HEAVY Platters. Metal or Plastic? Your personal Experiences

@wturkey , Yes, the platter has to have a reasonable gyroscopic effect to smooth out speed imperfections. Even DD tables are using heavier platters now. However there is such a thing as too heavy for standard bearing arrangements because the heavier the platter the faster is bearing wear. Exceptions are tables with magnetic thrust bearings and air bearing thrust mechanisms. Very heavy platters create other problems. Because they are harder to accelerate and stop belt wear is faster. If they are not perfectly balanced and leveled they will wear out the bearing sleeve. Only the Kuzma air bearing table would be immune to this and indeed Frank almost doubles the mass of the platter. He still does not have vacuum clamping. He is obviously convinced that reflex clamping is good enough.

At any rate. I personally think anything over 20 lb is a waste. There are many turntables with lighter platters that have SOTA speed specs. The Sota turntable is special because it corrects speed deviations slowly so you do not hear it happening and the speed will remain stable to 0.003 rpm. Sota is so brazen that the Condor displays speed in real time down to 0.001 rpm. At this moment it is reading 33.335 rpm. The platter weights 20 lb I think. 

@wturkey 

@mijostyn 

@pindac 

Bigger and heavier doesn't necessarily mean better. Within a specific design that relies on mass to iron our speed inflections due to the pole switching on a motor then yes. Likewise that same platter can in facts absorb spurious resonance.

However the EMT 950 has a very light plinth something like 200 grams - the logic and their analogy is that the platter is like a sports car driving up a hill overcoming corners etc. as such a light weight is better able to overcome those ripples. That said the plinth/frame weights a ton and it has incredible speed control.

Then there is the Grand Prix and Rega Naid which are both designs based on low energy storage using intelligent speed controls to overcome speed ripple effects.

My point is that bigger is not necessarily better. It's about implementation and the overall design. Think of it like food - just saying adding sugar improves the flavour - no good if you are eating lamb chops or steak.

There are many approaches to turntable design… well implemented designs sound great. I used to have a heavy VPI turntable… sounded great. For the money really solid sound… but a bit lacking in detail. I have heard a TT with a 100pound solid granite platter… you had to spin it to get it going.  I now have a high end Linn… sprung table with a relatively light platter… it sounds better… but it also cost four times as much.

A turntable is a system and the sound coming out is contingent on all its components. Probably best to listen to stuff in your price range and not concentrate too much on one aspect. I have in general found the best guide to the sound quality is cost. Particularly with turntables over $5K. It is a highly competitive field.

Using a heavy platter does not concern myself, I have seen New POM Thrust Pads used on a Lenco Bearing, the Thrust Pads were run for an extensive run time for both a Stacked Platter and Single Platter.

The wear on the Thrust Pads was looking almost identical and definitely not in a condition to cause a concern. A PEEK Thrust Pad is even more wear resistant and would offer a longer service life, but as many Vintage TT owners today are happy to go into a Bearing Housing to carry out a basic service, swapping out Thrust Pads is seen to happen quite commonly.  

There 'is/has' been a trend to exchange OEM Platters for Heavy Gun Metal Platters on certain Brands/Models of Vintage Japanese Design TT's.

My experiences has shown there is always a concern for the state of the Bearing on these older TT's, especially the models that have unknown histories of usage and never had the Bearing Housing undergo any form of a inspection of the internals. The idea a Sintered Bronze Bush is able to keep the TT Bearing in a acceptable condition to perform after 30-40 Years, is in my view best left for the Flat Earth Types.

I have seen scribed Steel Balls at the Thrust Pad Interface, and wear on Bush Liners that have been allowing the Spindle to lean when in rotation, the eccentric rotation is not wanted, I have witnessed Spindles that are able to make a Tapping Noise when light finger pressure is exerted onto it. There are even reports of the condition of the Bearing Housing having abraded the Spindle. 

Considering adding a increased weight platter for many Vintage Designs is happening frequently and does have its followers.

I have the Heavy Platter option on the DP-80 and am content with the idea of using similar methods on other owned TT's, I am not too keen to use the TT's in any guise until I am able to carry out measures to improve on the conditions within the Bearing Housing. To date this allows for the use of the SP10 MkII with a overhauled Bearing Assembly and soon the latest TT to receive a bearing upgrade is on the Sony TTS 8000 will be ready in June if there are no unforeseen events to cause delay .

@lohanimal  It sound like we are fully in agreement on this one.

@pindac I am an itinerate DIYer but wouldn't you rather buy a turntable with a decent bearing to start with?

@ghdprentice , very true but there is a point of severely diminishing returns. There is no turntable over $60,000 that I would ever go for even if I had unlimited funds. The market for tables I would go for is limited to two, the Basis Inspiration and the Dohmann Helix. Obviously that is a personal thing but you do have similar taste. I know the Linn very well. I owned two of them, long story. If you ever get the itch you really should look at the Sota Cosmos.