2. analog
  3. 1150203052

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 nsgarch

nsgarch's avatar
nsgarch
2,524 posts
 
DD TTs do have less rumble (theoretically) because they are free of the assymetrical side force on the main bearing found in (most) belt drive TTs.

Therefore, assuming high quality bearing design and proper lubrication DDs are essentially free from rumble but can suffer from a kind of 'flutter' produced by the motor pulses. The better ones use a feedback system (e.g. Micro Seiki) or a clock (quartz) regulator like the Technics, JVC, and Goldmund Studietto to name a few.

You can find a lot of great info on DDs at:

http://de.geocities.com/bc1a69/index_eng.html

.
nsgarch's avatar
nsgarch
2,524 posts
 
I hope there will be a new generation of DDs in the future. It would be interesting to see them made with an inverted platter bearing. Is the Teres made that way?
More to discover