New Turntable Advice

On the hunt for a Sony PS-X9

@pindac ”…to assist with raised queries…”

Thank you for your analysis of spindle tolerances. 
 

In the 1980s l had a Walker CJ55, a modest turntable mainly of wooden construction with a tufnol/paxolin platter that had the spindle inserted. I was never happy and heard wow consistently. The turntable had good reviews and Walker himself even sent me a complimentary new belt because of my concerns. I was convinced the spindle was off centre with the bearing/shaft and l had no way of checking this. I sold the turntable to a neighbour who could not hear the wow.

Your article has reassured me that what you say was what l heard. Further to your comments on record centre tolerance’s and with a spindle 0.2mm error, would surely make any record player unplayable if both extremes are combined. 
 

Being in the record world (so to speak) for 55 years l have noticed off centre holes are not a new thing, and if anything have become more common. I  believe 0.2mm is quite normally these days exceeded. You have rightly pointed out, the centre hole is in the manufacturing process so correct maintenance is key. Most record presses are now 50 years old out there pressing new vinyl today.

The TT Brand which has a sought after model produced in the 80's off which I own Three, where all have Bearing Housing Spindle Rattle and a Platter that  Rocks when seated on its Spindle Mount.

Which has been seen fot £8Kish is a Sony Model.

I have one as a Hospital Job Overhaul, where the Bearing Housing Spindle / Bush - Spindle / Thrust Pad - Bearing Housing Sump Seal is a complete redesign.

There is a plan to produce a perfect fit part to insert into the Platter to create a rigid coupling for the Platter. 

These models are not able to be produced as  Kaneta variant so has been a rested work on more than one occasion. 

I am not the first to have the bearing overhaul. The owner of 2 x Same Model Sony's as my own, who has done A/B comparisons with their TT's in Panzerholz Plinths can't help but inform the OEM TT that was so impressive, is now totally unwanted when the modified version is the other option.

My own design being produced has added knowledge and design tolerances incorporated, which will tidy the mechanical interfaces further and enhance the End Sound further, especially with the Platter addressed as well. 

Caveat Emptor is always ones best friend when considering Sony. DD TT's.

I always wondered with the Sony knowledge of CD being launched, did Sony  reduce analogue investment much earlier than other Brands, as the concern shown for mechanical interfaces is extremely poor. 

Slam = drive/propulsion.

Maybe you should say what specific models of vintage Sony TTs you have examined so intimately, because they made products for every price point. I think the psx series are their best with PSX9 being top of the heap. Some of their lower end stuff may indeed not be so good by today’s standards.

I wanted to make an additional point about the use of a servo mechanism to maintain constant speed in DD TTs. It used to be common complaint of belt drivers that they could hear the speed corrections in DD as distortion. These days nearly all high end belt drive TTs employ some sort of speed regulation even if it’s as simple as a motor controller or a 3 phase self correcting motor, right up to reading the speed and feeding back to the motor, as in the SOTA Eclipse system. One never sees such a complaint with reference to the Eclipse. So it’s harder to justify criticism of DD servos. I think what some may hear in DD TTs could be EMI emitted by the motor and picked up by the cartridge. So the platter has to function as an EMI shield among many other things.