LUXMAN PD444

Commentary

This armless player system was developed as a player that can use two tone arms including a long arm in a minimum space.

The drive system is a direct drive system that uses a quartz lock system.

We have adopted a newly developed LUX's unique load-free spindle system has been adopted to reduce the bearing load on the turntable.
The quartz lock system has the effect of suppressing the disturbance load fluctuation of low frequency components of 1 Hz or less from the direct current region. However, the flywheel effect of the turntable is important to suppress the disturbance fluctuation of relatively high frequency components of 5 Hz to 10 Hz or more, which is beyond the control of quartz. However, the bearing life is a problem. In the load-free spindle system, the weight of the turntable is offset by attracting the rotor upward using the magnetic force inside the motor, thus reducing the load of the turntable on the bearing to about 1/5.
In the PD444 system, the motor itself has the power to float the turntable, so it is different from the conventional Magne-float system in which the turntable is floated using the repulsive force of the magnet afterwards.

The chassis uses a thin, ultra-heavy sandwich chassis.
The PD444 uses two 3.2 mm steel plates with a high-density chip board sandwiched between them. The high-density chip board with high internal loss and sufficient resonance absorption is sandwiched between the steel plates which tend to resonate, and it is tightened with screws to realize a chassis with high rigidity and low resonance.

The legs are equipped with a 2-stage braking type insulator.
The lower fo (lowest resonance frequency) and the higher Q (sharpness of resonance) of an insulator, the better cutoff characteristics can be obtained. However, if Q is simply set too high, the insulator becomes unstable against large amplitude vibration near fo, making it difficult for the player to operate.
In order to cope with these conflicting conditions, a two stage damping type insulator was developed. The shaft of the insulator is supported by neoprene rubber to ensure high insulation against micro-width vibration, which causes howling. In addition, for large amplitude vibration, which is likely to occur during player operation or due to the structure of Japanese houses, viscous damping of neoprene rubber coated with silicon grease and structure of spring are used to improve operability.

It uses a platter mat that matches the shape of the record, and there are many contact surfaces with the record so that there is no unnecessary space between the record and the mat.
The surface uses special synthetic leather that is easy to match with records. Also, the turntable itself uses high-density rubber so that it can be dumped powerfully.

The dust cover uses a 2.5 kg total weight dust cover with excellent howling characteristics made of a 4 mm thick acrylic board bonded together.
By incorporating a dust cover hinge into the thin chassis body, it fits into a slim player. In addition, a semi-free stop hinge is adopted so that all the weight of the dust cover is applied to the player body when it is closed.

The arm base has a sliding structure that can be attached and detached with one touch.
It is structured so that it can be fixed by operating the lever at the optimum position according to the overhang gauge written on the panel surface while sliding.
For the arm base material, zinc die-cast is adopted in consideration of the howling characteristics, and for the arm panel, aluminum extruded material of 5 mm thickness is adopted in consideration of the beauty of mounting and surface treatment of various tone arms.

Model Rating

Type	Record player
Phono Motor Section
Drive system	Direct drive system
Drive motor	Crystal controlled flat brushless load-free spindle DC servo motor
Turntable	30 cm aluminum die-cast, 2.5 kg
Number of revolutions	33 1/3rpm, 45 rpm
Speed accuracy	0.002% or less
Temperature characteristic	0.00003 / ° C
Wow flutter	0.025%(WRMS)
Signal-to-noise ratio	63 dB or More (JIS)
<General>
Attachment	Lock Indicator : 33 1/3rpm (Blue), 45 rpm (Red) Insulator : Low fo2-stage braking type with spring, rubber and grease, height adjustable (10 mm) Arm Base : one touch attachable / detachable, 2 die-cast units, short arm / long arm attachable Tone Arm Switching : Tone Arm 1/2 Switchable Acrylic Cover : 4 mm Thick Plate Bonded Semi-Free Stop with Hinge (Weight 2.5 kg)
Pwer	100 VAC, 50Hz/60Hz
Power consumption	16W at all times
External dimensions	Width 664x Height 160x Depth 392 mm
Weight	22kg
Sold Separately	Arm Panel TP-SG (General Use, ¥ 2,000) Arm Panel TP-MT (for 3-Point Screw-Lock Arm, ¥ 2,000) Arm Panel TP-LH (for Thick Shaft Arm, ¥ 2,000) Arm Panel TP-LS (for SME, ¥ 2,000) Arm Panel TP-X (Common Arm Base Diecast, ¥ 2,000)