Anybody heard Galibier or JC Verdier turntables?

Thom, aren't you supposed to be studying or something? :)

Nghiep, if you go to the third page of the recent thread "Is direct drive really better?" and read the first post from Teres and then my post right after and you'll understand.

Come to Denver with some of us May 13 and find out for yourself what a Galibier and Teres have to offer. Sorry, you'll have to find out what the PV sounds like on yer own. :)

Doug, your comments leave me wondering about bearings and the experiments you mentioned that Chris had tried. Thom is off, I believe to Toronto for the week, so we may not get a response from Galibier about bearing life. I know that you're probably considering that the Teres and Galibier bearing are similar, but I wonder how much they have grown apart.

I know Basis also uses a fairly hefty platter on their higher end tables. Those bearing last for quite some time. I have to admit I don't know the details of the differences in bearing designs between the tables discussed here.

SirSpeedy, I feel your pain. I've been 'table-less for nearly six months and as of last Wednesday my system is totally down.

I agree with you about bearing wear not being much of an issue on most any of the higher end tables. Including many we haven't mentioned here. As for bearing design I think it is one of those parts of 'table design that is dependant on many other things. For example, some designers use the bearing to sink vibrations away from the cartridge. I'm sure Walker and the JC designer have other methods for dealing with platter vibrations. IMHO, it is alot like the debate in another thread about what is the best drive design and as Thom pointed out to me about suspension vs non-suspension designs. It all comes down to how well the complete design is implemented.

Rugyboogie,

Those who can are traveling to Boulder that weekend to hear Galibier, Schroeder, Dynavector, Teres and what ever else can be squeezed in. I'm in the market for a table as well, others want to hear tonearms. Chris, of Teres, is orgainizing an open house the night of the 13th and has told us he'll have a new direct drive offering as the top-o'-the-line Teres. All who can make it are welcome. Certainly a great opportunity to meet many great people. I believe there will be reps from a couple of speaker builders as well. Should be great fun!

I won't presume to speak for Thom, or Chris, but I can't help but think that what may be at work hear is the change in bearing surface contact area as the delrin thrust plate breaks in. That is to say, we first start with an extremely small point of contact that as break-in occurs grows to an optimum surface area where further wear is greatly reduced over time. Or, perhaps there is some material in this area of the thrust plate that is meant to give way during break-in.

I forget what it's called, but I remember there was such a material on crank shaft bearings that was meant to safely wear away during normal break-in of stock motors. We used to carefully polish that off when assembling race motors.

Chris,

that really sounds amazing from an engineering perspective! I hope you have display ready to explain the load bearing capability of the motor. :) That is, if we have time between enjoying great music!

I'm really looking forward to May 13!