Turntable speed accuracy


There is another thread (about the NVS table) which has a subordinate discussion about turntable speed accuracy and different methods of checking. Some suggest using the Timeline laser, others use a strobe disk.

I assume everyone agrees that speed accuracy is of utmost importance. What is the best way to verify results? What is the most speed-accurate drive method? And is speed accuracy really the most important consideration for proper turntable design or are there some compromises with certain drive types that make others still viable?
peterayer
Hi Dev

I have been trying to send you an email to solicit some advice from you on MBL 101 speakers and amps given your extensive posts on this topic, but I am having trouble with my audiogon account. Audiogon is looking into it Can you email me at dhankhar.ajay@yahoo.com so I can get your advice on a few questions? i would really appreciate it

thanks a lot
ajay
After all the hoopla about the NVS, that was deleted, this is the update from Albert Porter, who is an authorised seller.
"Perhaps you forgot, that table was the one damaged in shipping. So in addition to the inferior wooden arm boards, it's bearing was not functioning 100%. Pretty easy for the new one to defeat it."
Isn't it amazing, that after all the proprietory study into energy control, better than any other tt made, they suddenly realise the wooden arm board is not a good idea. Makes you wonder.
Dover,

In all fairness the stainless steel arm board seems a logical upgrade. I think the hugely (is that a word?) larger format of the new NVS required a more rigid arm board material.

The original NVS could not accept 12" arms, at least not SME or other that require a large footprint.

Changing the "format' of the tonearm mount required the factory to rethink the mounting material to something more rigid than wood.

I'm not criticizing your post, the change was indeed made by the NVS people. I'm just saying that sometimes a redesign to accommodate a new arm length requires a rethink of material design to maintain stability.
Glad to see this thread revived.
I too was dissapointed when the NVS thread was pulled but here I'm more interested in how some touted belt drives(SME, Basis, Verdier, Micro Seiki etc)have fared when tested with the timeline.
Perhaps the silence is telling us something.
Albert - I love more new tt's coming to the market. It just seems the hyperbole doesn't match the performance. In this case the claims made for energy dissipation in the design seemed at odds with using wooden arms and armboards. I'm not sure stainless is that great either, but as you will have experienced most arms have resonances and different armboard materials will sound different and either add to or subtract complementary resonances.
Most often ignored in these forums is that the turntable/arm/cartridge form one system and ideally the 3 components must have a common purpose in structural design - either dissipate energy or sink it to ground. Turntable, Cartridge or tonearm comparisons should always be referenced or qualified by the other 2 components but seldom are.
Back to the NVS, the optimum arm board material will vary depending on the material used in the arm/arm mount and the material used in the NVS frame to ensure minimal energy is reflected back to the cartridge/record interface at each junction.