New Teres Direct Drive Motor Available as Option

Johnbrown,

Sorry your very interesting question got lost in the (fascinating) noise floor of that other discussion.

Cocobolo is pretty durable of course. I imagine the O-ring will wear about 100 X faster. I'm certainly not worried about any short term wear or damage during listening tests.

Still, it's a valid question. Even if the wood doesn't wear, any material worn off the O-ring could get deposited in the grain and leave a permanent ring.

How about a strip of metal? A flat black finish would virtually disappear against the cocobolo background. Might even look nice...

Thanks Doug-

As I said in the first post, knowing the Teres quest for quality, I assume a platter designed for an outboard drive would have a ring of alumininum/pvc/or etc because, at the very least, the drive will take the finish off of the wood. And, eventually, work into the wood itself

I realize this has nothing to do with sonics, but the Teres models are sold not only on their musical merits, but also on their gorgeous looks, so I'm wondering if owners looking to upgrade have any reservations.

Believe me, not trying to rain on a parade-just curious, because if (when) I own a Teres, I want it to look 'as new' for as long as possible.

An interesting question. Maybe Teres will offer up some info.

I think that Teres uses a mix of oil and poly as the finish. I don't think the o-ring would wear it off, but it may cause a track to become visible after a while. There is not much pressure on the platter from the mylar belts so I wouldn't expect there to be much from this drive. Although it would be concentrated at on spot and not distributed around the edge as with the belts. The cocobolo is really hard, it machines nicely and can be threaded.

I wonder what a little wax around the edge would do?

Johnbrown, contact from the o-ring will cause some wear on the platter, but so do belts and strings. It seems that the amount of wear would be proportional to the size of the contact area. So the amount of wear would probably be about the same as with a narrow belt or a string. But the forces involved here are very small so this is not a big issue.

I have no concerns about the o-ring damaging wood platters. Cocobolo is very hard and is considerably more durable than PVC and would have about the same durability as aluminum. Cocobolo is quite unlike common north American hardwoods. It is one of the few woods that sinks in water and has rigidity and hardness that approaches brass and aluminum. So there is no need to add a contact surface.

Chris

Just curious. How much force does the o-ring apply laterally against the platter? 1/10 gram? 1 gram? Other?

What keeps the o-ring from moving away from the platter over time? The weight of the motor? Other?

As the o-ring wears due to friction, would the user need to move it closer or otherwise adjust its distance to the platter? Or does it matter so long as the o-ring is in contact with the platter?

Thanks for considering the question. Jeff