MAG-LEV Audio | The First Levitating Turntable

Loheswaran

Well-Known Member
Dec 19, 2014
432
99
258
OMG - Yogaic

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/245727224/mag-lev-audio-the-first-levitating-turntable

Thoughts from those more knowledgable than me? Does this have the potential to address a whole host of vibrational issues? I guess main obstacle will be the isolation of the turntable platter magnetic field from the cartridge?

View attachment 29390

I thought that this was an April fools Joke at first - potentially great idea - but where does the vibration transfer to?
 

morricab

Well-Known Member
Apr 25, 2014
9,391
4,988
978
Switzerland
Magnetic repulsion is inherently unstable, witness the complexity of magnetic bearings in things like turbo molecular pumps. You cannot have a platter just "floating" in space like this with magnetic repulsion. As anyone who has played with magnets knows the platter would simply slide off to one side the first chance it got. This is why the Verdier Plantine still had a steel shaft to keep the platter centered.

Now, you can create a drive directly in the platter and infact Onkyo did just that in the mid 80s...the platter was the rotor of the motor! AND even if this thing could float like that it would for sure wobble as the weight of this platter is not significantly compressing into the magnetic force (which goes up as the cube of distance)...also why Verdier used a very heay platter.
 

Kal Rubinson

Well-Known Member
May 4, 2010
2,360
697
1,700
NYC
www.stereophile.com
Now, you can create a drive directly in the platter and infact Onkyo did just that in the mid 80s...the platter was the rotor of the motor! AND even if this thing could float like that it would for sure wobble as the weight of this platter is not significantly compressing into the magnetic force (which goes up as the cube of distance)...also why Verdier used a very heay platter.
AFAIK, the earliest mag-lev turntable platter was the Stanton Gyropoise and it was a flawed design as is this one. Whatever the dynamics of the magnetic suspension are, they are confined to the platter and do not include the arm assembly. Thus, there will be a constantly varying relationship between the arm/cartridge/stylus the platter/record. Just what one does not want.
 

Don Hills

Well-Known Member
Jun 20, 2013
366
1
323
Wellington, New Zealand
... You cannot have a platter just "floating" in space like this with magnetic repulsion. As anyone who has played with magnets knows the platter would simply slide off to one side the first chance it got. ...

It does float - if you're very careful not to bump it, in which case it crashes spectacularly. The stable zone is very small, as you'll know if you've ever played with any of the devices / executive desk toys that use the "levitation" effect. The turntable has supports that rise up from the base to support the platter while you change discs.

It has no desirable attributes. As well as the significant risk of damaging valuable discs and cartridges, Kal pointed out that the platter-to-arm geometry will vary too much for high quality reproduction.
 

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing