Rega RP10 - Manual (Page 5)

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TURNTABLE DESIGN & MYTHOLOGY
Today there are many approaches to hi-fi design which follow established and informed
engineering or electronic principles. Amplifier and loudspeaker design have been well
documented over the years with excellent technical publications. These subjects have
been based on tried and tested acoustic criteria and many computer software
programs now exist that enable a near amateur to design a passable working
loudspeaker based on known acoustic and mathematical parameters.
When it comes to turntable design we are limited to a few poorly informed articles
describing only very limited aspects of design. This is a subject full of mythology.
Designers propose theories that counter the basic laws of physics, use terminology
that doesn’t actually exist in the engineering world, build products that are more like
beautiful sculptures than acoustic reproduction machines and sell items costing tens
of thousands of pounds that hardly function as intended and often fail to work at all. For
instance, a very common myth is “the heavier the better”. Turntable bases weighing
tens of kilograms are not uncommon. The reality is that the base actually needs to be
as light as possible to prevent unwanted bearing and motor noise being transferred to
the turntable or record. Platters also fall under a similar myth with many platter
designs becoming so heavy that it is impossible to design a correctly functioning
bearing (and some so light that anyone can hear the speed inconsistency). The
turntable platter itself needs to be of enough weight to spin at a constant speed within
the confines of the chosen bearing and motor drive system. Many amateur designers
choose one component in a design and try to achieve an extreme in size, weight and
quality. They believe that by taking one theory to its extreme, the design will become
“perfect”. The reality of all engineering, design (and life) is that perfection is not
possible. Based on this reality, Rega’s goal has always been to optimise a mixture of
numerous “correct compromises” thus bringing the designer nearer to the
unachievable goal of perfection.
RP10 English Manual Text_Apollo English manual.qxd 17/12/2013 15:28 Page 4