Hi Marco,
my story is surely not meant to compare my kit with the exquisite Connaiseur amplifiers. here as well many interpretations are possible.
the tenor of it was to show that the reaction of 'Dertonarm' is maybe imaginable but not based on any experience with my kit. (never seen it)
it is wise to base judgements and opinions on experience not just looking at a picture and make up things.
his reaction tells me more about him than it judges my kit.
maybe you can agree to some point with that, maybe not, it's a free country.
Yes most experience better performance with a different motor. no they are not fools. did i say that?
thank you for valueing my kit. it has taken years on thinking and labour to finally get it right and look good.
i will take space here to share my experiences.
sure hope it doesn't get controversial, as i love the Platine like any other Platine owner.
as my white papers have already told i think that the Platine is a miraculous concept. (remember it is from 1977 or around) that any TT can span such a lifetime in basically the same outfit is more than a class act by itself, not much TT around who can follow that.
the Platine has never been an ultimately luxury TT as others are and although it can be set up quite easily with some understanding, there is fair gains in performance to be made with some more research and understanding.
i find it a real pity to see enthusiast Platine buyers in the first place, and see them sell their Platine within reasonable short time to find 'better' TT elsewhere.
the more pity it is to find reviews at the WWW stating that the Platine does 'bad' bass, has 'bad' timing etc. some reviews make really funny claims.
i went through some time with my example, and had to think about the design and concept too. (btw i come from a background in aircraft mechanics and engineering) so thru the years many experiences came my way too just by spinning records in a levitated way that is:-)
the DC operation is great and this mod can be easily done by some DIY work, or you can buy a luxurious battery pack from GT audio or others. recommended.
the rubber grommets which keep the stock motor in it's housing will loosen up fairly quick and need a small modification with some Teflon washers.
if those grommets loose up the motor will start to wander and cause severe vibration. any vibration just there is disastrous to speed and PRAT.
then there is the stock linen thread which is a less bad choice opposed to the stock rubber o-ring.
i used any imaginable thread as well, but the behaviours are all more or less the same. they stretch with varying temperature / moisture and the knot alone causes speed bumps.
it collects dust quickly and the drive pinion starts to build up dirt in it's V.
any deviation at that point magnifies at the other side: the platter. and it magnifies again 1000x at the needle.
so is the thread a 'bad' thing? i think it is a less good choice to drive any TT.
BUT.
more happenings into play for the total experience.
the Platine is a spring suspended TT.
it has pneumatic damping too and that is a fine concept in itself.
the 16 Kg platter in itself lies above the spring suspension. here it get's interesting and at the same time unstable mechanically.
the thread has many disadvantages in first place, and together with the spring suspension and the 16Kg quite a distance above the suspension things get 'alive'.
any loosening up of the thread or any speed bumps or any devation here will be multiplied by the spring suspension coming into resonance because of this.
this resonance may be 5 hertz or less.
so it is two unlucky things adding up, and if using the thread one can find himself fiddling again and again and still notice unstability. (those piano notes !)
so when reading at the WWW that some owners have 'thrown away' their stock motors because they are 'bad' and cause bad things to happen many Platine owners go that route soon and report that now that they have a different motor all is good. and that is a fact indeed. (it is not that the motor is so much better than the stock one, it is the tape drive which has zero flex and gives waaay less room for resonance of the complete TT..)
if the Platine is fixed at it's base the hassle -ie resonance- with the thread is actually solved for the biggest part. the thread still is no good choice because of the aforementioned aspects which stay.
if any owner would experiment with a solid base (which is easy tweak to try out) it would give much better insight to what causes and what happens.
the stock Verdier 0-ring is industrial rubber not intended to drive TT platters.
my kit has a specially made o-ring which has behaviours that overcome just these problems.
with fixing the Platine base the rubber 0-ring is a superb way of driving the platter and has great results as to timing and stability.
as these are magnified x1000 at the point of the needle it is easy imagineable what this does to PRAT.
that's why i state and humbly claim that it sounds like a direct drive now.
if any tekst is asked on the ball and spindle thing i'm obliged to sharing my thoughts on this as well.
the same as for any highend rig it is all the components which make the result. we never listen to speakers or amplifiers alone. it is the sum of it all.
the same accounts for the Platine TT.
it is not just the thread or just the motor.
there is a mechanically and acoustically dance taking place which is quite complex.
with my kit i adress many things and offer solutions.
feel free to try out some solutions i offer, there is nothing sacred about my kit and the things it does.
and pls try to take nothing too personally :-)
i'm the last one who would call a fellow Platine owner OR any audiophile a fool.
will put my reaction to Mr Carr under this.
cheers;
