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Direct Drive Rumble

I remember back in the 70s when direct drive was an upgrade from belt drive in every manufacturers lineup. This was before Linn, SOTA, etc. took over the world of turntables. Conventional wisdom has it that direct drives couldn't compete because they were noisier than belts. The theory advanced at the time and still held by many was that the belt mitigated the influence of motor vibration on the whole system. What I recall, however, is that there were consistently lower rumble figures for the DD tables over the numbers posted by the belt drive units. Is there another measurement besides rumble to indicate motor vibration and its deleterious effects?
macrojack

Showing 2 responses by macrojack

macrojack OP
1,303 posts
 
Thank you, gentleman. The bearing issue had never before come to my attention. It would seem, from what you are saying, that direct drive has the greatest upside potential since it will experience less rumble effect and no worse than equal wow and flutter.
I started another thread a while ago about the suspected superiority of DD and the arguments surged back and forth for weeks resulting in nothing conclusive.
Near the end of that period, I had occassion to visit Chris Brady of Teres turntables at his home and witness the unveiling of his new DD table. It was clearly superior to his best BD which was used for comparison. There was more of a sense of drive and attack in the DD. The BD by comparison sounded "lazy". Chris is now convinced that DD has a greater potential for playback. And so am I.
macrojack OP
1,303 posts
 
It will only be good for the vinyl lovers who can afford them.
The rest of us will have to find ways to make do with yesteryear's product. Of course, that may only apply to DD. Do you have any idea what the retrofitted Idler motor will cost?
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