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LP Gear Replacement Belt For Well Tempered Turntables

Posted by Mister Pig (A) on March 1, 2020 at 06:43:57

The issue for owners of the previous generation WT tables have always been the belts, as when Transparent and Stanalog closed their doors it was impossible to get OEM replacement belts. I have read where folks have tried the belts off the third party market and had speed issues due to belt thickness or length, and the material itself was often rubber rather than the synthetic material the original belt was made from.

I was considering a purchase of a Well Tempered Reference table so I called Mike Pranka of TOFFCO to see if there were any options for a replacement belt these days. Mike responded saying that customers have reported the LP Gear belt to be very good. So I bought the WTR and set it up and lived with it for a bit, and then ordered the replacement belt.

I received that belt yesterday and I can report that its a viable option. When I took it out of the package the first thing I noticed is that the material of the belt appears to be the same as what the OEM is. It is slightly smaller than my stretched belt, so that was good also. I put it on and took a strobe to it and got 33.3 rpm. I then used a phone app on my SOTA Cosmos that has the Phoenix Engineering speed control and tachometer. I took the baseline number from there, moved the phone to the WTR and got the same number. Both tables on the app measure 32.2 although the tachometer reads 33.335.

The confirmation of speed is one thing, but what I did not expect was such a significant improvement in sound. To be honest I did not expect any meaningful changes, however I ended up getting a more immediate and incisive presentation of instruments and performers, and the bass response was also more lively and textured. I thought the WTR sounded very nice before, this is a slight but meaningful uptick in sound quality.

The LP Gear is not cheap, its $45. Replacement belts on Ebay that claim to be suitable replacements are priced between $10 and $15 in most cases. Those are also rubber belts. What I will say is that the LP Gear one appears to be the real deal, the closest to OEM as we can get. It does the job well, and eliminates the necessity of converting these tables to string drive. I will be ordered another one as a back up.

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