Tables That Feature Bearing Friction


I recently had the opportunity to audition the DPS turntable which, unlike most tables, has a certain amount of friction designed into the bearing. This, when paired with a high quality/high torque motor, is said to allow for greater speed stability--sort of like shifting to a lower gear when driving down a steep hill and allowing the engine to provide some breaking effect and thus greater vehicular stability. I am intrigued by this idea and was wondering what other people thought about this design approach. Are there other tables which use this bearing principal? One concern I have is that by introducing friction you may also be introducing noise. Comments?
dodgealum
I do have a file - 3" thick and 8 lbs heavy - of extensive test and data sheets to about 5 dozens different materials which at one moment or another were part of the turntable design pre-thoughts (some finally made it). However I remember that one particular poster stated yesterday:
"I don't need that you convice me, normaly I take the steps by my self to convince me about any subject that has interest on what I'm trying to achieve."
I respect that position.
Air would be a poor choice for a drive mechanism since it is compressable. Hydraulic fluid on the other hand is not compressable. Driving the platter with hydraulics would be an alternative choice. A pressurized bearing could also be utilized.

I'm not a turntable expert, just a bmw tech. I believe some models of Jeep/Chrysler used hydraulic cooling fan motors powered by the P/S pump due to the fact they are quieter. Perhaps a similar system could be made for a turntable? Just throwing out ideas.
Dear Rhljazz, a fascinating idea. This is something really worth discussing. You happen to have any links to technical exploration and the required periphery?
Hello Dertonarm,
>The "air-pulse" drive (no pulse would exclude a problem) has some considerable problems while looking close to a theoretical ideal first. It not only will require considerably (really serious...) periphery, but indeed a "assist"-motor to bring the (high mass) platter to requested speed first and than de-coupling.<

Weren't you asking about "all out",no compromise, no commercial consideration approaches? Did I not explain some of the caveats? Yes, the periphery would be expensive, but maybe not as expensive as it appears(remember, this is not about a commercially viable project).
The Onkyo PX-100M eddy current drive turntable does feature an idler drive just to bring it up to speed within half a revolution, then the eddy current drive takes over(and it has a break too). It can be done...
Platter speed needs to be monitored, which in turn can govern the force of the air(or any other driving) "pulse". It will have a VERY slow recovery time, but(that is where my chronometer analogy comes in) the disturbing influence of the drive system could be minimized.

To assess which principle is superior, we'd have to build two(or more) otherwise identical turntables that can be driven by more than one means. I have done this several times many years ago, Chris Brady has done this more recently, so his assesment holds merit, even if some may not agree with all of his peripheral design choices.

I suggest opening another thread to discuss that there is VASTLY more to building an excellent turntable then the drive principle, even though nothing else matters if the record doesn't spin at (as close to)constant speed to begin with.

Dertonarm, I didn't ask you any questions, I just showed that your approach is just as far from or as close to being perfect as some other approaches, at least from a conceptual/theoretical point of view. But that part of the discussion was doomed from the start... and yes, it's not neccessary to repeat yourself yet again.

Nevertheless, have an enjoyable and relaxing Easter weekend!

Frank
Dear dertonarm: Good to hear it, happy holidays.

regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.