Walker or VPI motor controller with scoutmaster?

A turntable without a motor controller is only 1/2 a turntable. The addition of a motor controller will give you unending pleasure. How can you get the most out of a TT AC motor which varies constantly in its rotational speed regardless of how good the motor may be? The choice of the VPI or the Walker depends on your finances and which one you like best. They are both good, but the Walker is superior in its ability to hold speed over a longer period of time before you will have to reclock the platter and controller. You will need a strobe and light too. The KAB is an inexpensive strobe and works very well. By the way, I have a Walker Controller and I will probably be selling it soon. It is only 6 months old. My TW Raven Acustic TT is being delivered Mon. 3/17 and I will no longer need the Walker. Email me if you are interested.

A new entrant is Mark Kelly's Synchrotron AC-1. Available in kit form only, the AC-1 derives 120VAC from a large 12V SLA battery. Build cost ca $500-$700 including battery. It has the theoretical advantage over single-phase controllers like SDS and Walker, of generating both phases of the AC sine-wave. This requires removing the phasing capacitor from the stock motor and wiring a dedicated connection from motor to drive controller. It works very well.

I use the Walker on my TNT6-HR and can't imagine having this table without it.
Take Elinor up on his offer.
If that's out of your price range, get the SDS. Cheers,
Spencer

Elinor

I am puzzled by your statement that the Walker "holds speed over a longer period of time". Does the actual output frequency of the VPI unit drift over time?

I can see no other mechanism causing the effect you have observed

The major determinants of speed stability with belt TTs are mechanical and are therefore independent of the setting of the controller.

I own the Walker Motor Controller and would not be without it or some analagous device. A proper motor controller will not only help to maintain a stable speed but also causes the motor to run more smoothly with therefore fewer vibrations and less mechanical noise. This may be one reason why the benefits are so obvious. The fact that your table may run at exactly 33.3 rpm off the wall socket is not an indicator that you would not benefit from the addition of a motor controller, for reasons cited above. One other benefit, in at least some installations, is that a well-designed MC prevents electrical noise generated by the tt motor itself from leaking "backwards" into your AC circuits and possibly contaminating, for example, the AC that goes to your preamp.