





Here is what I have been up to. Using a Technics SL-1700mk2 (same thing as SL-1600mk2 & SL-1800mk2 with different auto functions and same motor as SL-1200mk2) belt driving an Empire 208 platter and bearing housed in a butcher block with Audiocraft AC300 tonearm and Denon DL-103 cartridge. Let's just think of the Technics as a giant motor pod with an extremely accurate and silent motor. The speed/pitch adjustment is handy to compensate the discrepancy between the two platters diameter. Practically this will work for any belt drive turntable.I love the Papst motor from the Empire but it's simply not quiet enough and the fan noise is a nuisance. Those belt-drive Teres owners take note. Your motor might be great but give this "big" motor try. You might like it. Belt is from VHS tape and works much better than dental floss or similar material. I might try 8mm or 16mm film as it does not stretch at all. The less elastic the material the cleaner the sound which of course really depends on the quality your motor. No more rubber belts for me. Let the motor drive the platter and not the other way around.Before anyone spend their big bucks on the next manufacture "upgrade" on a new motor or whatever for their high end turntable, do you self a favor and go get a decent direct-drive turntable with pitch control and tape drive your platter. SL-1200mk2 is perfect and if you don't like it, you can always resell it easily. The only hitch is that it takes up a lot of table space. I seriously consider building something more compact to house the DD motor assembly and electronics all underneath the platter so it's 12"x12" square size or a circle. Since the Technics platter is beveled at the edge and has strobe marks, I have to use another platter on top as adapter plate for the tape to ride on. If the active platter and passive platter is the same diameter then pitch control is not necessary - a Lenco platter stack on top of a DD table tape driving a passive Lenco platter will work!How does it sound? EVERYTHING is cleaner and more refined. Quiet, smooth, and most important accurate. It spins and works how a turntable should be! I will spare you the pornographic adjectives. It's a TURN-table and, in this set up, it turns accurately, steadily, and quietly, and therefore, sings beautifully. It does not have the clinical or sterile sound people complain about the Technics. The VHS tape probably smooths out that last bit of microscopic rotational irregularities. To me driving the platter with a rubber belt only hides the problem with motor, its noise and speed drift or cogging. A direct drive turntable is NOT noisy, as the motor is running at 33rpm, that is HALF HERTZ. Put a stethoscope on the turntable or motor, I hear nothing. Well, except the noise from the power transformer, so there's still room for improvement. Now, a vintage AC motor like the Papst or Ashland, as great as they are, runs at 1800rpm and that's 30hz! You bet you can feel and hear the noise. The tiny bit of compliance, ie, the tape, between a DD table and a passive platter takes care of the last bit impurity in the rotation. The motor is so quiet that I actually hear more of the noise from the Empire's bearing. I probably need to put new oil in the old clunker. So, with this set up the bearing quality becomes paramount.I am curious how this will sound on a Teres turntable as they are known for the quality bearing or any other quality turntables for that matter, especially those turntable that has a separate motor pod. Those who have tried it, let me know your result. Don't forget there are other great DD tables there so you might get an even better sound but the Technics is cheap and has high torque and great speed stability so it works for me.Prepare to have more table space. :-)Happy listening!

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