Direct action

摘要

I must confess that I was excited by the news that Technics has now resumed producing a high-quality direct-drive turntable in the form of the SL-1200G and limited edition SL-1200CAE [see HFN Jun '16]. As an engineer I tend to believe that the simplest and most 'direct' method of achieving a given aim will usually be the best. Cables, for example, should be as short as possible and signal paths contain as few devices as is feasible. There should be no avoidable conversions or processes. For the same reason, I've always preferred direct drive as the preferred method for rotating a turntable. Of course, in terms of practical engineering, it will be the levels of design skill and manufacturing care that are brought to bear that eventually determine how well the result will perform. Hence, carefully made belt- or idler-wheel driven turntables can also work superbly well and I'm as impressed as anyone by some of the non-direct drive designs on offer.