Using an idler, which has a different "sound" than a belt drive or DD, is a choice that mates really well with certain kinds of systems. But, I’d like to think of turntables as agnostic. Ditto arms. Maybe choose your flavor via the cartridge and other things-- if you are after a particular "tone" or SQ.
I’m not of the "neutral" camp only in that I believe every component has a sonic signature of some sort once you are really familiar with what it is doing, and have taken account the other system variables. "Neutral" also has connotations of analytical or sterile, and that’s not something most people playing records are usually chasing (or maybe that’s my personal interpretation of the term and isn’t an issue- it is certainly not for me).
As I recall, Mr. Fremer found a sonic signature to the AF Zero. I do need to re-read his review, not that I’m going to buy one.
To me, a good table gets out of the way. Less sound of a turntable and the associated artifacts that make it evident that a disc is spinning; some of this may also be the phono stage and how it handles signal. I found as I improved my analog front end, I heard less of a "halo" around the sound which I associated with playing vinyl, and the bass went much deeper (even with a linear tracker which is typically more reticent)- it wasn’t louder bass, but deeper. (Getting the bass louder had to do with the subs, amp settings and other parts of the system but if it was on the record, I can hear it).
I haven’t heard every turntable. There are an awful lot of really good ones, including your Lenco. (I remember as a kid working in a shop taking trade-ins of idler drives for belt or dd at the time, circa 1972-3 because at the time they were out of fashion).
You have a pretty cool table if it is in good shape. Do you need the trade in/sales value to buy the next table? If not, I’d keep it.
BTW, nothing is too bulky to move. Though given supply chain, cargo, freight and transportation costs these days, I’m saying this without regard to your budget for the move. (I know what ours cost, it was very expensive from NY metro to Texas, with some holds in between and that was several years ago, before all these disruptions).
The ability to use more than one arm is kind of cool. And to what extent is the table going to require additional isolation where you plan on situating it? I’m using a Minus K under a very high mass table and frankly, I would rather have put the money into something else-- oh, the thing works, and is sort of essential to my ability to run my table in an old Victorian house with springy wooden floors (fully restored to a high standard, but still, I needed help that only a pretty serious isolation device could provide). So consider that factor as part of the equation too. Happy hunting.
I’m not of the "neutral" camp only in that I believe every component has a sonic signature of some sort once you are really familiar with what it is doing, and have taken account the other system variables. "Neutral" also has connotations of analytical or sterile, and that’s not something most people playing records are usually chasing (or maybe that’s my personal interpretation of the term and isn’t an issue- it is certainly not for me).
As I recall, Mr. Fremer found a sonic signature to the AF Zero. I do need to re-read his review, not that I’m going to buy one.
To me, a good table gets out of the way. Less sound of a turntable and the associated artifacts that make it evident that a disc is spinning; some of this may also be the phono stage and how it handles signal. I found as I improved my analog front end, I heard less of a "halo" around the sound which I associated with playing vinyl, and the bass went much deeper (even with a linear tracker which is typically more reticent)- it wasn’t louder bass, but deeper. (Getting the bass louder had to do with the subs, amp settings and other parts of the system but if it was on the record, I can hear it).
I haven’t heard every turntable. There are an awful lot of really good ones, including your Lenco. (I remember as a kid working in a shop taking trade-ins of idler drives for belt or dd at the time, circa 1972-3 because at the time they were out of fashion).
You have a pretty cool table if it is in good shape. Do you need the trade in/sales value to buy the next table? If not, I’d keep it.
BTW, nothing is too bulky to move. Though given supply chain, cargo, freight and transportation costs these days, I’m saying this without regard to your budget for the move. (I know what ours cost, it was very expensive from NY metro to Texas, with some holds in between and that was several years ago, before all these disruptions).
The ability to use more than one arm is kind of cool. And to what extent is the table going to require additional isolation where you plan on situating it? I’m using a Minus K under a very high mass table and frankly, I would rather have put the money into something else-- oh, the thing works, and is sort of essential to my ability to run my table in an old Victorian house with springy wooden floors (fully restored to a high standard, but still, I needed help that only a pretty serious isolation device could provide). So consider that factor as part of the equation too. Happy hunting.