Building high-end 'tables cheap at Home Despot II

Hello JEAN !!
So good to get word from you... and of the world wide Lenco campaign. How very refreshing to read a long rant... been quite a while.

Good Luck in your travels - and let's hope the pieces finally come together for "The Review" !

...and DO get home safely when all is said and done !
Cheers...
Grant

Gentlemen,

Andre Hanekom put a Garrard 301 inside a radically custom plinth fifteen years ago, and many people in the Far East have been making "monster plinths" for decades. The idea is not at all a new one, nor is direct coupling, etc. What is new is the proliferation of idler project photos on the Internet from various sources. Most of the ones that would entice a manufacturer to consider an idler option to his current lineup are those expensive Garrards exhibited by those who consider cost not to be an object. While it is true that Lenco building was partly responsible for idler interest, Lenco builders cannot lay claim to the current state of affairs regarding decisions made by manufacturers, in spite of all the hype and hoopla propagated about the Lenco's merits by certain individuals. Dropping an old turntable inside a huge block of wood sounds like a great idea, but it is not the panacea some would have you believe. It would be nice if turntable design was that easy, but that simply isn't the case.

Regards,

Hi Jean, if nothing else, your rants are always entertaining and...long. Thanks.

I want to add some info to your Teres Rim Drive bank. To say Teres is half way there compared to the Lenco/other idlers shows your lack of understanding here. In fact, the Teres unit takes the idler into the 21st century and beyond. Removing the idler removes one more source of noise. To knock it for lack of torque is misleading and laugable. The motor for the Teres Rim Drive has an amazing amount of torque on tap AND it is adjustable! It can turn a 70+ pound platter. Yet it is small enough to be exceptionally quiet. Speed stability is tops. I have seen and heard it. The adjustable torque feature is quite handy. It allows the listener to dial in the sound that suits their taste. Want your ZYX to sound more like a Koetsu? Dial down the torque. Want a little more dynamics, simple, turn it up. All this while maintaining absolute speed control. Too much torque is as bad as too little, trust me. Very easy to hear.

As good as the Lenco motor is, the Teres motor makes the Lenco motor look and sound like the relic it is. Why does the Lenco need an 80 pound plinth? To cover up the noise and harmonics generated by our beloved four pound Lenco motor, that's why. A heavy plinth is nothing more than a Band-Aid for a noisy motor, barely adequate bearing and harmonically challenged top plate. Downside to the Teres...$1690. Then again, some would call it a bargain. I have heard less improvement in sound that cost many times more.

Having said that, I don't mean to knock the Lenco or other idlers. This is NOT an "attack the Lenco/idler thing". Things just need to be put into perspective, thats all. I own many different idlers so I can hear them for myself in my system. I don't care which table costs more or has more status. The best two sounding tables earn their way into my system. Period. I have tremendous respect for these great pieces of audio history. They still can make a lot of modern and exspensive belt drives sound absolutely broken! No question. And when on a budget, the Lenco is THE king of the hill. I will always own a Garrard 301 and 401, EMT 930 and most likely a Lenco or two. But they are not in my system. If you think that nothing can beat a Lenco, even in a giant plinth, your head is buried somewhere my friend.

Cheers, Steve

There is a big difference between not liking the Lenco and not liking a reality-twisting gasbag. Disdaining one and appreciating the other seems to be widely practiced.

Steve, So are you saying that you personally have compared a Teres rim driven tt to a max'd out Lenco or Garrard and that the results are resoundingly in favor of the former? If not, then aren't you being as guilty as Jean of turntable Chauvinism? But if you have done the comparison, under valid conditions, I'd like to know.