Japanese Direct Drive Appreciation

All general audio posts go here.
User avatar
Latteman
Posts: 1220
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2018 7:20 pm
Location: S. Yorkshire
Has thanked: 553 times
Been thanked: 297 times
Contact:
Great Britain

Japanese Direct Drive Appreciation

Unread post by Latteman »

Having tried many turntables during my hifi obsession most of which were belt drive it’s only been a few years that I’ve come to appreciate direct drive, more specifically quartz lock turntables.
Does anyone else use a direct drive as their main rig?
I have a late 70 / early 80s Hitachi with additional platter and modified tone arm wand converted to manual operation.
My diy head wants to re plinth it and use a longer ?12” arm.
My research seems to favour a Denon or JVC units with a few from Akai and some really rare Yamaha tables
Please share your experiences and current DD set up- do u favour quartz lock or not?
Cheers peter
These users thanked the author Latteman for the post (total 2):
antonio66 (Mon Apr 18, 2022 5:47 am) • CycleCoach (Tue Jul 12, 2022 4:02 pm)
Analogue Source -
Denon DP47f- Ortofon mc20 supreme
Ifi Zen Phono
Doug Self balanced Pre amp
Akai 4000DS mk2 R2R
Digital Sources- IfI stream, Ifi Neo idsd Dac; Tidal / Radio Paradise
Amplification Nva 30vdc mono blocks
Speakers Lii Audio F-15 in Open Baffle; Ls6
Weiduka AC8.8- for digital sources
Mini BMU for analog sources

User avatar
Lindsayt
Posts: 4213
Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2012 9:06 pm
Has thanked: 1079 times
Been thanked: 692 times
Nauru

Re: Japanese Direct Drive Appreciation

Unread post by Lindsayt »

I've been very happy with my EMT 950 German direct drive, for the price I paid for it.

There are other direct drives that I've liked a lot for the prices the owners paid for them. There are loads of direct drives that are worth buying for the right money. And not worth it for the wrong money.

My understanding, based on my experience, as well as the experience of people whose judgement I trust, is that quartz or non quartz is less important than whether the turntable is fully working to manufacturer's specs and whether it has good engineering content to it - mainly from the bearing and motor quality. And what arm, cart, phono amplification, turntable support and location it has.

One thing that's interesting is that EMT found that with their idler turntables, a massive platter with a large flywheel effect sounded best. With their DD a lighter platter sounded best. So that's what they went with. It was something that suprised them at the time they were developing direct drive. For them pragmatism / empiricism ruled over dogmatism.
These users thanked the author Lindsayt for the post:
antonio66 (Mon Apr 18, 2022 5:47 am)

User avatar
Latteman
Posts: 1220
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2018 7:20 pm
Location: S. Yorkshire
Has thanked: 553 times
Been thanked: 297 times
Contact:
Great Britain

Re: Japanese Direct Drive Appreciation

Unread post by Latteman »

Lindsayt wrote: Sun Apr 17, 2022 3:00 pm
One thing that's interesting is that EMT found that with their idler turntables, a massive platter with a large flywheel effect sounded best. With their DD a lighter platter sounded best. So that's what they went with. It was something that suprised them at the time they were developing direct drive. For them pragmatism / empiricism ruled over dogmatism.
Yes that is Interesting 👍🏼
Analogue Source -
Denon DP47f- Ortofon mc20 supreme
Ifi Zen Phono
Doug Self balanced Pre amp
Akai 4000DS mk2 R2R
Digital Sources- IfI stream, Ifi Neo idsd Dac; Tidal / Radio Paradise
Amplification Nva 30vdc mono blocks
Speakers Lii Audio F-15 in Open Baffle; Ls6
Weiduka AC8.8- for digital sources
Mini BMU for analog sources

Stemcor1990
Posts: 351
Joined: Wed Nov 05, 2014 11:06 pm
Has thanked: 6 times
Been thanked: 23 times
Great Britain

Re: Japanese Direct Drive Appreciation

Unread post by Stemcor1990 »

The Doc steered me in the direction of the PIoneer PL71. I currently own 2 of them and they are very nice indeed. There are some good belt drives out there (I like the ceramic platter Regas) but the PL71 just sounds so right.
These users thanked the author Stemcor1990 for the post (total 2):
Latteman (Sun Apr 17, 2022 7:13 pm) • antonio66 (Mon Apr 18, 2022 5:47 am)

Vinyl-ant
Posts: 765
Joined: Sat Jul 01, 2017 12:51 pm
Location: South yorkshire
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 363 times
Contact:
Great Britain

Re: Japanese Direct Drive Appreciation

Unread post by Vinyl-ant »

I have had loads of dd decks, currently i have the jvc ql-y5f and the jbe which uses a matsushita mkl15b motor. Lots of those motors around, in lots of kenwood and trio decks and the technics sl2000. Also in the pioneer pl520 and similar. That motor is a self contained motor, quartzlock and other gubbins can be added externally. Trio used an optical sensor that counted the holes in a disc on the top to control speed. Kind of like an abs sensor.
Jvc motor units are my preferred units, the tt71 is a cracker. Denon dp decks are usually very good, the dp47 is on my list if the jvc packs up as i want a fully auto deck that doesnt use cogs and linkages. Had a dp2550 for a while that used a tape head to count magnetic stripes on the inside of the platter. Very good unit too.
Jvc made the goldmund motors, and the lad dj decks used jvc motors. They are brilliant if you can get one, they have a good jelco arm on them too.
Kenwood kd 990 is utterly superb if you can find one, as is the pioneer pl l1000. Another one i should not have got rid of

