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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
 
PD-444 is superheavy DD and it does not required all that hustle with the plinth and feet as the SP10mk2. I preffered Luxman "sound" too, and sold SP10mk2 with no regret.  My SP10mk2 was mint condition and fully original just like my PD-444. If i will even buy Technics again it must be mk3 (or SP10R), not mk2. 

Luxman PD-444 is a serious turntable and i'm happy with a pair of them in the studio 
sdrsdrsdr
196 posts
 
Thanks for the comment on the comparison of the two tables. I have an sp10 ii , i was thinking of building a plinth for it maybe since i have so much time now. 
Yes. The mark iii is supposed to be in a different league. Have you considered any emt direct drive tables. Not the easiest to change arms and will only take one arm, but very good. I have a 938 and 948. Compared the 938 at a friends to the sp10 mark ii and the denon dp80.  The emt 938 is a much better table than those. Not a very good comparison though. The others had better arms and cartridge setups and phono stage. The 938 was running all stock with its own built in phono stage and it was still a noticeably better table.
chakster's avatar
chakster OP
6,144 posts
 
The situation in this world now is too bad, so i don’t think i will buy EMT anytime soon, it would be nice to try that small EMT 938, i’ve seen them in the studios abroad, i like them. I wish to find one.

I never tried EMT cartridges designed for use with those tonearms.

DP-80 is the champ in price just like SP-10mkII
Actually luxman is so underrated that price is also very nice.
Even when shipped by post worldwide it’s safe.

EMT normally cost too much, now sure about shipping, do you know the market price for EMT 938 ?
lewm
13,110 posts
 
From what I've read (because I have never actually heard any EMT turntable), the ones to own are first and foremost the 927 (see the thread started by Thuchan) and the 950.  The former is a massive idler drive; the latter is direct-drive.  The 927 usually needs an extensive restoration if not already done and is very expensive, either restored or original.  There are only a few guys competent to do it justice. Probably the same applies to the 950, but perhaps it is cheaper to restore; it is certainly cheaper to buy.  I've never read any rave review of the 938.
sdrsdrsdr
196 posts
 
Yes. The 927and 950 are top. 927 is extremely expensive. For idler it would be the 930. The 950 is the top direct drive but many find it too large. Ive discussed emt’s with Steve Dobbins. He’s used them all. He told me he thought the 950 was a little bit better than the 948. Didn’t say much about the 938. The 938 and 948 have the same drive system. As far as size the 938 is wider but not as tall. They are both quite large for single arm tables. They are both similar weight being very heavy. As far as original price i saw a list along time ago and the 938  was about 20% less than the 948. I have both set up side by side at the moment for comparison. I cant say one is noticeably outperforming  the other. They do sound a little different though. Im using the same cartridge and switching back and forth. Im also going into my phono stage so this comparison isn't with stock phono stages.  I was expecting the 948 to be more superior as its the recent table, I've owned the 938 for a few years. 938 is mdf plinth and 948 is all metal. I think the 948 may be slightly better, but not by much. As far as price goes for 938 you see them for 2k-4k. I think no problem finding one for $3000 usd for a really clean one. Remember an arm comes with it too. I was planning on selling the 938 after being replaced by 948 but its really clean, it originally came over here from Hans Van Vliet in the Netherlands. Im the second owner since Hans. As you can tell I like emt. There’s also something really cool about them too. Maybe a 950 is next. 
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