The following comments were inspired by a thread on an audio forum - in response to a question about whether a new cartridge would
effect a larger improvement than a drive system upgrade. In advising this individual, the quality of the manufacturer's upgrade
was unknown to us, but we felt it important to convey the principles as we have observed them in action.
I continually wrestle with the question: when are you trying to put too much cartridge on your turntable? The old Linn hierarchy
(turntable, then arm, then cartridge) is valid IMHO, but it is not an absolute one.
One thing is certain, that speed control counts for a lot, and you will hear it in ways that are far more subtle (and yet equally important)
than merely gross characteristics like wow and flutter.
With each improvement we made to our drive system, we heard better top end extension, smoother highs (not a paradox), tighter, and yet more
harmonically dense bass. This last attribute may seem a bit odd, but take this in conjunction with the extended highs, and it will make
sense to you. Bass harmonics are after all, upper frequencies overlaying the fundamentals.
A while ago, there was a review of the Rockport Sirius turntable on International Audio
Review.
If you can wade through Moncrief's wordiness and redundancies, his point will bring this concept home ... that minute speed
instabilities will show themselves as FM distortion ... kind of like the analog equivalent of jitter. This is the reason that
getting the speed right will smooth out and extend the highs.
Here is a provocative quote from that review:
"Moreover, the distortions due to turntable speed errors could actually be more pernicious than those due to cartridge imperfections.
Cartridge distortions tend to be amplitude distortions, thus producing harmonic distortion (some of which is actually psychoacoustically
benign) and amplitude modulation distortion (due to the fact that music, being complex, contains many frequencies at once).
But turntable speed errors predominantly produce a different kind of modulation distortion, called frequency modulation distortion.
Pioneering work by Paul Klipsch 50 years ago already found that this FM distortion is more pernicious than AM distortion, being more
audible and more objectionable in smaller amounts."
Know that as I write this, I have stopped selling motor controllers separately ... it takes me too much time. I state this from the
perspective of good sound, and not from that of selling you a controller.
The question of course arises as to whether your manufacturer's drive system upgrade is a significant one. This is a question I cannot
answer for you.
What I can state unequivocally is that a drive system UPGRADE will yield enormous returns. Coupled with the fact that your current
cartridge is to your liking, I'd seriously investigate a drive system upgrade.
