Itchy finger and suddenly I have a Technics SL10

Nice one. I've listened to some of the needle-drops you've posted, and was impressed

Do you think you've got a good handle now on the different ways both belt-drive and direct-drive T/Ts present music, and if so, how would you define it?

Marco.

 

Probably more from using the the Micro DDX1000 a few years ago than the SL10.

The Micro replaced a Gyro SMEIV and using the same arm I'd say that the Micro was better in terms of drive and solidity - exactly where it should excel. The gyro had a bigger and looser sound. Tonally and dynamically not much in it.

Things get interesting however with the P9 that came next and actually had much of the Micro bass drive and stability IMO.
It sounds uncharacteristically tight for a belt drive TT, though lacking a sprung sub chassis definitely helps to it's half way there.

So I think there is crossover with belt v DD and that the drive system alone is no guarantee of obtaining certain characteristics.

What has become clear to me in recent years is that had DD received a better and less biased press, we'd probably not have suffered two decades of 'me too' belt drive creations.
The best DD systems were clearly superb back in the day, and negative press effectively curtailed further development.

 

Yup, but I was thinking mainly from your experiences of using both the SL-10 and P9, and thus being able to compare them directly in the same system on a daily basis

Drive and solidity (and also stability) is in my experience what quality D/Ds excel at, and as you say, for very good reasons.

I think the P9 is one of the better 'low/medium mass' belt-drive T/Ts on the market, and completely devoid of the 'plummy', ultimately rather coloured, sonic signature I hear with many of the breed.

Totally agree.

Before getting into the whole modified Techy thing, when I had a P5 with T/T PSU, Audio Origami stripped, polished and rewired RB700 (with customised brass counterweight balance), and Funk Firm Achroplat, I auditioned both the P7 and P9, at length, and very nearly went for the P9, as I thought it was excellent.

However, considering the cost involved, and having at that point recently had my interest in modifying the Techy piqued from reading threads about the KAB mods on a few American forums, I decided to abandon belt-drive T/Ts and go the D/D route. And of course the rest is history....

Absolutely. A T/T, like any hi-fi system, is only as good as its weakest link. What one hears in the final analysis is the cumulative effect of the sum of its parts, and not simply that of one single part in isolation.

Oh how I agree... Best not to get me started on that one, though!

Marco.