I have a couple of NOS belts left and they don't seem to age much, but I'm still worried about the belt thing.
I know that Mike P offers a replacement pulley that uses the same thread belt setup as the current Amadeus. I have it here, but I'm in the process of getting my table up and running again and won't be trying it for a few months, it's behind some other projects.
So my question is, does anyone have any feedback after replacing the original belt/pulley combo with the new one? Also, does anyone have any feedback on the aftermarket replacements out there for the original belts? Based on the info I read, it sounded like the original belt was a pretty special unit... from the International Audio Review article back in the day:
"... Firebaugh went to a much higher quality, much more expensive belt. It's the same type used to drive the machines that pull fiber optics during their manufacture.... These belts are made in a special centrifuge, cured slowly, and then seasoned."
I also remember reading that the reject rate on belts received from the supplier was high.
So I despair a bit that the off-the-shelf belts will provide the same quality. I'm much more hopeful about the thread belt/pulley system, but the bearing of the Amadeus and other recent WTT's, while still innovative in solving the problems most other spindle/bearing systems have, works differently than the original WTT setup. So it is possible that the thread belt/pulley setup may be optimal with the new tables, but not necessarily for the older ones. Of course, the thread belt/pulley could very easily be still a lot better than the aftermarket belts. And with Stanalog and the original WTT line having disappeared, us owners of older WTL tables don't have a choice... after all of our older belts have died, it is either aftermarket replacements for the older pulley setup or the new thread belt/pulley setup.
But I haven't seen much feedback on this from people who have tried the aftermarket belts and the newer thread belt/pulley setup.
ANYONE?
Greg in Mississippi