Da Vinci AAS Gabriel

I know that this will lead to nothing but more questions, but nevertheless:
- operating the Verdier TT with a thread/string and minimal grip will minimize the requirements to the motor and maximize the benefit of the platters inertia to give excellent constant speed.
The one "key" to great results (very constant speed with literally no alternations) in high mass platters is "belt" (read: thread/string) drive with minimal grip/tension. The inertia does the job - and it does it better or the equal of the very best direct coupling/controller.
But it does so with the minimum vibration and literally no alternation in speed (due to motor/controller regulations, belt grip in conjunction with speed up and slow down due to belt inert velocity etc.).
There are 2 way to get good constant speed:
- low mass platter with low inertia driven by high quality and high torque motor/w controller (many examples - direct drive and idler drive and hybrid concepts by Denon, Sony, Luxman, EMT etc in the 1970ies/1980ies and later).
- high mass platter with high inertia and very low grip thread drive.

If you want to go with a low platter weight - fine.
But that will get you nowhere close to what is possible, due to the inner resonance of the low mass platter introduced by the tracking process itself.
You can try to dampen that with mats etc. - thats why so many TT's do benefit from tuning mats to a high degree.
Still - you won't get really dynamic low register, no "air" in the bass line, no real speed and a rather muddy and "warm" upper bass.
But many do like that.

D.T.
y.s.:
>> If you want to go with a low platter weight - fine. <<

Not necessarily, in fact I have this suspicion from what I heard this far, there is once again some trade-of going on here.
I have heard the 'musical' mass-platters close to what you mention (alas not with loosish string), - and very 'fast' lower-mass-platters ~ 4.5kg, that can sound a bit 'restless' even nervous like.
So Thomas, where he sees it, seems a bit unclear to me, but since he likes to 'stir the pot' he may like AND dislike both, in the fashion of a true chilled out cynic?

In the case of a ~ mass-platter (of sorts), Transrotor Z3 with a jolly tense neoprene belt, it goes as much the route pretty of a Thorens 2010 arrangement.

Then we have the 'Platine Verdier' with yet heavier platter and a rather LONG, no-stretch Kevlar? string. (Tensioning and length is up to the user - like how long is your rack space?)

If I'd have to pick between the 3, I guess I'd be still looking at the 'Verdier' rather.
Then we have the SME system, fast, dynamic --- BUT not necessarily all what you'd call a: really dynamic low register, [or] "air" in the bass line, YMMV.

Now, so we wont loose the thread subject -- where do our 2 contenders, TW & Da Vinci, fall into the scheme of things?

Note: I once tried a no-stretch string in place of a square (stretchy belt) on a RPM 9 ----> result: Plain awful...
Greetings,

Axel, ...... back to the object of this thread: in terms of both - craftsmanship and tooling - I would go for the Raven (but I don't need to....).
Both - Raven (whatever incarnation) as well as Gabriel do both desperately need a working isolation to be able to show their merits.
Putting them "hard-coded" on any solid ground/shelf, rack means simply giving (rather throwing....) away 50% of the possible performance.

As for the RPM 9 with thread.
It needs some experience to get the right "feel" (if you don't have the right equipment) as far as the thread tension goes. Too much - pretty bad. Too less - pretty bad too...
"Right" tension - pretty amazing......

And yes - I would take the Verdier any time above the two contenders.
Preferably a Verdier made prior to 1993.

Dertonarm,

Did you ever test the Verdier for stray magnetic fields above the platter that would in fact negatively impact a cartridges performance by interfering with the cartridges magnetics?

Dgad,
yes - I did. About 18 years ago. First I was suspicious about this too. The big magnetic rings relatively close to the tiny magnets inside the cartridge,....hmmm.

However, - as the tests showed (and some measurements done at the technical high school Munich) the 2 magnetic rings are embedded inside two steel "rings" which do very effectively shield the magnetic field - at least from dispensing vertically towards the platter surface.
There was no detectable interaction with the magnets in cartridges nor did the test show any induced hum.
It performed flawless with a very wide range of cartridges from Ortofon MC-5000, Supex, Koetsu, FR, Grasshopper v.d.Hul, Dynavector,Kiseki, Ikeda EMPL, SPU and Miyabi.
The Verdier is a fairly "raw" concept and was from its very beginnings as a DIY-project introduced in the late 1970ies in the french L'Audiophile-magazine. It is however a smart design which gives - proper set-up - extremely good sonic results and has some very clever design features which all do work for the better in performance (if not in looks....).

The versions built prior to 1993 are sonically better to later production.
The versions with pure magnetic bearing in the horizontal plane - no added ball.
I am referring to the La Platine Verdier only.