Sansui
Computerized Full-Automatic Direct-Drive Quartz-Servo Turntable with D-O-B
Tonearm
Silicon Dioxide
(Quartz) Oscillator: A ready reference for dynamic response.
Most
audiophiles are familiar with the use of reference oscillators in servosystems
which help keep platter speeds accurate in direct-drive turntables. In the case
of the FR-Q5 we have employed the most trustworthy of all-an energized silver
of silicon dioxide (quartz
crystal) which is entirely impervious to all conceivable variables such as
changes in power-line frequency and voltage and in external/internal
fluctuations in temperature and humidity.
The speed of the
platter is detected and compared against the quartz reference signal via a PLL
(Phase-Locked Loop) circuit contained in reliable ICs; variations in load, such
as the drag caused when the stylus tracks a highly modulated groove, are instantly
caught and corrected to result in outstanding dynamic response. Speed accuracy
is just about as close to absolute as you can ever expect to come drift is
never more than ±0,002%.
Magnetic-Pattern
Detection: The correction is faster than the eye.
Sansui's all-new
magnetic pattern detection system, generating as many as 960 pulses per each
rotation of the platter, makes it possible to correct any speed deviation via
the quartz/PLL servo in less than the blink of an eye.
Along the inside rim
of the platter is a pattern of 960 magnetic poles; fixed beneath the platter is
a stationary magnetic head - somewhat like the playback head on a tape deck -
which senses the changing polarity of the revolving pattern and sends a "report"
to the servo. If there are more (or fewer) pulses than there should be, the
phase-comparison stage of the servo detects them and the controlling stage
converts them to correctional information, slowing down (or speeding up) the
direct-drive motor.
Instantaneous Rise
& Electronic Brake: Absolutely no overshoot or undershoot.
Almost before you
can remove your finger from the Start/Stop button - as rotation it is moving at
the selected speed without any overshoot or undershoot. Additionally, when you
change from 45 rpm to 33-⅓ rpm, or when you tell the platter to stop the built-in
electronic brake comes into play for fast, accurate results.
Brushless
Direct-Drive Motor: impeccable performance from high-precision parts.
In our special
design we have employed the DC brushless, saturable-core system with a
rotor-position sensor. It responds quickly and accurately to the control
information it receives from the quartz/PLL servo. To reduce friction and wear,
the motor shaft is made of special hard stainless steel and polished to a
mirror finish in a "centerless" polishing technique to achieve an
overall roundness never more than 0,2 µ from absolute. And for the thrust
bearing, itself of a special low-wear nylon compound, we have used a
newly-developed aerospace-grade lubricant.
Manual Operation:
Just touch the tonearm
There is no switch
on the Sansui FR-Q5 to defeat the full automatic operation. If you wish to use
the tonearm manually, simply lift it up with the fingerpiece on the headshell;
the built-in "computer" and its optical sensors will detect your touch
and put the full automatic system on standby while you select another track on
your record or return the arm to its rest.
D-O-B Tonearm: A
novel theory put to practical use for purer sound.
After
many long years of experimentation and experience, Sansui has developed what
just may be the world's most accurate tonearm. In our patent-pending
"Dyna-Optimum-Balanced) arm the dynamic fulcrum is placed precisely on the
point or node of vibration. Because of this the arm exhibits very high
stability and its counterweight, headshell and support components show almost
none of the microscopic wobbling vibrations which, in other arms, cause still
more mutual resonance and pass it on the stylus. In short, our D-O-B suffers
none of the compound resonance which prevent accurate tracking and give rise to frequency modulation to
"muddy" musical reproduction.
Computerized Tonearm
- A technological First
A kind of electronic
"brain" assisted by a team of optical sensors, controls the operation
of the fully automatic tonearm on the Sansui FR-Q5 turntable with unprecedented
accuracy. It monitors the moment-to-moment position of the arm, oversees the
functions of the separate motor which lifts and returns the arm when required,
and even memorizes action sequences.
