speed controller for Lenco or Garrard


Hi,

there seems to be newer speed controllers for lenco and garrard tt from sound carrier in US and long dog audio in UK.....anyone successfully use either of these or other speed controller power supplies for their lenco or garrard?

thanks

Michael
128x128karmapolice
If the current SOTA Eclipse power supply and tachometer are like their Phoenix Engineering forerunners, you cannot go wrong by buying that ensemble and using it to drive your Lenco motor. (No need to buy the Eclipse motor along with the power supply and tach.) This is assuming the Eclipse PS can deliver 25W or more.  I am using a Phoenix Engineering Eagle and Roadrunner tachometer to run my Lenco with superb results. The SOTA products are made under an agreement between the Phoenix Engineering designer and SOTA. What I don't know is whether the Eclipse or PE ensemble can drive the Garrard motor, because the latter is not an AC synchronous type.  I actually doubt it will work. For the Garrard, probably the best ever made was anything designed and built by Mark Kelly.  The last of his efforts had a tube output stage.  They were pricey to begin with, and now they are not easy to find. (Mark Kelly is out of the business.) You might consult one of the aftermarket companies that live on upgrading the Garrard 301/401. I know that Loricraft also has or had a controller, also costly.
You have a controler from hanze hifi with a review on positive feedback.
In fact the Phoenix is special as it control the speed with the tachometer but unfortunately no more on the market.
For the lenco it is interesting to get a controler with choice of voltage as it works best under 110 volts for USA.
I have had someone build for me the one described in lenco heaven and I use it around 210 volts in France, better depth, image and treble less acid...
First, SOTA, the company that makes turntables, hooked up with Bill Carlin, the person who owned and designed the Phoenix Engineering gear, and SOTA now markets the Phoenix stuff under the "Eclipse" name.  This includes an AC power supply like the Phoenix Eagle, and a tachometer, like the Phoenix Roadrunner, that feeds back to the PS and holds speed at a solid 33.33.  You can even buy an AC synchronous motor in order to convert a belt-drive that may not have an AC motor, for use with the Eclipse motor controller equipment (because the Phoenix and therefore the Eclipse equipment is designed to drive an AC synch motor). But that is not necessary for a Lenco, because the Lenco motor works with the Phoenix/Eclipse stuff as is.  Maybe I wasn't crystal clear in my first post.

Second, if you do acquire the Eclipse equipment, there is no need, and in fact it would be a bad idea, to use some other device in order to drop the voltage.  You would let the Eclipse equipment do the job.  Dropping the voltage also is a two-edged sword; at some point you lose torque that way.  Furthermore, just dropping the voltage per se does little or nothing to improve speed constancy.