@elexberger
My friend I talked about have a huge experience. Actually he is the most famost vintage audio intusiast in Israel. So I trust his opinion.
I enjoyed my stay in Israel last autumn, i’ve seen great sound systems and nice setups. Audiophile scene is pretty strong in Israel as far as i know. Why your friend is not on audiogon yet ? :))
One my friend had in his system:Kenwood L-07D, EMT 948, Technics SP10mk2, Yamaha GT-2000. He liked Yamaha the most and EMT the second. But, to his taste: L-07D and SP10mk2 sound too sterile.
Anyway, when someone telling us "this turntable is sterile" compared to others it’s very important to understand why.
As you mentioned he has L-07D which comes with
it’s own tonearm made by Micro Seiki.
Yamaha GT-2000 comes with it’s own
Yamaha tonearm, not very popular tonearm by the way.
Those two turntables are for sale as complete units (with pre-mounted tonearms).
Technics SP-10 mkII is just a drive and available separately. I’ve tried at least 3 tonearms (
Reed 3p "12,
EPA-100 "10.5,
Schick "12 ... on my ex SP-10 mkII and the sound with each tonearm was different. Do you understand what i mean ?
Not sure about EMT, but most likely it’s a complete unit with EMT own tonearm? Old ortofon or New Schick is also popular on EMT...
When your friend comparing L-07D (with Kenwood/MicroSeiki tonearm) to Yamaha (with Yamaha tonearm) he’s comparing complete units/turntables factory assembled. Even if the cartridge is the same, the combination of the cartridge and tonearm might change the sound.
When he’s using SP-10 mkII he could add almost any tonearm and the sound with each tonearm will be different. In this situation it’s not fair to say that Technics SP-10 mkII is sterile, because SP-10 mkII is just the drive, not a complete turntables. If he put together SP-10 mkII with some tonearm and plinth then the choice of the plinth and tonearm is critical (not to mention the most important part as a phono cartridge matched to the tonearm).
And all 4 turntables (Kenwood, Yamaha, EMT and Technics) are Direct Drive at least.
I’m not a typical audiophile and I don’t change equipment too often. I have been using EMT 948 since 2011 and I am not going to change it. The truth is, I could live with Lenco L78. It was a very nice, musical turntable.
This is why i’m trying to make it clear. Same with your Lenco, did you try EMA and Lenco with the same tonearm/cartridge ?
Because if someone comparing turntables there are a lot of combinations of the plinth, arms, carts, mats, feet etc. A fair comparison of the drive must be done with the same tonearm/cartridge on all turntables, when you will be able to "hear" the drive and comment about the drive itself.
The rest is just speculations.