A Copernican View of the Turntable System

Dear Lew,
My proposition is that ideally the base for the tonearm should be an isolated, level and immovable object resistant to all forms of mechanical and electrical interference.
If that is not possible, a reasonable facsimile of such a base is perfectly workable as demonstrated by the existence of 'reasonable' turntables with integral tonearm bases.

What my theory implies is that those tables with tonearm bases subject to mechanical or electrical interference or those with flimsy suspended bases subject to movement and/or deflection will never be able to extract the correct information from the groove modulation?

And yes......this theory has been crystallised by my 'Nude Turntable Project' with the isolated remote armpods around the Victor TT-81.
With belt drive and Idlers, a 'plinth' is required to support the platter thrust bearing and/or various mechanical linkages whereas with direct drive, the sub-platter and motor are an integral unit......I think? :-)

Dear Dertonarm,

the turntable, arm and cartridge do form ONE mechanical system.

I agree.... but only once the stylus is in the groove.
Before that event I don't understand why there needs to be any physical connection between the platter and arm?

I also agree that the 'plinth' and 'platter' commonly produce unwanted side effects. That is why I wish to be rid of one of these (the plinth) and preface my theory by stating that the platter must provide "perfect isolation" from any resonances into the record? :-)

Cheers
Henry

Dear Timeltel,
Consider yourself excused.
I always welcome your idiosyncratic and knowledgeable interjections.

I hopefully expect more of them :-)
Regards
Henry

Raul,
Your last post is spot on IMO!!! I agree about there being much better sources for music reproduction. As dearly as we love our LP's, there are many imperfections in this medium regardless of the value of the source. For me, the big draw, other than the sound of vinyl, is the involment that I have with trying to perfect the sound to my liking. The endless fine tuning and experimenting trying to squeeze out the extra performance is very rewarding to me. For some reason, plopping the CD in the Ayon CD07 and listening isn't near as involving. Don't get me wrong, I'm very pleased with my digital source, just a little more disconnected than my LP's. I do have many CD's and LP's that are the same and I do compare them at times as a referance.

I always enjoy your post's Raul, you're a wealth of info and I always appreciate your oppinions. This time you're confiming what my ears have always heard.

Dear Raul, may I invite you to Munich. If you listen to a real Master Tape (very well recorded) played back by a Studer C37 and you do not change your opinion on TAPES you can select any item from my collection and take it home. Is this a word?

all the nice HiRez Digital recordings presented at CES 2011 sounded excellent but they are missing the warmth and the deep musicality of a Master Tape.