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After market Motor + Belt drive for Verdier

I have been looking to upgrade my TT motor and belt drive for some time now. I use a Nouvelle Verdier and its only sore point is its motor and silk thread drive. It is not bad, it gets the job done. The sound is neat and in general non-offensive. However, when I used a 0.25 inch magnetic tape (reel to reel) to drive the platter the overall sound became more dynamic, voices sounded younger, instruments sounded happier. It was as if the pitch of all the instruments became more realistic. But then I also heard more of the irregularities of the motor rotation, the timing of instruments messed up a little. The background was no more as clean as the thread drive.

This told me two things:
1. Silk thread is good but it affects music in a way that makes the performance a bit sleepy.

2. The stock motor is not good enough to accommodate a tighter coupling with the platter.

So, I am now looking for after market motor and belt drive solution. I looked at Teres motor but for that to work they require a sensor to be placed under the platter but my TT doesnt have enough gap between the platter and plinth to place the sensor. I am looking for some viable suggestions here.

A friend of mine suggested me to consider a flywheel between the motor and the platter which will absorb the motor irregularities. I dont know if it is worth a try because I see many good TTs do not have a flywheel, that means a good motor is all I need I guess but I am open to the flywheel idea also.
pani
rugyboogie
178 posts
 
Motor that I have tried is a Scheu DC motor which I bought from Signature Audio when they were closing as a back up motor.
Another Brick and Motor store gone.....
No improvement in the sound and the speed stability wasn't as good as the Philips motor in the Verdier.
Test for speed was the Timeline.

Agree with CT0517 re the height of the thread drive being low on the platter gives the best results. Also the mentioned washers for the motor are a must as well.
Threads that have given me the best results are un-waxed dental floss
and silk thread.
The stock linen thread supplied by Verdier is very good but the rubber belt is not to my liking at all.

Have tried several types of materials for a base/platform for my Verdier.
Found that I am happiest with the Brazilian cherry.
Base material that I have tried are Baltic birch, Douglas Fir ply, caramelized Bamboo, Black Slate and Black South African granite and various combination of the above.

A dedicated battery option peaks my interest.
Anyone interested in getting one made as a group purchase?
ct0517's avatar
ct0517
1,798 posts
 
That is great info Topoxforddoc and Rugyboogie. Thanks for sharing.
Am also Interested in the battery option as a next step.
Count me in for any kind of group buy that gets considered.
pani OP
1,049 posts
 
I think it is not just the motor but also what is used to connect the motor to the platter plays a big role. A Mylar tape or reel to reel tape goes a long way in telling what exactly the silk thread is missing on. If any of you guys happen to try that, please share your views.

Regarding battery, a friend of mine uses photovoltaic cells and claims it is the cleanest he has heard. It is cheap also. He has placed a 300 watt halogen light just above the photovoltaic cell to generate power on the fly. I wonder what is the additional benefit of using $1500 battery supply over using a simple hospital grade deep cycle batteries which costs less than $200 !!!

For the TT platform I am thinking about two options, either a acoustic revive rhb-20 solid hickory board or a Yamamoto soundcraft qb100 cherry board.
rugyboogie
178 posts
 
Hi Pani
Just curious how the magnetic 1/4" reel to reel tape engages on the stock motor's brass spindle. Does the tape fold into a V shape as the motor turns 33.3 rpm ?
Thanks,
pani OP
1,049 posts
 
Hi RugyBoogie,
I have tried folding the tape into the V shape, I also tried pushing the tape all the way down where there is a flat surface to just about hold the tape width. I also got another brass capstan made which has a flat groove just to accommodate the tape width. The important thing to note is the effect this tape drive has on the sound. If you read my post right at the top I have mentioned that the instruments sound "happier" and voices sound "younger" as they actually should. It is not a tone change, it is a more fundamental change, it is something to do with the pitch of the voices and instruments. If you have ever heard a master tape or even a good Nakamichi tape deck playing cassettes, there is a certain agility with which instruments springs to life, instruments have realistic weight but never sounds over weight. Something similar happens when the tape drive is connected and that is exactly what I miss with the silk thread drive. It is a fundamental thing. If you listen to music you have grown up with you will know this instantly, you will not know this on lesser known music or typically audiophile music (Diana Krall types). Verdier is a TT for life if these things are fixed, no doubt about it. Only thing is, after paying $10k for a TT, one would like to settle down and not fiddle around to get things right, that feeling some times weighs me down.
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