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Dream deck?

Interesting how varied tastes are. I never liked the look of it, or any of the Rega decks with the wood surround. I'm not that wild about the looks of the RP10 frankly. You can sit it and P1 side by side and few people would dream that there was a three grand difference.

Yeah, I’ve never been impressed by the appearance of the wooden edge Rega decks. Just looks pretty cheap really. The new P10 does look good though, with its ceramic platter and silver tonearm.
 
Any turntable manufacturer that doesn't offer adjustable speed control, adjustable VTA and HTA should not even be considered IMO. These are all critical to achieving a high level of performance.
 
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Thankfully, also available in black. Massive damped dual motor pods, huge precision main bearing, air bearing linear tracker. If I was having one the bottom six inches would have to be out of sight.
 
Wonderful! The kids would line up excitedly wondering which Willy Wonka bar that spits out (err, the first pic I mean of course)
 
There is no excuse for not including these facilities as they form the most basic of turntable/tonearm adjustments.

No excuse eh? Well I would disagree as of the three, both azimuth and speed accuracy should not require user adjustment if the deck has been built properly in the first place.

Most turntables offer arm height adjustment, so you're tilting at windmills there. Rega are one notable exception. Their defense is that they believe rigidity is more important than slight changes tracking angle but even with their arms you can use shims to alter arm height if you want to.
 
I like the ‘theatre’ of the platine verdier TTs & also the sheer engineering behind SME30 but I don’t get excited by vinyl so much.
 
No excuse eh? Well I would disagree as of the three, both azimuth and speed accuracy should not require user adjustment if the deck has been built properly in the first place.

Turntable speed (33.33, 45 & 78) can vary due to a number of different factors, so speed control should be mandatory in any high quality turntable. SME used to set their speed slow so when the main bearing ran in after a few months the speed would approximately reach the correct speed, but even this needed to be checked and adjusted. Nottingham Analogue machined their pulleys to a certain diameter based on the motor speed and belt tension. The assumption is that everything should be the same but it isn't. Motor speed varies due to several things, mains frequency being one. Any slight difference in the diameter of the motor pulley and platter or sub platter will be another, even a few thou out will effect the speed. Belt tension is another. Any high quality turntable should be checked with an accurate speed measuring device, then and only then will you see how much variation there is in speed accuracy.
 
Motor speed varies due to several things, mains frequency being one. Any slight difference in the diameter of the motor pulley and platter or sub platter will be another, even a few thou out will effect the speed.

Many top turntables use sophisticated motor drive electronics which eliminate the possibility of the mains altering the speed. Are you suggesting the diameter of the pulley and sub platter might alter in use? Belts will stretch but if they are changed periodically it shouldn't pose any problems and certainly shouldn't effect the speed.

In short, periodic servicing in line with the manufacturers instructions should be sufficient to ensure that a good turntable runs at the right speed. I'd suggest that a turntable which needed regular user adjustment to run at the correct speed is either a poor design or is aimed at the gullible control freak who thinks more buttons the better.

Are you going to suggest the azimuth drifts as well?
 
The assumption is that everything should be the same but it isn't. Motor speed varies due to several things, mains frequency being one.

Do you think any of us check speed often enough to chase variation in supply frequency?

Or should we?
 
Any high quality turntable should be checked with an accurate speed measuring device, then and only then will you see how much variation there is in speed accuracy.

Why only high quality T/Ts, Graham ? Surely all could benefit from strobe/lights/zapper/whatever. However, it must be frustrating to find the speed out and your motor p/supply is fixed ! To achieve accurate speed, one should be playing a record at the same time as testing. Bit of a moot point with my Dais, however, as I couldn't detect any difference at all, presumably because of the platter weight.
 
On the topic itself, I would say (with little suprise) that the easiest way to achieve one's dream (for a dream deck) is to build your own deck. It takes a lot less than one might think - and it comes with the added benefit of "knowing" it is the best for the person who builds it.

I know it stopped me from looking at other turntables once I had mine done.

On the topic of speed control and accuracy, I would not presume to know what @G T Audio meant specifically (ability to correct speeds or automatic speed adjusments), but I would say that it is very cheap nowadays to build very precise automated speed control facilities in a modern deck. These have the ability to function without any user interaction, and compensate for temperature and humidity changes of the environment, level of bearing run in, cartridge drag and even belt stretch.

If aftermarket control packs for almost any belt driven turntable could retail (with markup) for less than $700 (Phoenix Engineering), I fail to see why manufacturers of high price decks would have any trouble adding those facilities, even as an option...

...unless inaccurate speed is part of the deck's design.
 


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