Pheonix Engineering Road Runner

lewm

cleeds, What in your opinion are the "very best" belt drives? For me, the very best belt drive turntables cost at least $25,000, new ...

I'm not a member of the component-of-the-month club, so I really can't make a recommendation about today's best belt drive turntables. I use a VPI TNT Series III and haven't heard anything better - regardless of technology - since I bought it new back in the '90s. And I've been to the VPI house and heard all of their latest offerings, including the DD. (I did add an SDS to my VPI, which originally came with the older PLC controller.)

Did you mean to imply by your response ... that the PE stuff sounds inferior to a VPI SDS.

No, I didn't mean to imply that, but the one PE I did hear was not impressive. But that's just one data point, so I don't put much value on it.

Those without an external feedback mechanism like the RR still do employ a sort of feedback; you set the speed under a load or no load condition, and the controller relies upon the constancy of the AC frequency to keep the motor operating at a certain speed, always based on the pre-set condition. There's feedback going on, but it's referenced to AC frequency ....

To me, feedback implies a loop, so I don't consider that the PE Phoenix or VPI SDS units rely on feedback. They simply use the line frequency as a reference, as any typical synchronous motor does.

Most listeners of my acquaintance do not love the VPI SDS ...

I have no issue at all with the SDS, and I like that you can set the drive voltage to your preference ... although the detail on that isn't explained in the user manual.

gochurchgo

So we have $10k tables that can’t regulate their speed.

We do? Which ones?

gochurchgo

The PE Roadrunner was $400 - makes mine a bargain :-)  The benefit from these tachometers are that you can actually see at what speed your TT is running.

Good Listening

Peter

Peter, though Roadrunners were going for as much as $400 after it was discontinued, it originally retailed for $234 (it was the Falcon and Eagle that sold for more). Your $299 is quite reasonable.

@cleeds,

I've gone a similar route to you, with an original TNT and multi-upgrades over the years.  But I would never give up the lead/acrylic platter.

The PE Eagle is at least the equivalent of the SDS and, in fact, measures better and is somewhat easier to use.  The Eagle (or Falcon) used with the Roadrunner does create a feedback loop and is a brilliant set-it-and-forget-it design.  I sold my SDS when I bought this combo and even made a few bucks on the deal.  The Phoenix stuff was a real bargain in its day.  I hope it is revived by Sota for general sale.

The Roadrunner actually measures a running average of about three complete rotations so that the speed adjustments, when they are made*, are relatively few as compared with the continuing micro-adjustments of the typical DD TT.  The adjustments can't be heard, certainly not by me nor by anyone else who has written about these combos.

*the speed, of course, is MOSTLY controlled by the precision line frequency synthesized in the Eagle.