Why has no manufacturer bought back the self-centering turntable?

I see the Nakamichi self centering turntable as an absolute stroke of genius.
It eliminated one of the worst problems inherent in vinyl design, the "cut off center" pitch problem.
Sadly, they were only sold in limited numbers and were discontinued many moons ago.
Good second hand ones are now hard to find as are the engineers who can service them properly.

I know a lot of vinyl lovers rarely notice this flaw so it isn't something that every vinyl lovers would want or need, but for some of us who hear even the slightest deviation in pitch, a deck with this feature would be a dream come true. It seems crazy to me that no one makes a deck today with a similar design.

 

Too much effort for too little $ return.

 

The short answer: everybody moved on to digital audio.

As the OP noted, "a lot of vinyl lovers rarely notice this flaw" - so the viable market for such a device is a tiny niche within an even tinier niche. Personally, I found a very quick and easy solution for the records I own that are affected by this flaw, so I know I would not buy one - and I'm among the few that actually notice this anomaly.

 

What's the solution? Curious minds want to know.

 

I'd like to know too if there is a way to properly play off-center pressings.

 

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/spindle-hole-centering.327558/

Some folks go a bit overboard with the markings.

 

Here's my post on that thread. I've done that for 27 years and I can tell for sure that markings don't bother me if I get my records to play properly.

 

I use a simple black dot, created by a sharpie.

But yeah, problem solved.

 

The off centered pressing usually does not bother me if only slight. At 33 1/3 RPM, the wow is slow enough to not be unpleasant, although this a subjective evaluation. I have never measured how much pitch deviation bothers me. There is a point that wow does bother me. At that point, my solutions are simple ones:
1) replace the record
2) play it on a removable spindle turntable such as a Dual 1200 series
3) make a corrected digital copy I can enjoy, then shelf the record

I never cut or enlarge the spindle hole since I feel this molests the record (although defective) and that other cleaner, yet still simple solutions exist.

 

It would be so simple to design a table with a removable spindle (like some of the old Duals). Then you could adjust manually by sight, and not have to alter the record.

 

Nakamichi's method would be too pricey to do today. It was really more pricey and complex than the market could handle back then. An amazing feat of technical prowess and wizardry.

 

More info right here: http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue33/tx1000.htm

 

It is hard enough to get them to run at the right speed with low wow and flutter. That is an LP pressing problem that most reputable plants don't have.

 

Bingo.

 

That's how the world rolls. Or at least the business world.

 

Remember there were two Nakamichi turntables: the TX1000 (which had room for three tonearms and cost I think about $8000), and the lower-cost Dragon CT, which was about $2500. I had the latter for a long time, and I don't think it would be that expensive to reproduce today.

 

Yup, the TX1000 was in the $8k range.

 

The Dragon CT might be doable. It would still be around $5500 to do today like the original. As a super deck, in the range the market would tolerate.

 

I'm not sure what it would cost to build, but that was a very well-designed turntable. Heavy as hell, too -- I think it was close to 50 pounds. The auto-centering mechanism was a little touchy and sometimes failed, but the rigid, heavy-duty chassis was really solid and did a fantastic job of damping out vibration. When the off-center pressing was within correctable range, it could do an amazing job. In some cases, I had to remove the spindle and just eyeball it, then hit the auto-center mode just to help it along... and then it would work.

The secret to the turntable was the platter was actually two platters in on: one a glass mat that could slide one way or the other, and the other a solid, heavy-duty metal platter coupled to the spindle. The second tonearm was just a measuring device, and would come out, check the concentricity of the inner grooves, and then a little hammer would come out and push the glass platter in a fraction of an inch. The test would repeat, and then when the inner grooves were precisely centered -- with zero wavering back and forth on the measurement tonearm -- a light would illuminate to tell you it was now centered. It generally worked very well, though I was not 100% pleased with the stock Nakamichi tonearm (the real one used with a cartridge).

 

This type of technology would not be expensive to implement, and even so, the higher end turntables are financially out of reach of 99% of the market anyway.

It could be made even cheaper now that everyone has a high quality optics system in their front pocket. A simple app with an overlay could read all the information - line up with the spindle, calculate the deviation,wirelessly relay the data back to the turntable. Although I'm sure the cost savings would not be passed onto the consumer.

 

I may look into getting a Dual with the removable spindle.
Are they all idler drive decks or did Dual also make belt drive decks with the removable spindle?

 

...and too little sonic gain to the end user. Nak made awesome cassette decks... (still have a ZX-7) but to me, that TT screwed the pooch. Corrected something that mattered less than what it messed up, sorry. I've heard virtually dozens of TTs I'd rather own (or have owned).