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After market Motor + Belt drive for Verdier

I have been looking to upgrade my TT motor and belt drive for some time now. I use a Nouvelle Verdier and its only sore point is its motor and silk thread drive. It is not bad, it gets the job done. The sound is neat and in general non-offensive. However, when I used a 0.25 inch magnetic tape (reel to reel) to drive the platter the overall sound became more dynamic, voices sounded younger, instruments sounded happier. It was as if the pitch of all the instruments became more realistic. But then I also heard more of the irregularities of the motor rotation, the timing of instruments messed up a little. The background was no more as clean as the thread drive.

This told me two things:
1. Silk thread is good but it affects music in a way that makes the performance a bit sleepy.

2. The stock motor is not good enough to accommodate a tighter coupling with the platter.

So, I am now looking for after market motor and belt drive solution. I looked at Teres motor but for that to work they require a sensor to be placed under the platter but my TT doesnt have enough gap between the platter and plinth to place the sensor. I am looking for some viable suggestions here.

A friend of mine suggested me to consider a flywheel between the motor and the platter which will absorb the motor irregularities. I dont know if it is worth a try because I see many good TTs do not have a flywheel, that means a good motor is all I need I guess but I am open to the flywheel idea also.
pani
ct0517's avatar
ct0517
2,041 posts
 
Hi Pani – interesting post. When I first got my La Platine a number of recommendations from "audiophiles" were to change the motor/controller. One of the beauties of this design is that you can use any motor /controller you want with it – or can you ?

It was interesting that some of the “go for it” recommendations, were from people not intimate with the table. Had never owned it. I have learned a lot since then.

I am not sure how similar the Novelle is to the La Platine in actual operation. So can I get some more info from you ?

1. Silk thread is good but it affects music in a way that makes the performance a bit sleepy.


What is your technique for putting on new thread and ensuring it has been applied properly and optimized ?

2. The stock motor is not good enough to accommodate a tighter coupling with the platter.

Most TT users use tables where the motor/controller dominates the platter system (platter/spindle/physical bearing). The design of my La Platine and probably ? Novelle is like an equal marriage. Its not about the motor/controller dominating the platter system.

A few more questions- sorry :^(

a)Have you optimized your existing motor in any way ?

b)When the motor/controller is on and the platter is spinning at 33 1/3 - WITHOUT - the tonearm/cartridge on a record and you shut the motor off – how many seconds does it spin for before coming to a complete stop?

c)Now repeat but instead of turning off the motor just cut the thread – count how many seconds before the platter comes to stop.

Finally just curious does the temperature / humidity level in the room vary during the year?

Cheers
junk981
25 posts
 
I am using a Redpoint's battery-powered motor for my Platine .
mosin
410 posts
 
I know a couple of guys who have used Papst motors from Empires to run VPI turntables, etc. Doing that would require a pulley and some scheme to make the outboard addition look attractive. Also, the footprint of the turntable on the rack would be much larger. The benefit would be huge, however.
maril555
619 posts
 
Teres motors have been used by a few Verdier owners. I spoke with Teres myself, and they confirmed, and highly recommended this option.
The only caveat, is that you will need to attach a strobe light to the plinth and a template to the bottom of the platter.
They also recommend Verus rim-drive motor even more, than any of their own belt drives.
pani OP
1,219 posts
 
Lewm, the reports that I have from people who have used Teres motors is they all prefer the belt drive motors to their rim drive verus motor. Supposedly it takes it too much in the direction of "raw" sound.

Maril555, you are right that quite a few people have considered Teres motor for Verdier but all of them use the Platine Verdier which has a lot of clearance between the platter and the plinth so it can accomodate the strobe light but mine is the Nouvelle Verdier, it doesnt have as much gap between the platter and plinth to accomodate the strobe light. So I am looking for a solution which doesnt need this mechanism.

Ct0517,
1. I just cut a silk thread long enough to cover a round around the motor and platter. The motor is very close to the plinth. I then join it with a knot that is suggested in the Verdier website. The tension of the thread is just about enough to keep the platter rotating at a constant speed, so it is not very tight.

2. I have (on the recommendation of a friend) upgraded the motor to a Maxon motor (swiss make) and a battery power. I dont know what I exactly gained because this mod took quite some time. However I do notice that this high torque maxon motor is a lot more noisy than the original Premotec motor.

3. I noticed that when I turn off the motor with the thread on, it takes about 7.5 revolutions to come to a complete halt.

Just in case you do not know, the design of the Nouvelle Verdier is such that there is a continuous friction on the platter. Verdier in his website says that to control a platter's behaviour there should be some "known" friction that is continuously applied and that is the principle behind Nouvelle. So, its platter doesnt very freely.
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