A buddy of mine had a friend hook me up with his 3300 turntable that he didn't use anymore.

I have 2 8002s-maybe the best(?)- but couldn't pass it up-maybe I can get someone else addicted-misery loves company!

But I didn't know much about it so I checked the library..........and this string drive POS has better (-5dB) noise numbers than the 4000, 4002, 8000, 8002!! I don't want to believe it!  WTF (and keep this under your hat-don't let this get out)

 

 

Completely true - the last of the tangentials had the best figures. However if you listen to them, the story is different. The wow and flutter on the 8000 type decks is still of course far superior, though what bearing this has is debatable.

As with most figures, above a certain level, the numbers are not important, but your ears are! It is like modern cars - they are made to do well in tests.

My Beogram 3000 Thorens has pretty poor figures but will show any other Beogram the way home. Equally the Beolab 5000 system has what would be thought of as average figures but with the right set up sounds brilliant.

The old adage stands - listen with your ears.

Phil,

You seem to assume that beltdrive automatically would make the 3300 an inferior turntable. That's not the case - it's much easier to build a decent beltdriven turntable than a directdriven one. The reason to why the 8002 sounds better than the 3300 has probably much more to do with the rest of the construction. There are so many factors involved in the soundquality of turntables, and while some turntables may have more noise & rumble (coming from the bearings and motor) they might still sound better due to better match between tonearm and cartridge. I'd say it's complicated :-)

The 8000 is of course an oddity as it has no normal motor, instead using a linear induction coil - therefore the rumble is minimal and the bearing is also a good one. However the point about belt drive is a good one. A lot of the figures in Hi-Fi are beyond what a normal person can distinguish and therefore are often simply about beating the competition.

Yes. My point (that got lost, hehe) is that it is easier to build a good beltdrive than a good directdrive turntable. I think that the two methods are capable of similar results (when we're talking no-compromise systems), but directdrive is more complicated and that's why it's generally easier/cheaper to build a cheap but good beltdriven turntable.

As Peter says, the 800x drive construction is a good one, and the 3300 is also quite good despite its modest construction. I actually think that the real difference in perceived soundquality (not the measurements discussed earlier) between these two turntables mainly has to do with the tonearm construction and the tonearm-cartridge matching.

One thing that bothers me with the Beograms is the beautiful but "strange" platters. I wonder how much the soundquality could be improved by using a platter with better support for the record. People whose ears I trust claims that the choice of platter and mat has a big effect on soundquality, but I have no own experiences of this

"You seem to assume that beltdrive automatically would make the 3300 an inferior turntable"

Actually I was referring to the tonearm drive which is like a tuning string on a tuner.

I've always wondered how much noise the tonearm drive induces when it runs.

 

 

Ah, I see! Mm, so have I. At least on one of my beograms (I think it is my 8002) there is more audible rumble when the tonearm carriage moves, so every now and then you can hear a short "wrmm" in the speakers if you listen carefully. I wonder how much this construction affects the sound, there is problably more than the aforementioned "wrmm".

I have a muting circuit fault in my Beogram 6000 (never bothered me enough to fix it), so the sound output stays on even when the arm is up. The fast drive of the carriage, coming from the worm screw, can be clearly heard over the speakers - I can only assume that the same noise is there even during slow drive and regular operation, although at a much lower frequency. Might be at a lower level as well, if the arm doesn't receive all of it when it is floating. I presume the string drive would be more silent.

But again, it definitely doesn't bother me.

Interesting point-the TX-a good belt driven contemporary of the 8002 and having almost identical tonearm and tonearm drive-has 5dB more noise than the 8002>which has 5dB more noise than the 3300-or so who says.