2. analog
  3. 1360058382

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
pani OP
1,236 posts
 
Ct0517, I am also going to try different thread varieties other than Silk, e.g dental floss, fishing line etc.

I can imagine the Verdier playing fine even when I turn on and off the motor system rapid enough. However, in case you havent tried, the motor does react to power cords. Different power cords to the motor/controller resulted in different sonics (though not very drastic but still significant enough to bother). Which tells me that even though the platter is quite free from the motor, there is still a relationship between them and better motor results in better sound, even though the same silk thread is used.

In fact one cheap and simple way for you to experiment would be to use a simple cassette tape reel to drive the platter. Any old cassette that you might have would do the job. Just try it and tell us what you hear.
ct0517's avatar
ct0517
2,041 posts
 
Hi Pani

Ct0517, I am also going to try different
thread varieties other than Silk, e.g dental floss, fishing
line etc.

We know manufacturers want to sell product. The best way to
sell product is to show that product in a nice way. For a TT
it is on top of a regular size TT rack taking up little
space. My Platine setup uses four feet in width. The music
to me becomes like a sling shot when the thread is set up in
this fashion. So please experiment not only with different
threads but distances - pulley to spindle.

From what I understand to this point of owning my Platine;
using tape drive will provide for more inertia and reduced
braking effect? Do you or anyone else disagree with this ?
This would also mean having to change out the motor which
was not designed for this purpose. Really the right person
to ask is Mr. Verdier who is very good at answering emails
about his table.

My cassette tapes are long gone Pani but if I manage to
locate one it is easy enough to try as you say. Please tell
me what u used to join the ends?

I also believe that based on owning this Verdier La Platine
TT which I feel is a kind of privilege every time I use it;
that other Verdier owners prefer to listen to music rather
than post on chat forums. Hence the lack of posts. They
are a content lot. I hope you get more opinions on this
thread as I am always eager to learn and will provide input
where I can. Cheers
salectric
769 posts
 
Anyone using the stock Platine Verdier DC motor should look into replacing the wall-powered supply with a battery. There is at least one retailer in the UK who sells an after-market battery for the PV.

I have a Galibier Gavia in my system which uses a large battery to supply DC voltage to the motor controller. I have compared the battery a number of times to wall-powered supplies, and the battery always sounds better.
ct0517's avatar
ct0517
2,041 posts
 
I dug up some info I had read a while back on the Platine after I had first purchased it.
This is the site that gave me the information on the Teflon washers that I use.
The battery system is also discussed.

Teflon Washers

An interesting thread for Verdier owners.

Verdier Upgrade Kit


Cheers
pani OP
1,236 posts
 
Ct0517, you say your TT setup is 4 feet wide, that means you have a very long thread connected between platter and motor. But the callas audio site you have mentioned above clearly says that the thread should be as short as possible to avoid speed instabilities, I am confused!!

BTW, on what platform have you placed your Verdier? I believe they react to platforms a lot. I have been trying various platforms and rack systems, and all of them make the Verdier sound different. Just wanted to know which one do you use.
More to discover