Vintage Denon Direct Drive Turntable

Treehugga, so how do you like it (from the last picture, it looks like it is already spinning tunes)?

I would love to do the same but unfortunately, while the tables come from Japan (where I am), the slate does not, and I fear the slate plinth is going to be expensive to get shipped to Japan...

Treehugga, I've just gotten around to assembling my DP80 in its slate plinth. My slate slab is only 52mm thick but it appears to be a little larger in dimension compared to yours. I am sealing the slate right now (today) with a concoction of turpentine and certain additives. I am going to mount either a Dynavector DV505 or my Triplanar, or both. (The slab has room for two arms.) I will post a photo as soon as the seal dries, in a few days. I have been listening to my Technics SP20 Mk2A in a similar slate plinth with an RS-A1 tonearm for about a month. It sounds so good that I had forgotten all about the DP80, until now. Your slab must have weighed nearly 200 lbs before you cut out the hole for the DP80; I am impressed. (One sq ft of Pennsylvania slate, one inch thick, weighs 15 lbs.)

Thanks for the feedback fellas.
T-Bone, I took those 'action' shots the other day, however neither the motor unit nor the arm were secured into the slate, and it was sitting on large temporary sorbohane footers, but it sounded rather good considering with more romance in the mids and intimacy and presence in vocals. It's a shame you cant source slate easily in Japan, how about marble?

Lewm
I wanted this plinth to have a smaller footprint than the Denon DK300 plinth, which was hanging over the edges of my rack, I was looking for something a little more compact, although in hindsight I wish I had left a bit more room to try a 12" arm in the future. I need to source a bespoke acrylic / perspex cover for it now, to sit on top. Interesting concoction you have there for sealing your slate, it's a beautiful material isn't it...even if it is just compacted mud, but it scratches so damn easily though. Yes this slab is very heavy indeed, I can hear the rack groan when I first heaved it up there.

Lewn I and I’m sure others here would love to see some pics of your effort, especially with those tremendous arms you have lined up for it. I’ll post some more in a few days.

Thanks all

Treehugga,
Marble and granite are available in Japan. I've always been afraid that either one would ring like a bell...

Thanks, Tree. I should have written "SP10" instead of "SP20", but I guess that was an obvious typo. I admire your guts in drilling those three holes for the Denon; I had the guy who made the CAD file incorporate them into the program, then the waterjet cut them FIRST, before making the huge cut-out for the Denon chassis. That way there was no chance of the slate crumbling during drilling of the mount holes. Your waterjetter had the additional challenge of going thru 100mm of slate. That alone must have been a bit scary and requires skill with the machine. Next up will be my Lenco L75 in slate with the PTP top-plate (see Lenco Heaven for description). The slate is cut perfectly; I am now having the platter and the PTP painted satin black to match the plinth. But this is about direct-drive, not idler-.