Tables That Feature Bearing Friction

While testing different belt materials (DIY belts) I was quite amazed at the variety of achievable effects it had on the sound reproduction and impact this part of turntable setup had on sound. The differences are obvious and no golden ear required to hear that phenomenon. However, I would not stress the issue of why or what gives - you can not measure passion for music, can you? If the formula works, great. If it works in the ears of many, that is truly, truly magical. Why, because we are this funny group of people that tends to criticize music for locking musicality. To bad we stress and debate over silly rather then just listen. I am sure we all have an opinion of what others should buy or listen. Well, maybe it is time to reevaluate our own so call "reference" and get off the high horse. I've heard my share of so called "reference" setups by individuals which know it all.
I am still dizzy.

I agree with Teres - there is more to it then theory.

.....and enjoy the music

Mariusz

Dear Mrjstark, dear Teres, if there is more then theory, then we are either in mysticque or religious grounds.
Different belts having different (negative and positive) effects on the bearing an dteh rotating mass system and on the transmission of vibrations is certainly no mystery nor unexplained by sience.

Dear Lewm, a no force belt/thread/string driven bearing is done this way: picture the motor left of the platter. On the right side - same distance as the motor to the bearing - is a 2nd spindle (or easier: motor without active force) which mirrors the position of the drive motor. Here the belt/thread/string finds a 2nd pulley equal to the one on the motor. The spindle of this "counter device" should be same as teh motor sindle and all its moving parts shall be equal dimension and material.
Correctly done, there is now no resulting force anymore on the bearing in horizontal / lateral plane/dimension. The force of driving has 2 equal vectors now which do give which do zero each other regarding their effect on the bearing as they do go in opposite directions.

Dear Kirkus, the "controlled slippage" is tricky to set-up, but if used with the "right" (= close to zero elasticity) thread it is very durable and does not request to be re-adjusted.

The drive-system is - as always - a matter of quality in the selected parts. I still do favour using any of the big Studer 800 capstan motors as drive motor for a "good" turntable. These capstans are expensive -yes. They require some pretty expensive periphery too - yes. But they are a totally different league.
These capstans are at work since the 1960ies in almost all great recording studios and a majority of all music recorded between the late 1960ies and early 1980ies (and beyond...) were recorded with these capstans being a direct and very paramount part of the big tape recorders.
Use one of these and give it the regulator circuit is needs and 98% of all problems with other motors and drives are vanished. Motor-born vibrations are minimized too.
And yes - it will cost you about $2000 alone in parts.
Quality NEVER comes cheap.

As for the clamping platter record interface. I do have the solution for that problem at hand. It however is rather expensive and labour intensive again. I do not think it makes sense to unfold it here.
The discussion about again too expensive and not suitable for a commercial product and crompromise etc. will just go on and on.

In general we shoul decide, whether the main subject is how to design a turntable as a commercial product, or how to design a turntable which tries to reach the limits of playback possibilities.

I must admit that it is rather depressing for me to read in these posts so frequently that "this gets too expensive"....."have to made trade-offs".........."well-choosen compromise"........ "bring to market"........"commercial product".

This all sounds like the usual political paraphrases.

As was mentioned before - if we do not demand and strive for the best possible (an audio industry will tell us it is the "best possible" anyway every 4-6 months...) - we will only get what we have got so far:

......mediocrity.........