Ultimate for me is a trio lo7d, id have to sell alot of lencos though.......
Sony decks... dunno really ive only ever had a ps11 which was passable
These users thanked the author Vinyl-ant for the post (total 4):
Latteman (Sun Apr 17, 2022 7:13 pm) • Lindsayt (Sun Apr 17, 2022 7:54 pm) • antonio66 (Mon Apr 18, 2022 5:47 am) • NSNO2021 (Thu Apr 21, 2022 7:54 pm)
Analogue: oracle delphi sme 309, jbe series 3 cx unipivot dv20x2l, roksan xerxes tabriz vm750, jvc ql-y5f rigb at440, jvc ql-y3f vm750, lenco 75, technics sl150

Phono stages: cole lcr, benedict audio hothead

Digital: cyrus cd7, wiim mini x2, topping e30, jds labs el dac 2+

Amplification: nelson pass b1, nelson pass f5

Speakers: 15" fane aperiodic wardrobes

Cans: myryad z40, hifiman sundara + deva, fostex t50rp, sennheiser momentum on ear +over ear, b&w p5 and p7

antonio66
Posts: 1006
Joined: Mon Jul 29, 2019 8:16 am
Location: Grimsby/Phnom Penh
Has thanked: 1449 times
Been thanked: 408 times
Great Britain

Re: Japanese Direct Drive Appreciation

Unread post by antonio66 »

Did you have a Kenwood kd990 Ant? If so why haven't you still got it?

Vinyl-ant
Posts: 765
Joined: Sat Jul 01, 2017 12:51 pm
Location: South yorkshire
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 363 times
Contact:
Great Britain

Re: Japanese Direct Drive Appreciation

Unread post by Vinyl-ant »

It was the pioneer pl l1000 that i had and shouldnt have got rid of
A friend of mine has the kenwood, i keep trying to buy it off him but he keeps saying no......
These users thanked the author Vinyl-ant for the post:
antonio66 (Tue Apr 19, 2022 5:15 am)
Analogue: oracle delphi sme 309, jbe series 3 cx unipivot dv20x2l, roksan xerxes tabriz vm750, jvc ql-y5f rigb at440, jvc ql-y3f vm750, lenco 75, technics sl150

Phono stages: cole lcr, benedict audio hothead

Digital: cyrus cd7, wiim mini x2, topping e30, jds labs el dac 2+

Amplification: nelson pass b1, nelson pass f5

Speakers: 15" fane aperiodic wardrobes

Cans: myryad z40, hifiman sundara + deva, fostex t50rp, sennheiser momentum on ear +over ear, b&w p5 and p7

User avatar
r3xj0hn570n
Posts: 198
Joined: Fri Jun 25, 2021 4:54 am
Has thanked: 52 times
Been thanked: 129 times
Norfolk Island

Re: Japanese Direct Drive Appreciation

Unread post by r3xj0hn570n »

Latteman wrote: Sun Apr 17, 2022 2:08 pm My research seems to favour a Denon or JVC units with a few from Akai and some really rare Yamaha tables
Please share your experiences and current DD set up- do u favour quartz lock or not?
I've had 3 DD turntables, Kenwood KD650, KD750 and an Akai something or other. The Akai looks good, but no Quartz Lock and ho-hum build quality. Of those 2 omissions i think the build quality is probably more important.

The Kenwoods are remarkable, but beware the arms. They can be good if you rebuilt the bearings. Stock, the bearing surfaces are rubbish and they are almost always improperly adjusted. Once sorted out, they are as good as anything else i've tried, build quality and materials are second to none (magnesium alloy arm tubes, machined plated brass and stainless steel bits, litz wires etc).
These users thanked the author r3xj0hn570n for the post (total 3):
Lindsayt (Tue Apr 19, 2022 8:53 am) • Latteman (Tue Apr 19, 2022 1:03 pm) • NSNO2021 (Thu Apr 21, 2022 7:55 pm)

User avatar
Latteman
Posts: 1220
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2018 7:20 pm
Location: S. Yorkshire
Has thanked: 553 times
Been thanked: 297 times
Contact:
Great Britain

Re: Japanese Direct Drive Appreciation

Unread post by Latteman »

I was looking at a couple of decks from Akai- an AP 206 & AP 306. They look decent on photos
There is a Harksound hs 610 locally but info is rare
Analogue Source -
Denon DP47f- Ortofon mc20 supreme
Ifi Zen Phono
Doug Self balanced Pre amp
Akai 4000DS mk2 R2R
Digital Sources- IfI stream, Ifi Neo idsd Dac; Tidal / Radio Paradise
Amplification Nva 30vdc mono blocks
Speakers Lii Audio F-15 in Open Baffle; Ls6
Weiduka AC8.8- for digital sources
Mini BMU for analog sources

User avatar
tweet_my_ribbon
Posts: 157
Joined: Sat Nov 25, 2017 7:33 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 33 times

Re: Japanese Direct Drive Appreciation

Unread post by tweet_my_ribbon »

My first DD turntable was a Sony I'd picked up at a second hand shop for £30-40 in early 90's. It had the strobe light and a varispeed knob. I didn't really know what I had at the time and didn't have it long before buying a new Dual belt drive deck. Wish I'd hung onto the Sony, Ah well.

Years later after my AR deck died, a move to Technics SL1210 mk2 got me hooked to quartz Direct Drive. I'm on my second and had it reconditioned last year by technics service/ Dansette. With that and the Jelco headshell + AT mm cartridge records sound great. I find the standard Technics tonearm works very well.
These users thanked the author tweet_my_ribbon for the post:
Latteman (Wed Apr 20, 2022 3:40 pm)
NVA amps, speakers, interconnects & speaker cables produce the music.

With help from Technics, Audio Technica, Jelco, Hana, Musical Fidelity, Sony, Cyrus & Soneteer.

Post Reply