Vintage Denon Direct Drive Turntable

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]

That looks like a nice design that would really get a firm grip on the JVC. The pros and cons of a plinth for a DD table have been much discussed elsewhere. There is no question in my mind that a massive and properly constructed plinth does wonders for an idler drive table. There are two camps as regards DDs; you seem to be in the less is more camp, as opposed to the more is more camp. A really dense plinth of slate, for example, or layered wood, for another, should not contribute negatively in terms of sonics. Beyond that, I have no basis for an opinion, except thoughts.