Is Direct Drive Really Better?

"This means it takes torque, an active force, a bigger motor, to combat stylus force drag, that simple mass is quite simply insufficient."

How does the stylus know the difference between a high torque motor and a large mass with a large polar moment of inertia ? I cannot understand how a large polar moment of inertia is any less capable of overcoming stylus drag than a high torque motor.

Do you feel a difference between being run down by a car (being actively driven by a motor) or a large rock rolling down a hill ? I would say that both will crush you equally, one using its motor, the other a very large inertia.

With high-end designers getting into the Lenco game, then expect to see rebuilt Lencos begin to appear at high-end audio shows, and perhaps one day, me along with them."

The ironic juxtaposition of high-end designers with you along side them notwithstanding, do you or does anyone think that high-end designers will be satisfied with trotting out rebuilt Lencos at high-end audio shows?! Please. While they may allow this initially as a co-opting exercise to further whet the market's appetite and bring recalcitrants into the fold, the high-end designer is "high-end" by definition of being high dollar, not necessarily high performance. They won’t make diddly rebuilding Lencos and they will do NOTHING that won’t make them diddly. In their hands, the idler wheel will soon be a titanium/graphite composition coated with rubber from first-growth virgin Indonesian rubber trees, the platters of some exotic ceramic, and the plinths made from only the very rarest hardwoods taken from the deepest, most dangerous African forests and assembled in finished using strictly proprietary, superior (though unproven) methods. Why? Because ONLY with these combinations can you bring out the very best performance. And, we all want the VERY best, right? Old song, new verse. The only other way for them to profit at the levels they will expect will be to sell it as a super cheap alternative with the hope of totally cornering the market for those looking to spin a few oldies and not wanting to spend more than a couple hundred. Yeah right, THAT’s going to happen, that market demands good sound.

Clearly, the idler wheel tables have A LOT going for them, especially when thoughtfully and effectively restored and when compared against much higher priced tables. I’d even say that idler wheel tables have the ultimate edge on belt drives. Of course if one is happy with what they hear from their own table, who can argue? I, for one, do not really care which technology is used, provided joy is attained through listening. This hobby is FULL of folks wanting you to believe that “you haven’t heard your music till you’ve heard it on this”. And, that’s where dough gets separated from wallet. The beauty of some of the latest idler wheel and DD units and restoration efforts is that nearly equal, equal, or even better performance can be attained at a lower cost - which allows either more money in the jar or more money to be spent on music. I am not holding my breath that high-end designers will be promoting that ethos – now or ever.

Macrojack, I’m not sure if this is cogent, but it is heartfelt and well considered. :-)

This is an excellent topic and discussion! What I find so intriguing about the resurgence of interest in DD and idler wheel designs is the retrospection it is prompting abou how the high-end has developed. Do you all remember Harry Pearson's first review of the Linn LP in which he described it as something that appeared to have been built in a Bronx garage? He took huge flack for that. He had been an SP-10 enthusiast, but gradually shifted in other directions as DD lost favor in the high end. Art Dudley's latest S'phile column acknowledges that he (and most of the rest of us) may have bought into a certain way of thinking about turntables that we perhaps we need to re-consider. This is fascinating stuff, don't you think?

Seveeral of the threads here about the Technics SL1200 (w/ KAB mods) compare it to belt-drive tables in the same price range. Okay, so it's serious competition to Regas and Music Halls. But tell me, Psychic and others, is it serious competition to the next rung up in belt drives: Linn, Nottingham, Basis, VPI, Kuzma, etc.? Forget about the Walkers and Rockports even, but in the segment around $2K - $4K do the DD's compete? David, (4yanx), am I right that you moved from a Nottingham, which you were very enamored of as I recall, to a DIY idler wheel TT? Has it been an unequivocal step up?

Do you feel a difference between being run down by a car (being actively driven by a motor) or a large rock rolling down a hill ? I would say that both will crush you equally, one using its motor, the other a very large inertia.

Sure, Sean, but you're asking the question from the wrong perspective. What if you wanted to run somebody over, which would you use? Seems to me that "direct drive" would be the right tool for the job!

Sean,
Assuming nothing about relative sizes of car and boulder, and knowing nothing about polar moments (sounds like a phrase from a travel brochure) I would surmise that the boulder would be slowed somewhat by your body since it was coasting whereas the car which is actively powered could be completely unaffected by your presence in its path.
What I'm imagining here makes perfect sense to me but that does not mean I'm sure it is supported by physics. Does someone out there have a background in physics and an opinion on this matter?