Direct Drive turntables

Had them all from Linn to Lenco, to Technics and Teres rim drive and my own observation comes down to balancing acoustic isolation of the whole deck and arm , with speed constancy and reducing bearing / plinth noise transmitted back through the vinyl. Probably not enough work has been done on cause and efect of different mats.

For me (emphasis on the "for me") has been on the obvious superior performance of air bearing decks as a major step up in performance over anything else, DD. Rim or belt in overall balance.

Rim drives give slam, belts give body and weight, DD give air and transients - but air bearings ........ the truth!

Steve

Dertonarm,

absolutely oil pressure bearing and maybe magnetic all serve the function it seems to me - which is to remove the impact of noise transmission from the drive system. If you think about it, typical bearing systems are rather crude whatever material, stainless, ruby, ceramic etc. By reducing the coefficient of friction one has to also reduce the impact of physically induced vibration, noise and mechanical artifacts from the platter. I have not really thought about this too hard, but heavy metal platters would probably amplify noise that will be transmitted through the sensitive cartridge. Could be something that Teres and Redpoint and Galibier figured as they have experimented with varying platter materials?

Steve