EMT 927 vs. Micro Seiki 5000 or 8000 - different?

Nandric Being born in the new world to a German mother and Scottish father the influence of both cultures I guess made me this way, no harm intended at all and yes we arein full agreement.
Mark

"Does anyone know what is so special about the big M-S turntables, apart from their obvious build quality, which can after all be matched by several of today's high end belt drive turntables?"

Hi Lew,

In my opinion, the string drive, combined with high mass and speed control, is key to the performance of those turntables. The string is a limited, or more properly described as a calculated, slip. A typical belt drive has inherent belt creep that is difficult to overcome, so it is typically less accurate overall. That means a string drive is easier to control for accuracy, and Micro Seiki made a competent controller for that task. Then, the mass does its job with inertia and resonance control. All that makes for a very good turntable, and the other features are lesser in importance, but because of their precision play an important role.

Caveat: Note my use of "in my opinion" and "typically" in this post. I have heard some exceedingly good belt drives that are more traditional in their construction. The Fairchild 750 is one example, but there are others.

Dear Mosin, dear Lewm, dear In_shore, while I myself are quite an admirer of the Micro Seiki skeleton turntables (RX-1500 g-versions, RX-3000, RX-5000 and SX-8000 in particular), I nevertheless understand the initial "cold welcome" it received from HP and others back in the early 1980ies in the US.
Many reviewers back then favored the LP12 and an unsuspended MS with an untreated platter is certainly sound-wise not to everybody's liking (it is not to mine ...).
The bell-shape of the Micro Seiki's platter (each of the above safe for the SX-8000 w/stainless steel platter and glued glass platter underneath for the air bearing) is certainly not the best possible. Have a look at the photos of Syntax' RX-5000 to get an impression what I mean. A RX-5000 with solid platter on top of it's stock platter is a completely different beast and gives a shocking improve to the MS's sound performance.
What is needed further to really explore the possibilities of the Micro Seiki is a good suspension.
Use a Vibraplane (Kinetic Systems) or Minus-K with additional load and you will explore an all new sonic experience with the Micro Seiki.
Micro Seiki itself realized it late in it's history and the SX-8000 II came with a floating pad (at least an attempt in the right direction).
As it stands, a stock RX-1500G, RX-3000, RX-5000 or SX-8000 is a turntable with incredibly built quality and some real smart ideas topped with a time-less form-follows-function design.
To really show off it's sonic possibilities however a few points (suspension, platter) need to be addressed carefully.
In stock condition it is sonically only 60% of what is possible.
Cheers,
D.
P.S. to put the principle of inertia w/ string/thread drive to perfect function is another topic. It works - and when it does it is really stunning. But it is too often misunderstood and not applied correctly.

Dertonam,

Just to add my 2 cents - turntables owned - Linn, Pink Triangle, Sota, Oracle, Well Tempered, Roksan, Garrard 301 - current turntable used and much preferred is the Final Labs Parthenon - this is like a micro seiki steroids. It is in fact the same turntable used by my friend Warwick Mickell who was the Foreign Correspondent for The Absolute Sound Magazine in the early years.
The key improvements over the Micro's are - solid base ( SPZ some composite alloy/lead ) solid platter ( not a bell ) with inverted bearing, copper mat ( twice the weight of the micto's ), and most importantly the reconstructed ac power generator & thread drive for accurate speed control.
Kitamura the designer was most upset by the TAS review by HP as the turntable was reviewed mounted on an air suspension.
The design wicks energy away from the record and a rigid platform is recommended. The base I use that Kitamura recommended is a plinth of crushed stoned which is highly compressed in a torsion box. I also run the belt on the same plane as the bearing point.
I think no suspension is a key to the design as well.

Hello Dertonarm,
While it may be that we do not agree on some things 100%, this time we do. Maybe sometime, just maybe, we can hear each others turntables, and see if we like the flavors. I suspect we will. :)