Audiophiles Once Loved Direct Drive, Now They Seem To Hate It

Belt, idler, DD - they are all excellent if done well. Shifting opinion from one to the next cyclically as a function of time is more audiophile fashion than anything else.

I'll get my coat...

 

A turntable is only a part of the playback picture. The cartridge, phono preamp, interconnect wires and even the platform the table sits on all contribute to or take away from the listening experience. I have a few tables in my collection, all have modifications to them, all are enjoyable to listen to. Yes, I too have an SL1200MK2 (2007 model), an SL1210MK5 (2010 model), an Empire 5988, a VPI Hw-19jr, AR-XA a Sony PS-X7 and even a Pioneer PL-71. None are considered hi-end, but that doesn't matter to me.

Of course a great table in a poor chain of components defeats the purpose. a middle of the road table in a well executed playback chain can be awesome. Its the synergy of the entire system that fixes the smile.

 

Well, I am here to answer this one! Over here, most of the turntables all the way to the mid-80's were idler driven, you know, Garrard, BSR, and some low-end Phillips models. Belt driven decks only started appearing here in the 90's, in those very cheap plastic turntables that came in the systems of that time. DD was aimed at the very high-end market. But all of this doesn't matter, anyway, because I wrote this thread looking at that issue from an U.S/European perspective.

 

Interesting, I think that’s similar to the Asian audio market, where most DD turntables in that time originated from.

 

You're right, it's true! In fact most of our DD turntables are japanese imports, well, sort of...
From the mid 60's all the way up to 91, i think, we had a law that stated that every electronic device sold here had to be manufactured here. So, Brazilian brands, like Gradiente, imported the pieces and built the turntables here. For example, there was the Gradiente DD-100Q, which was just a rebranded version of the Japanese JVC-QL-A2.

 

Strange law, but sounds like it had a positive effect on turntables

 

It certainly did, and it also helped our national brands, but I'm not an economist so, I might be talking rubbish

 

Perhaps, unless too many 120V turntables were plugged into 220V wall sockets lol
Because both voltages over there use the same plug and socket, right?

 

Exactly, but we generally label 220V sockets. Most modern 220 ones are coming in red just like this one:

So, luckily, no turntables were fryed!

 

You say you don't call yourself an "audiophile" ...... C'mon you're selling yourself short!

 

I think either the OP was looking for a fight with his opening statement or is out of touch. One look at the price of vintage higher end DD tables will show that they are highly sought after and coveted.
The British press is responsible for trying to kill them in the market place as they didn't have the resources and skills at the time to compete with the latest technology. Same with motorcycles and cars. So instead they bad mouthed DD and touted the superiority of the belt driven tables. Lucky for us, most of the world saw it the other way and a lot of good DD tables were produced.
Today as the technology has matured we are blessed with lots of options, including vintage idler, DD and belt drives when rebuilt with modern parts.
A great TT built back 30 or 40 years ago can still be a top contender today with a little bit of work. Plus the build quality of some of those older TT can't be beat unless you spend into the 5 or 6 figure numbers.
A good DD turntable can still rock today as evidenced by there popularity by audiophiles.

BillWojo

 

I have no idea what the OP is trying to do. I am fortunate enough to have one of the few VPI Classic Direct turntables that were made. It uses the thin gap non-cogging motor that VPI now uses in the HW-40. The stability acoustic image that this TT produces is remarkable. I will put my TT up against any other TT even the ones that are $100K+. It may not win the shoot-out, but it will definitely be in the same league as any TT out there. I am an audiophile and I most certainly do NOT hate direct drive.

 

I LOVE DD TTs.

1980 Sansui SR-838, DD w/ strobe, quiet and smooth beyond belief, paired with a 1980 NOS Ortofon ' M20FL Super ' cart and gold lutz leads mounted on the original headshell.

Direct Drive - hassle-free.

 

I started with Dual then went to a NAD 533 (Belt drive table made by Rega for NAD - it was a P2). I later tried an SL1200 and I liked it more than my NAD - but I also liked a ProJect more than my NAD. I then had a two-motor Audio Note TT2.

Now a 3 motor TT3 with external power supply (Basically a better Voyd Reference).

As some others noted, I don't really care about the technology I care about the sound. I remember the old Voyd Reference as being one of the most memorable truly exceptional-sounding turntables in my experience. It happens to use a belt - if it happened to be a DD I would have bought it. Use the ears and not the flim-flam technobabble.

 

I've seen a lot of hate towards DD. However as an audiophile I personally enjoy DD very much and grew up enjoying and appreciating them. But you're right in that a lot of audiophiles (not necessarily here) seem to despise DD.

 

I used to have a Rega Planar 3 belt driven machine and loved it. Now I have a DD EMT948 also love it. different technologies but if they engineered and done well they make magic.

 

I have a vintage Technics Sl 1400 Mk2 DD TT, and it just works for me...never had a belt drive TT so can't really make a considered judgement, but have no plans to change it, its built like a tank and has never put a foot wrong..1970's vintage

 

So DD turntables are actually a real thing?



Whatever next?

 

My distant observation has been that belt drives have been the audiophile standard since the '80s and Linn.

 

This is my experience. I've never known audiophiles to love direct drive turntables. First it was the AR turntable, then the Thorens belt drive tables, then the Linn (introduced in the early '70s), then Rega and VPI and SOTA and Goldmund, etc. And then all the "super decks" -- the Rockport Sirius and the TechDAS and the Continuum. The "it" turntables, at least for the subjectivist Stereophile/TAS high end crowd, were always almost all belt drive tables. Maybe for Julian Hirsch and the Stereo Review side of the audiophile market, direct drives were in at some point in the '70s. Their were some direct drive tables that were talked about -- the Nakamichi Dragon and TX-1000. But honestly, in my 35 years or so paying attention to the audiophile world, I've never known audiophiles to love direct drive turntables, rightly or wrongly.

 

I think Stereophile writers( and mainly one in particular) dissed the DD turntable back in the day. I guess you couldn’t be an audiophile if you had an DD turntable. Art Dudley started a break from the Stereophile “party line” when he got intrigued with vintage Thorens, etc, idler- wheel drive TTs. I have TTs with both methods of spin and enjoy both. I am apostate in the debate between the camps. I am not sure how virulent the “debate” is today or whether anyone who doesn’t make a living writing about equipment cares.

 

Micro Seiki was the direct-drive juggernaut of the 70s and 80s, but IIRC, their top house-brand model was a belt-drive. For certain, some of their top models were belt-drives.

 

What no love for Idler-Wheel turntables?

 

An odd topic. You don't have to look very far or long before you can find an example of a terrible DD or BD table. Neither mechanism makes a table inherently good or bad.

 

Yep, kind of an argument or discussion that goes nowhere but never seems to die......................