Rerurn to Romy the Cat's Site

There are several sources of relatively static and fairly variable noise and vibrations that a TT deals with, and likely there is no one way to deal with all of it at once.  A coupled fluid will likely let loose at some point where another form of anti-vibe must seamlessly take over, trap and then somehow disapate "noise".  In the case of the platter, there are broad band resonances from the environment and the TT's self noise, in addition to the mechanical interface of the stylus in the groove, and this is stuff we do not want amplified.  Some gets loose into the arm and some gets into the vinyl, and some of it shows up at the stylus - again - when it's no longer wanted, or it otherwise enters the amplification chain in an undesirable form.  Lots of interesting "proprietary" "solutions" out there, and in the case of expensive TTs they somehow tend to look like SOLUTIONS, as well.  Well, I suppose they better, after all.

The drive issue has been both way overblown and under-developed, practically speakingh, IMO, in that the theoretical forces we are talking about are miniscule in practical terms.  The "eliptical" bearing force loads are easy to incorporate in a captured bearing or bearings at both ends of a located shaft, and nothing I have seen or heard to date has convinced me of the practical worth of extra belt(s) and/or motors, in dealing with these issues, either.  My own experiments with belts show that the practical minimum is the best length, as they tend to develop vibrations and even cycles of vibrations if too long.  I just don't get, and I have never heard, how adding extra drive elements can help, in the end, when it is just more stuff to do something else, ie, it just becomes another variable (loose cannons).

Once the math starts, it just keeps going, and IMO it gets untenable, fast, and the super-engineers are left to "solve' only a few of the storm of "problems" that the "rigorous" approach generates as each factor introduces new factors.

In the end, of course, there has to be a balance between abstract science and practical application on the one hand and effective marketing on the other hand.  So far, it looks as though marketing is the biggest consideration in most cases; if not in the beginning, then certainly in the end.

Still waiting for the Ultimate TT...

Best regards,
Paul S

Rerurn to Romy the Cat's Site