Vintage Denon Direct Drive Turntable

Tbone et al, In the DP80, when you use the adjustable speed control you are bypassing the quartz crystal oscillator. That's the only way you can get the electronics to agree to change the platter speed, I guess. If the electronics are all copacetic, the platter will turn at exactly 33.33 with the quartz oscillator engaged, but the speed is not adjustable in this mode. This mode is much like the SP10 MkII. Presumably, it's preferable in terms of speed stability to have the quartz oscillator in play.

Raul, Upwards in this thread we discussed the Denon plinths a bit. Kcc123 has a DK2300 plinth, which is a two-arm job and looks like it has nice high mass. Today I hefted my DK300 plinth. It's a laminate of possibly some good quality plywood or hardwood and very heavy; I imagine the DK2300 is even heavier, because it is bigger in order to accomodate two arms. So I am thinking that these plinths might not be so bad. What needs to be improved is the coupling between the tt chassis and the plinth, and I intend to try to achieve that by using much thicker and longer wood screws. Or long bolts that go clear thru the plinth to the bottom side. This small mod plus the dampening of the hollow ring around the platter (see my post above) may be quite effective upgrades, without resorting to a home-made plinth. I do have a piece of slate for the DP80, if that strategy fails.

Hi Lewm,
I think you can fabricate an alloy plinth something similar to mine for my JVC motor unit. Those legs are used as tonearm mounting pillars and can be adjusted for height. They are also fitted with Audio Technica insulators at the bottom.

[IMG]http://i41.tinypic.com/2gsmpop.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i41.tinypic.com/2mq8geu.jpg[/IMG]

Dear Lewm: I own the DK300 and is a little better than the one that comes with the 75 but IMHO these plinths are the weak link on the quality Denon performance.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Kcc123, That is very cool. Shades of the Micro Seiki DDX1000. I would call that an UN-plinth, not to say that it would not sound great. However, there's no way I could make something like that. Did you do it yourself? Can you show side or bottom views, if that is not too much trouble?

Raul, I take your word for it, on the DK300, but it's worth an experiment, since I own one and since all I need are some gigantic wood screws to see if I like the improvement. I would also fabricate some new arm boards.

Hi lewm,
It looks like the Micro Seiki because that was the inspiration come from. I didn’t have the ability to do it but someone else did. One could simply take one’s design and ask a metal fabricator to accomplish the project, at a cost. By the way, I shouldn’t have called it a plinth but a support or base, may be a supporting base would be more appropriate. It is my perception that a plinth of any material will anyhow contribute a sort of sonic signature, if not distortion, to the sound. So a plinth-less design was a way to overcome and reduce the amount of sonic coloration that would be introduced, I could be wrong.
Here are some more photos of the base:-

[IMG]http://i42.tinypic.com/dqovpw.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i44.tinypic.com/2aexgn6.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i44.tinypic.com/30277l5.jpg[/IMG]