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How good is the Micro Seiki DDX-1000 Direct Drive turntable ?

Here is the MICRO DDX-1000 direct drive. Never tried myself, but it is the most compact DD designed for 3 tonearms.

*The question is how good this turntable really is, compared to some other vintage Direct Drives ?


Some information from VintageKnob website:  

The DDX-1000 is the original design, with two sculpted strobe markings around the 2kg / 31cm die-cast aluminium platter. The resulting moment of inertia is at 330kg / cm2 and the top mat in fact covers a thick cork sub-mat set inside the platter itself.

The DDX-1000, in real late 70s modernism is a direct-drive. The motor is a DC-Servo with FG frequency generator reference set through the strobe neon lamp which "checks" how many stripe it sees and rectifies if necessary ; the resulting speed accuracy is of 0,03%.

The starting torque is of 1,2kg / cm and load characteristics allow the DDX-1000 to remain below 0,04% deviation up to a 3g load set at the outer limit of the platter - specs-wise, we're here under the contemporary Sony TTS-8000 for instance...

The heigh-adjustable feet are typical Micro Seiki (or Luxman, of course :) and contain a mix of inert damping (neoprene stuffing) and mechanical damping (spring).

The is no Quartz Lock on the DDX-1000 ; the MD-1000 power-supply box holds the power on/off, start 33rpm, start 45rpm and stop buttons plus two ± 6% speed controls.

The AX-1G to AX-6G tonearm bases fit everything from the ubiquitous SMEs to the Technics EPA-100 or PUA-1600L.

Of course, the motor of the DDX was used as basis for the Marantz Tt 1000 (1979), and that of the DQX-1500 (an updated DQX-1000) for the Tt 1000 mkII (1992). And, as often, Micro's direct-drive motors came from... Victor.


DDX-1000/G :

April 1976 limited edition (really limited : 30 units) custom made in... bronze. Howerever, it is black-looking for the most part, with the bronze only kept visible for the top of the three feet ; the platter was kept in AL and the command box was anodized in all-black style ; even the AX-1/G was in-bronze-but-painted-black...
Names of the people they were made for (and offered to - these were gifts !) were silkscreened on the (bronze...) motor's cache (...but painted black) - a rarity to say the least.


The DDX-1000 naturally spawned a myriad of lookalikes and still does today - perhaps better than the original, perhaps not. Or not that much :) 

128x128chakster
chakster's avatar
chakster OP
6,144 posts
 
@mijostyn

  The Plinth is rather basic and you will have to do some work to isolate it.

What do you mean? Additional isolation platform under a turntable?
I like the idea of almost no plinth, it's basically a frame, but: 

"The three large insulators of the DDX-1000 form a unique absorber mechanism that not only eliminates entirely the hazards of external vibration, but also serves to isolate the arm from the turntable."  

"The power supply and transformer are completely isolated in a separate control unit, thus eliminating any feedback or hum interference."   


tooblue
1,930 posts
 
So your question was a rhetorical one?
lewm
13,110 posts
 
The DQX models featured quartz referenced speed control. That’s an upgrade vs DDX.
The tonearms mount essentially on the footers, as in some other MS designs. That’s not good for isolation.
The platter is very light weight compared to others of the era.
Looks cool but not my cup of DD.
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
I actually looked at one localish to myself and it looked cool.
However close inspection showed it was not truly that high end and sort of insubstantial compared to some of its Japanese competition in weight and apparent build quality.

That said I did not hear it play as the seller was a flipper who had bought at an estate sale and there were no carts mounted and no system to plug it into.
I was not impressed enough to go to the trouble of further testing.
Ymmv.
chakster's avatar
chakster OP
6,144 posts
 
@tooblue

So your question was a rhetorical one?  

I don't have this turntable, it would be nice to read feedbacks from the users, especially in comparison to some other vintage DDs. 

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