Direct Drive


I am firmly in the digital camp, but I’ve dabbled in vinyl.  Back in the day I was fascinated by Technics Direct Drive tt, but couldn’t afford them.  I was stuck with my entry level Gerrard.  I have been sans turntable for about 5 years now but the new gear bug is biting.  I am interested in the Technics 1500 which comes with an Ortofon Red and included pre amp.  I have owned Rega P5 which I hated for its speed instability and a Clearaudio Concept which was boring as hell.

  Direct Drive was an anathema to audiophiles in the nineties but every time I heard  one it knocked my socks off.  What do the analogers here think of Direct Drive?  I listen to Classical Music exclusively 

mahler123

@lewm, Correct, the belt is a first order filter so the attenuation would be 6 dB/oct. But, by the time you get up to the vibration generated by the motor nothing gets through to the platter. 

The motor platform or bracket is attached to what Sota calls the cover. The sub chassis which holds the platter and tonearm is isolated from the cover by damped springs with a resonance peak at 2-3 Hz vertical. Sota does not specify horizontal resonance which is certainly higher perhaps 5-6 Hz. The Superiority of the MinusK platform is that it's horizontal resonance is almost as low as it's vertical resonance. The problem with the MinusK  is that it can be a bitch to handle a turntable on it because it is very floaty. You have to be very gentle to keep it from bouncing. The Sota on the other hand is a delight to handle. You can use the cover to brace your hand when you cue the record. You can drop the dust cover and nothing happens. In order to get the record to skip you have to hit the turntable on it's side hard enough to move the entire turntable.  

The next advantage of the Sota is that it uses a magnetic thrust bearing. It is the thrust bearing that generates the most noise as it is subject by far to the highest pressure. 

My real problem with direct drive turntables is the presence of a large oscillating magnetic device right under a very sensitive magnetic device.  Speed wise they can be very accurate. Noise depends on the quality of the bearing. I know of no direct drive table with a magnetic thrust bearing. In the end, stable, accurate speed is stable accurate speed by whatever means. I prefer my motors as far away from the cartridge as is practical. It is an instinctive preference I admit. The requirement for a suspension is not instinctive. I can demonstrate the superiority of suspended turntables to anyone in just a few minutes without playing any music.  

"the presence of a large oscillating magnetic device right under a very sensitive magnetic device."  You're talking about the potential for EMI from the motor affecting the cartridge.  Why not just say it that way?  As I have mentioned many times, the platter is an effective shield vs EMI, in a well designed DD.  In addition, for DD turntables that use coreless motors, the coreless motors used are all fathered by the original Dual-designed coreless motor, which looks much like a discus used in track and field.  In latter day iterations of that motor, the works are encased in a metal that serves also as a shield and furthermore the radiation from that design is laterally, not in the up/down direction.  The proof of the pudding is in measuring EMI at the platter surface while the turntable is operating.  I've done that. To the level of sensitivity of my meter, nothing is seen above background.

Received the table but unfortunately I had thought the Seller was going to do more set up.  I was able to mount the cartridge but I can’t get the tone arm weight right.  I have followed the procedure in the manual several times.  First I adjusted the weight at the end of the tonearm so the arm looks horizontal.  I then dialed in both the stylus weight and antiskate at 1.8, which is what Ortofon recommended.  Still, the arm goes up at a 45 degree angle when released from its restraint.  After repeating this a few times I quit.  Today is Sunday so I will call the seller tomorrow but they haven’t been to CS Friendly so far.  They are located in a really non descript area and I was greeted at the door by a manager holing on to a huge, snarling Doberman .

How did you set the tracking weight? Did you zero out the weight before setting the weight (start where the arm "floats" level)? Did you use a scale? 

A direct drive transmits motion to a system or object requiring actuation without the use of any further mechanical components.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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