lejonklou wrote:To determine what appears to be interesting, I listen to other people's comments. If people comment a product with subjective descriptions of sound or HiFi jargon only, my interest is not aroused. If someone says it performs well when evaluated with the Tune Method, I get excited.
Now, as you have experience with the OL kit and participate in a forum where we judge performance with the Tune Method, you have a unique position to tell us how they perform! Please do, in particular the DC motor upgrade for the LP12 as that was what springwood64 asked about.
Well, the problem is that I don't use the tune methodology to survey musical qualities natural to live music. I'm not suggesting its either right or wrong, it certainly not for me. After 30 years plus of demoing audio equipment, I've developed my own criteria, and therefore my own set of sonic expectations.
To me, music, either live or recreated, is based on instrumental tonality and impact. IMO, the job of any great audio system is to recreate that reality, especially during difficult peak conditions. It must also communicate on an emotional or physical level, it must boogie and flow (some refer to flow as "PRAT" (pace rhythm & timing)).
So ... I'm incapable to relate the OL motor options to tune dem. What I can relate is my experience ...
The OL motor installation is not as quite as simple as many at OL have suggested. OK, certainly, its not difficult in the sense that its basically a bolt on component. But the difficulty is fine-tuning it to your respective table to get the best performance. On non-suspended decks, its relatively easy to set-up correctly. With suspended decks, it requires a certain level of understanding to get just right. If done properly, the noise floor should drop accordingly, allowing you to hear into the music far more easily. The soundstage grows in every dimension, and instruments have true impact.
As for its musical flow or timing characteristics, things get a bit more interesting. I can hear the difference between good direct drive and belt drive tables, suspended or non-suspended tables. Many suspended tables suffer accordingly in this respect, especially if the suspension does not limit, quickly damp, or convert horizontal movement or modes.
This is one of the most overlooked aspects of any sprung suspension, especially the three-point LP12. In fact, the proper orientation of each spring in relation to each other (each spring has a "spine") is a key to how well they relate proper or correct musical timing.
Anyway, when done correctly, the DC OL motors offer exception performance. The sonic differences between the advanced DC100 or DC200 ultra kit are more obviously understood when mounted on the better or best setup decks, but the difference in turntable quality remains more important.
The DC motors can also be fine tuned for proper speed adjustment. This has proved to be important, because temperature change will alter speed, especially if the bearing uses a viscous oil.
Sorry that I can't respond in tunedem mode, but what I can say is that the OL kits, when installed with care and understanding, recreate the musical properties that I value, very well.
Spitfire