Dear Ebm, it depends - bearing friction doesn't necessarily means increased noise. In some of the smarter designs bearing friction is introduced by oil bath, eddy current and the like to increase speed stability and damping of platter. But some of the other semi-pro's here on Audiogon will (and have already during this thread) tell you more about this. If bearing friction goes with increased noise (= low quality bearing) however I do agree with you - thats a bad design.
Tables That Feature Bearing Friction
I recently had the opportunity to audition the DPS turntable which, unlike most tables, has a certain amount of friction designed into the bearing. This, when paired with a high quality/high torque motor, is said to allow for greater speed stability--sort of like shifting to a lower gear when driving down a steep hill and allowing the engine to provide some breaking effect and thus greater vehicular stability. I am intrigued by this idea and was wondering what other people thought about this design approach. Are there other tables which use this bearing principal? One concern I have is that by introducing friction you may also be introducing noise. Comments?
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- 177 posts total
- 177 posts total