Showdown; Direct Drive verses Belt Drive - two oldies go at it
Technics SL-3200 direct drive verses Dual CS 503-1 belt drive
Technics SL-3200 direct drive TT (non-quartz) with Grado F-1+
Old Thread with pictures:
http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?8027-Technics-SL-3200
Felt mat; plus Sota clamp equals congested upper midrange, and a smaller stage than it should be. It’s as if the room sounds over dampened or overly treated with sound panels, especially between the speakers. A lack of depth, very mid-Fi sounding, a tad sluggish and lethargic. I double checked the speed on the strobe light and made an ever so slight adjustment just in case.
Felt mat without Sota clamp; is more open and better paced, less like it’s batteries are running down or like an instrument slightly out of tune. It just didn’t like that clamp at all with the felt mat in use.
No felt mat; even better, it’s opening up and the bass while not quite dynamic as the Dual, it is profound without being overbearing or muddy.
No felt mat with Sota clamp; is the best sound out of this turntable by a far measure, getting to the higher end sound at long last. The bass is dry and tight, the midrange has adequate punch, and the upper end does not offend.
Overall, the potential of this turntable to overtake the Dual is there. However the Dual has been extensively modified over a number of years (to admittedly my own tastes), and has a $400 Grado Sonata cartridge, and $300 Cardas Neutral Reference interconnect.
The Technics is burdened with stock interconnects, female to female adapters and new not yet broken in patch wires (pretty good quality and a great value) which I bought for a couple of bucks on sale over the Internet. In addition, the ground wire which was also jumped and extended had to be played with to avoid hum.
Dual CS 503-1 belt drive TT with Grado Sonta and Audioquest SorboGel mat
Old threads with photos – below:
http://www.martinloganowners.com/fo...y-TT-gained-eight-pounds-today&highlight=Dual
http://www.martinloganowners.com/fo...-Turntable-Mods-Bolt-on-Add-on&highlight=Dual
About the Dual, shouty or hyperactive compared to the more recessed and at times self assured Technics, perhaps it’s running a little fast? If using the bass and lower midrange levels as an equal measure of loudness, the upper end is louder than the Technics.
It’s sort of like it’s trying a bit too hard, the energy levels are a bit animated at times. The room acoustics seemed to have shifted from medium to a more hard and lively environment. This is compared with the sources of FM radio and CD’s which were used to tune the room initially (not to mention use of a newly built audio rack). In the past I’ve used both CD’s and LP’s to tune the room’s acoustics as there is some differences to be noted. Typically the CD’s are a bit brighter and splashy, but this is not the case this time.
Open air and great soundstage, as forward as you can get with electrostatic loudspeakers (yet just right), at least from what I’ve experienced.
You end up following the tom tom’s in the drum kit verses the guitar bass line as the Technics will lead you into doing.
The Dual bass is more plump and full bodied and believable, not as dry as the Technics. I’d characterize it as rich and punchy.
Conclusion:
Overall speaking; if I could combine the best of the two turntables, I’d take most of the energy and all of the openness of the Dual with the steady pace and assuredness of the guitar bass line found with the Technics.
Neither turntable could ever be modified to the point of being truly “Hi-End”, however great pleasure can be derived from them “as is”.
If I wanted to just sit down and play an album, I’d hook up the Dual, no question about it.
Disclaimer:
I have to check the anti-skating on both turntables. Also I’d like to run my Cardas LP to defrag the system.
The biggest flaw in this preliminary review? I used one LP, one song on a fairly processed recording. The first song on Crowed House’s self titled album, the song title is “World Where You Live”. I just happened to grab it, it’s not even on my list of reference LP’s which I typically use, but there you have it, my initial impressions.
Technics SL-3200 direct drive verses Dual CS 503-1 belt drive
Technics SL-3200 direct drive TT (non-quartz) with Grado F-1+
Old Thread with pictures:
http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?8027-Technics-SL-3200
Felt mat; plus Sota clamp equals congested upper midrange, and a smaller stage than it should be. It’s as if the room sounds over dampened or overly treated with sound panels, especially between the speakers. A lack of depth, very mid-Fi sounding, a tad sluggish and lethargic. I double checked the speed on the strobe light and made an ever so slight adjustment just in case.
Felt mat without Sota clamp; is more open and better paced, less like it’s batteries are running down or like an instrument slightly out of tune. It just didn’t like that clamp at all with the felt mat in use.
No felt mat; even better, it’s opening up and the bass while not quite dynamic as the Dual, it is profound without being overbearing or muddy.
No felt mat with Sota clamp; is the best sound out of this turntable by a far measure, getting to the higher end sound at long last. The bass is dry and tight, the midrange has adequate punch, and the upper end does not offend.
Overall, the potential of this turntable to overtake the Dual is there. However the Dual has been extensively modified over a number of years (to admittedly my own tastes), and has a $400 Grado Sonata cartridge, and $300 Cardas Neutral Reference interconnect.
The Technics is burdened with stock interconnects, female to female adapters and new not yet broken in patch wires (pretty good quality and a great value) which I bought for a couple of bucks on sale over the Internet. In addition, the ground wire which was also jumped and extended had to be played with to avoid hum.
Dual CS 503-1 belt drive TT with Grado Sonta and Audioquest SorboGel mat
Old threads with photos – below:
http://www.martinloganowners.com/fo...y-TT-gained-eight-pounds-today&highlight=Dual
http://www.martinloganowners.com/fo...-Turntable-Mods-Bolt-on-Add-on&highlight=Dual
About the Dual, shouty or hyperactive compared to the more recessed and at times self assured Technics, perhaps it’s running a little fast? If using the bass and lower midrange levels as an equal measure of loudness, the upper end is louder than the Technics.
It’s sort of like it’s trying a bit too hard, the energy levels are a bit animated at times. The room acoustics seemed to have shifted from medium to a more hard and lively environment. This is compared with the sources of FM radio and CD’s which were used to tune the room initially (not to mention use of a newly built audio rack). In the past I’ve used both CD’s and LP’s to tune the room’s acoustics as there is some differences to be noted. Typically the CD’s are a bit brighter and splashy, but this is not the case this time.
Open air and great soundstage, as forward as you can get with electrostatic loudspeakers (yet just right), at least from what I’ve experienced.
You end up following the tom tom’s in the drum kit verses the guitar bass line as the Technics will lead you into doing.
The Dual bass is more plump and full bodied and believable, not as dry as the Technics. I’d characterize it as rich and punchy.
Conclusion:
Overall speaking; if I could combine the best of the two turntables, I’d take most of the energy and all of the openness of the Dual with the steady pace and assuredness of the guitar bass line found with the Technics.
Neither turntable could ever be modified to the point of being truly “Hi-End”, however great pleasure can be derived from them “as is”.
If I wanted to just sit down and play an album, I’d hook up the Dual, no question about it.
Disclaimer:
I have to check the anti-skating on both turntables. Also I’d like to run my Cardas LP to defrag the system.
The biggest flaw in this preliminary review? I used one LP, one song on a fairly processed recording. The first song on Crowed House’s self titled album, the song title is “World Where You Live”. I just happened to grab it, it’s not even on my list of reference LP’s which I typically use, but there you have it, my initial impressions.
