EMT 927 vs. Micro Seiki 5000 or 8000 - different?

Hi Win, If you are still out there, did you mean to imply that belt creep does not occur with string drive (or with the use of other materials that presumably do not "stretch")? I thought Mark Kelly's analysis suggested that belt creep in a conventional belt drive tt, (where the motor is stationed at some distance from the platter and there is no re-routing of the belt by use of a capstan), is inevitable. I take no position pro or con, but what now puts me off of belt drive turntables is this variable that is left to each individual user of a bd turntable with an outboard motor: each user is responsible for the tension in the belt, which can even change from day to day due to vibration, etc. And belt tension would seem to be a major determinant of speed stability (due to belt creep, slippage, etc). So we try to fix that by using a gigantic and massive platter. It requires too much fiddling for me.

I have a good friend who just acquired a very expensive belt drive and tonearm. He invited me over for a listen. He is using a record weight with a built in strobe, so as to allow constant monitoring of platter speed. The sound was excellent but the experience was maddening. Commanded by the drifting of the strobe light, my friend was up out of his seat adjusting the motor about every 2 minutes, in order to keep the damned strobe stable. Turned out he did have a problem with his 3-phase AC synchronous state of the art motor controller, but still...

Hi Lewm,

Belt creep is definitely an issue - rubber belts stretch, with string drive you need something that doesn't - cotton stretches badly, I have found surgical silk doesn't at all. My turntable speed never changes so I only check it once a year or so. The only times I've had to adjust it is when I have knocked the potentiometers on the sine wave generator when cleaning.

Dear Dover: +++++ " My turntable speed never changes so I only check it once a year or so " ++++++

for a BD: WoW!, this speaks a lot of your overall TT design, build quality and excecution of the design. Not many BD TTs I know can share that statement and I know MS can't match it.

I readed somewhere that you was an audio distributor/dealer ( right? ) and I would like to ask: when was that? and which " names " do you carry on?. Thank you.

Regards and enjoy the music,
Raul.

Dear Dover, agreed. Surgical silk, bavarian sewing linen (no joke !), dyneema - there is a good selection of natural as well as artificial materials providing excellent string/thread for turntable use. The general idea behind planned/wanted/calculated slip in a drive working with high inertia is most tempting and - if carefully applied - works excellent and with outstanding sonic results (extreme authority, inner silence and superb micro dynamics).
It is a nice example of using physic in a smart way and letting it do it's work.
Cheers,
D.

Dear friends, To my 15 years involving experience with my (24kgr platter) Symphonic Line RG6, I can add that never I've had to re-align the speed also, but what happens to the MOMENT CHANGES in speed due to stylus friction, is another thing of a great concern. This Shutherland laser equiped clamp can not evaluate this, but you can hear it happens during playing, as like the LP is warped or the spindle hole is off centered. Auditioning the same LP with my DP80 then, and TD124 II now, I can not detect this momentary speed instability. I've lost my faith & I'm trying to get rid this TT as I could'nt find a solution for 15 years of changing strings, bearing oils, PSU inner parts, platter mats, bases e.t.c
Now, please don't get me wrong. I don't want to provoke against the BD approach, but it seems that the point of real concern is not the speed change over a period of a year.
Thank you.