Verdier with or without the steel ball

I own a Platine Verdier with a Schroeder Model 2 and Allaerts MC1B. Mine was setup by the UK Verdier distributor (Graham Tricker from GT Audio). He never uses the steel ball, but makes sure that the oil reservoir is kept topped up from time to time (through the small allen grub screw next to the spindle), as the sound gets lean without oil. I'm very happy with mine. Buying a battery PSU, however, transforms the PV even further. I use the GT Audio battery PSU made in the UK (for all voltages), but I'm told that the Galibier one is also very good (but haven't heard it).

"For the spindle you also have to find the exact limit height where the magnets don't support the platter anymore and where the effort is done by the ball itself."

This is not the correct procedure for using the ball according to Verdier. The ball should not be supporting the platter, that defeats the intent of the magnetic suspension system, and results in a very high load on the ball with resultant drag/rumble. The idea is for the majority of the load to be taken up by the magnets, with only a very small portion carried by the ball itself. You adjust the spindle height until you can just feel the ball touching the underside of the platter, no more than that. In this way, you maintain contact from the platter through the ball to the spindle/bearing support, yet there is very little actual load on the ball. What you describe, would certainly overload the ball over time, it seems to me.

BIGBUCKS

Sorry for this bad explanation...
In fact that is excatly what I have done but in this position I thought that the benefit of the repulsion produced by the magnets didn't exist anymore as the ball touched the platter...compared with the "no ball" option.

André

Interesting topic.
As a long time Platine owner ( about some 10 years ) i'm happy to report my findings with all.
firstly there are a lot of weird thoughts and quotes about the Platine turntable. through the years ive heard the most silly remarks, mostly about the magetic repulsion and mostly from non Platine owners.
again i find it strange to find reports about a lack of bass output when the ball is not used at the top of the spindle. i cannot confirm this.
the trick with the ball.
what you need to adjust to get the best performance is the height of the spindle to get the ball just touching the platter. this way the ball touches but does not support any weight.
sounds logic ? it is and it is way to go.
the platter is non magnetic itself so the ball does not need function as an electrical grounding.
The benefits of having the platter suspended by 'air' is indeed what you want. however you do not want an up and down motion of the platter, here comes the ball into play.
it takes some time to adjust the spindle to accomplish this and so i made an upgrade kit to have a fully adjustable spindle with the platter actually mounted.
you can see my kit here :http://www.callas-audio.nl/verdierbotten.jpg
no i do not sell these kits, they took way too much time to create.
the micrometer you see is been put on the base and measures the platter movement.
this way i can actually see what i do. and with 1/100 of an millimeter read out this is a very accurate way..

the difference with our without the ball actually touching the platter is there, but in 10 years of use with many many arms and elements i have never experienced any dramatic things with our without the ball. i experience the best results though with this particular way. your mileage may vary.

one thing for sure, if you buy a Platine you never need to look further.
regards

I have owned the Platine for only 5 months and have tried both with and without the ball. Its a pain to set things up especially tone arm but the BEST overall result was obtained with the no ball. Topping up the oil is important.
I also made a stand for the motor so that it is not on the same shelf/stand as the Platine turntable table itself.