Some people would
call this a "computerized" system, and they wouldn't be far wrong.
Actually, it makes use of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) which is contained in
an LSI (Largo-Scale IC). Therefore, its reliability and precision cannot be bettered.
Quick and accurate
response without compromise
Having developed one
of the world's most sensitive tonearms for the FR-Q5, Sansui engineers weren't
about to compromise that sensitivity by using an ordinary mechanically-linked
full-auto system. Thanks to the CPU "brain" the arm remains entirely
free during play, when the record ends, or if you touch the Start/Stop button
at any time, the CPU sends a command to lift the arm and return it to its rest
gently and quickly.
Fully protected
against all conceivable mishaps
That's quite a
promise - that this system is entirely accident proof. But it's true. The CPU
permits the incorporation of a "fail-safe" system which gives total
protection to the arm and its motor, its cartridge stylus, and your records.
If, for instance,
you forget to unlock the tonearm clip before you touch the Start/Stop button,
the CPU instantly countermands the start order and shuts off the arm motor
before damage can occur.
Light-touch switches
make full control easy.
All control switches
on the FR-Q5 are short-stroke types requiring only the slightest finger
pressure for positive operation.
After powering on
the turntable, select speed and record size, place your record on the platter
and touch the Start/Stop button; the CPU "brain" orders the arm up
and over the opening track, then lets it fall slowly to the beginning groove.
When the record ends, the optical sensor for lead-out informs the
"brain" which immediately orders the arm's return. The turntable is
then shut off automatically, unless you have also pushed the Repeat button, in
which case the lead-in, play and return process will continue until you order
it to stop, again with a light touch on the Start/Stop button.
The independent
tonearm motor "remembers" the first noe.
As we have
mentioned, there is a second motor in the Sansui FR-Q5, independent from the
direct-drive platter motor, used exclusively to lift, cue, and return the
tonearm. Its computerized operation is controlled electronically but it employs
a mechanical damping system to ensure that the stylus is lowered to the very
beginning of the lead-in groove every time when you cue a record.
Specifications
Type: Two-speed, computerized fully automatic
quartz servo direct drive turntable
Motor: 20-pole, 30-slot DC brushless
Drive System: Direct spindle drive electronically servo
controlled
Platter: aluminum alloy die-cast
Diameter: 300 mm (11-13/16")
Weight: 1,3 kg (2,86 lbs)
Wow and
Flutter: less than 0,018%
Signal-to-Noise
Ratio: better than 75 dB (DIN-B)
Build-Up Time and
Arc Angle: within 1,8 sec (150°)
Platter Speed
Deviation: ±0,002% (Quartz -Servo ON)
Temperature
Coefficient: less than 0,00003% / °C (Quartz-Servo ON)
Load
Characteristics: 0% (Quartz-Servo On)
Platter Speeds: 33-⅓ and 45 rpm
Tonearm: Statically- balanced S-shaped D-O-B tonearm
with two point pivot support
Length : 220 mm (18-11/16") pivot to stylus
Overhang: 17,5 mm (3/4")
Offset Angle: 24,5°
Minimum Tracking
Force Setting: 0,5 g (when using
cartridge guaranteed to operate at 0,5 g stylus pressure)
Acceptable Cartridge
Weight: 4 to 10 g
Cabinetry: Slim -line cabinet with anti-howling
insulators and hinged free-stop dust cover
Cartridge: S.C.-50
Type: Intermodulation DIstortion Type
Frequency
Response: 10 to 20,000 Hz
Output Voltage: 3 mV per channel (1,000 Hz , 35,4 mm /sec)
Optimum Load: 47 k Ω
Tracking Force: 2,5 ±0,4 g
Stylus: 0,6 mil diamond spherical (SN-50)
Power
Requirements: 100, 120, 220, 240 V 50/60
Hz
Power
Consumption: 10 watts
Dimensions (W x H x
D): 440 x 133 x 385 mm (17-5/16" x
5-1/4" x 15-3/16")
Weight: 6,9 kg (15,1
lbs) net