I think most of you are aware of the blue turntable belts available on this forum? I've had one for a while so I thought I'd share some thoughts.
The belt is not expensive, about £25 delivered and comes in a box not a bag. They are available for lots of different turntables, which is impressive, although several people reported issues with sticky belts and inability to get the speed right. These problems were supposed to be resolved but I couldn't get the deck up to the correct speed without rubbing the belt guide and the belt made creaking and squelching noises in use. If you listen to the deck you can hear the Linn belt running but the blue one is much louder and sounds like something isn't right. My one did anyway. Length seems spot on as I didn't have to august the suspension to level the platter going between the belts.
The speed was close enough and I wedged a piece of plastic into the belt guide to open it up slightly so I had the belt off and on a few times over the last month or so. Subjective impressions were almost entirely positive. Compared to a Linn belt, the blue belt offer more body and weight to the sound. Vocals and instrument are more fleshed out and natural sounding. At times there seemed to be a question mark over speed stability but hey, it's an LP12 so isn't there always?
Would I recommend buying one? Yip. It's cost £25 and does something good. It's not a huge upgrade, I realized today that it's similar to upping the tracking weight by about 0.2 of a gram, but...it costs £25. You''re probably going to like it and... it costs £25. It's a bigger difference than the Collaro mat and they cost £100. It's not a can't live without it upgrade, I'm not using it just now and I ain't crying but for the money it's great value and definitely worth trying.
The belt is not expensive, about £25 delivered and comes in a box not a bag. They are available for lots of different turntables, which is impressive, although several people reported issues with sticky belts and inability to get the speed right. These problems were supposed to be resolved but I couldn't get the deck up to the correct speed without rubbing the belt guide and the belt made creaking and squelching noises in use. If you listen to the deck you can hear the Linn belt running but the blue one is much louder and sounds like something isn't right. My one did anyway. Length seems spot on as I didn't have to august the suspension to level the platter going between the belts.
The speed was close enough and I wedged a piece of plastic into the belt guide to open it up slightly so I had the belt off and on a few times over the last month or so. Subjective impressions were almost entirely positive. Compared to a Linn belt, the blue belt offer more body and weight to the sound. Vocals and instrument are more fleshed out and natural sounding. At times there seemed to be a question mark over speed stability but hey, it's an LP12 so isn't there always?
Would I recommend buying one? Yip. It's cost £25 and does something good. It's not a huge upgrade, I realized today that it's similar to upping the tracking weight by about 0.2 of a gram, but...it costs £25. You''re probably going to like it and... it costs £25. It's a bigger difference than the Collaro mat and they cost £100. It's not a can't live without it upgrade, I'm not using it just now and I ain't crying but for the money it's great value and definitely worth trying.