Got a New CD Player and Now I'm Bummed

French fries, I can confirm the substance of Doug Deacon's remarks after going back & forth on my VPI TNT between thread drive vs. stock rubber bands, with and without PLC and Mark Kelly's AC-1 two-phase speed controller. The rubber bands don't cause problems that I hear as obvious wow & flutter, but they do contribute to sugglishness, bass slurring, lack of focus, discontinuousness across the frequency range, and edgy treble. This is all improved after conversion to a drive belt made of less compliant material. A good speed controller improves things further by reducing warble in piano music and revealing rounder & more textured instrument body and more precise spatial cues. The Kelly controller is way ahead of the PLC in this regard. Getting the strobe to read spot on is an ancillary benefit of a speed controller.

As the Scout is a close cousin, I can only assume it will benefit from some of these changes. The more I tweak around with TT drive trains & platforms & siting, the more I believe that forum discussions (and some manufacturers' upgrade paths) tend to over-emphasize the role of platter and plinth weight & material in determining the gestalt of vinyl.

I do agree with you that after a certain point of refinement, the differences remaining between CDP & TT are more of kind than of degree.

French fries,

As Dgarretson noted, the problems caused by an elastic belt are hardly so obvious as wow and flutter. I haven't heard those from a table since the one I had as a twelve year old. ;-)

My verrrry lengthy description might have read like a description of horrible sonics. That wasn't my intent. But the musical benefits of linear torque delivery to the platter only need to be heard for a few seconds to be convincing. I have a friend with an Aries who DIY'd a better belt from mylar - he'll never go back. You should give it a try.

Dgarretson,

Thread drive is a nice improvement over rubber, but you could double that improvement with a wider belt that combines thread's non-elasticity with greater surface area - which reduces slippage as the belt goes 'round the motor capstan (a risk with thread). It requires a motor capstan and platter than can accommodate a wide belt of course, but having experimented with all the above and more we know it's worth it.

To further support the remarks of Dave and Doug, I owned a Notts Hyperspace and heard for myself in my system the large progressive improvements associated with going from elastic belt to thread and from no motor controller to a Walker PMC. Soundstage, separation of musical instruments and voices, depth, hall ambience, bass solidity, piano reproduction, etc, etc, all get way better. Then I bought a "Giant direct-coupled Lenco" which takes all those good qualities still further (used still with the Walker PMC). But that's why I've repeatedly urged you to at least try a motor controller and thread drive. (Apparently moving the tt out of that cabinet is not going to happen.)