Naim introduce a turntable - the Solstice Special Edition

Interesting topic, platters. My preference is for a lightweight design because I believe Rega are on the right track at least where weight and mass are concerned.

On the other hand both my Rega 3 and and LP12 had heavy platters. In fact one of the most convincing vinyl demos I ever heard featured a turntable with an enormous platter.

It was almost comical in size, could have been 6-8 inches deep. It was rotated by a motor that was housed in a separate box situated several inches to one side via a fairly long thin belt.

My initial visual impression was that this could, in certain domestic situations, be a surefire recipe for disaster.

However the image it cast, via some Avantgarde Trios, was the best I have ever experienced.

Spookily good.

As my memory of the event (London Show late1990s/early 2000s?) inevitably fades, the sheer size and precision of the image being cast remains.

I die laughing when I hear these terms applied to turntables. Plodding? Does that mean slow as in 33 1/8th or, does that mean increased amounts of wow?

No. If it was such a simple thing as slowing down of the platter speed, it wouldnt have made to the market. Plodding as in transients not recovering fast enough and bleeding into notes, a time domain smear. This is quite easily heard with slow music (low tempo). It is not due to wow, it is due to energy storage in a heavy platter which doesn't have an effective drainage mechanism. A design issue. I am not a technical expert in mass and energy transfer in these devices but I have just heard enough of this nuisance, endemic to "new age" turntables. 

Most of the golden era TTs do not suffer with these issues at least. They may not be quiet but they sound like music. Probably because it came from large established audio companies who hire a good team to do the job instead of the typical "1 man" companies designing TTs today.

Fsonic, sorry if you were offended. Actually, I do not own a Garrard 301, and I have no dog in the fight about the weight of a platter on a 301. My only point was the point I was trying to make. That this is a subjective judgment, unless you have measured speed irregularity due to platter mass. For sure at some point even the big 301 motor is going to be affected by platter mass. But if Steve Dobbins was your guru, you were and are in good hands.

Mijo, not every idler is designed to “slip Q”. I do know that the TD 124 features a belt to drive its idler, and I mentioned earlier in this thread that when I auditioned the three major Vintage idler drive turn tables, I liked the TD 124 least of all, by a long shot. The comparison may not be fair, because I auditioned those turntables in systems that were not completely familiar to me otherwise.

The TD124 drives the idler with a belt between the motor and idler, and (hence?) it also sounds a lot like a belt drive btw.

The belt is very small in diameter and traverses two pulleys of roughly equal or similar diameter, in contrast to the belt on any true belt drive turntable.  So the issues might be different.  But I have no business discussing a TD124.  Never had one in my own home system.