by the manufacturer.

Pro-Ject makes some affordable speed controllers, if you're interested in not spending much. I think the cheapest speed controller will be better than no controller at all. It's puzzling to me that Pro-Ject can come up with a very affordable speed controller, but the higher-end companies can't.

All the best,

iSanchez
martykl
3,578 posts
 
I believe that this is also a problem more specific to Transrotor. I have a Sirius that also runs a bit fast and in researching the issue found a lot of Transrotor owners had similar problems. Since the unit is not in use, I haven't pursued a solution. I suspect that there are reasonably priced 3rd party speed controllers out there and I'll pursue one if I put the Sirius back to work.

Good Luck

Marty
0thd
22 posts
 
For the kind of money high end turntables command the speed should be dead on, no matter what the incoming voltage, within reason. Or it should be adjustable.

Speed is just as important as stability of speed.

I like to play guitar to a lot of music and if the speed is not accurate the guitar is out of tune with the music and that is frustrating.

I've got a Transrotor Fat Bob S. I was fortunate because it came with the a speed controller that included fine adjustment for 33 1/3 and 45.

I'm not sure I agree that any cheap controller will do the job though.

If it's not rock solid that will drive you just as crazy.
jaytea
78 posts
 
I totally agree with 0thd. I owned a very highly regarded Avid Acutus (Stereophile Class A) before, and despite the fact that I really liked its sound, I decided to sell it (well..traded it in towards my SME 20/2) just because I could not stand the fact that a $11,000 hi-end turntable lacked a speed controller. Before buying it, i assumed that the speed would be accurate and rock solid for this expensive turntable but it proved me wrong.

I think you should either sell it and get something with a speed controller, or buy a controller for it. Otherwise it will drive you mad!
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