Top ten DD turntables of all time?

...above I miss the Kenwood KD-750. To me one of the best, even with the standard tone arm and e.g. and AT-OC 9. I compared it to quite a number of top DD turntables by Nakamichi, Denon, Technics a.s.o., as well as to top range BD tables by Transrotor and Clearaudio. Some of them in one or another aspect better, but still, the best overall performance was provided by the KD-750, even if it was a real bargain compared to the others mentioned. Just good engineering.

I also own a Micro DDX1000 with SME3012, a little more difficult in handling / adjusting, but quite rewarding. My Belt drive Acoustic Solid Small Machine, surely a good table for the money, can't really compete. Neither could my ex-players Thorens 520 and LP12. I don't miss them.

The question of how belt-drives sounded compared to direct-drives back in the day was asked. There was a discontinuity to the sound of the direct-drives, while the belt-drives ebbed and flowed like real music. The music on direct-drives seemed cut up and had the same sound-no matter what music was playing. I clearly heard this same sound on some higher-end Denons and that Nakamichi 1000(the one that centered the disc.). It was generally assumed that because the motor was directly coupled to the spindle, that there was no way around this problem with direct-drives. Now, since that time, I have become aware of the ability to hear what people are saying about something, and, yet, to listen beyond that(like cd). I still have no desire to own a direct-drive turntable, but maybe understand why the sound might not bother people. I do agree, though, that cd was considered better sound than most turntables in use at the time of its introduction. BTW, the original Walker tt was a cheap turntable when it was introduced.

GOLDMUND

How about the Technics SL1100A or SL110(SL1100A without the tonearm)? I understand it was kind of a poor man's SP10. I had one for several years back in the 70's. I wish I still had it.

First, I wanted to let everybody know (if you don't already) that the wonderful site "Welcome at Direct Drive" is accessable again through a new link, which is: http://www.oocities.org/de/bc1a69/index_eng.html

I wanted to expand a bit on Mmakshak's remarks, because they hint at something that seems to be a recurring event in the world of audio: namely that changes in the market often cause the curtailment in developing certain kinds of equipment/technologies that wind up on the back burner, sometimes for years! One such is the direct drive turntable. The belt drive took over the market because the inexpensive-to-produce version of the belt drive TT, like the original AR for example, sounded way better than the inexpensive-to-produce version of anything else. And both DD and idler drive TT's suffered from this situation -- with consumer DD's in particular getting a reputation for lousy performance -- which they deserved ;--) This is not to say that you couldn't find excellent DD's at the time, particularly from Japan, but none of them were what I would call 'consumer' products, and the companies that made them, particularly the Japanese, made a whole range of other products, and so eventually stopped developing DD's because the market wouldn't support entry-level (i.e., profitable) models. That's just the nature of free-market capitalism. But a whole generation of audio hobbyists were never exposed to DD's for that reason, and what they did hear, is that they sucked! Never mind that records themselves continued to be mastered on DD cutting lathes, hmmm . . . .

As a general rule in mechanical engineering design, 'simple is better' IF one can pull it off in the actual product! With renewed interest in vinyl comes a renewed interest in TT's; and as always, new offerings start with the "Neiman-Marcus" models. But with today's advances in materials, electronic control, and manufacturing techniques, it won't be long before a $500 DD turntable hits the market that will provide the obvious benefits of this elegant solution to record spinning. My 2 cents.
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