The substantial suspended mass combined with the spring extension is responsible for the stable, low-frequency motion of the suspension system, also inherited from and so reminiscent of the original. The armboard itself is ovoid in shape, a stylistic feature inherited from earlier Systemdek designs, although in this case, rather than providing real-estate for the arm-rest, it is aligned with the spindle axis, allowing the 3D to accept arms between 9” and 12” in length. The substantial depth of the platter mandates a Delrin up-stand beneath the armboard, a mixed material construction that helps inhibit ringing in the sub-chassis. ![]() The bearing is of course supported on a floating sub-chassis, machined from solid aluminium and hanging from three spring assemblies that allow levelling from above – a distinct improvement on previous Systemdek set ups. But showing that they are not simply following fashion, the large diameter pulley sits atop an AC synchronous motor, driven from a sophisticated external and user adjustable power supply. The bearing supports a 50mm thick Delrin platter that is driven peripherally from a separate, free-standing motor pod. Systemdek has embraced current thinking as far as the bearing goes, a massive 20mm shaft supported by opposed magnets, running in a hybrid Teflon sleeve/oil bath arrangement that ensures not just low, but consistent levels of friction and vanishingly low rumble figures. The heart of any turntable is the main bearing and drive system. Look beneath the solid exterior of the 3D turntables and you quickly discover the strengths inherent in that original DNA, firmly supporting the thoroughly modern feature list. Likewise, the company has passed from father Peter Dunlop to sons Derek and Ramsay with unbroken continuity, and the current designs are clearly the result of all that accumulated knowledge and experience, from the use of a laminated sub-chassis in the Reference to the highly evolved suspension system across the range. Of course, there’s much more to the Systemdek story than just the original Systemdek III, with the more affordable II, and cylindrical IIX enjoying considerable success – the former living on in evolved form in the shape of the various Audio Note turntables. Show the 3D Precision to audiophiles of a certain age and they come over all misty eyed, fondly reminiscing about those older Systemdeks (record players they were probably all too quick to dismiss with the impetuosity of youth). I’m not sure when ‘history’ becomes ‘heritage’, but somewhere between the demise of the original Systemdek III and the emergence of the current Systemdek 3D models (the Precision reviewed here and the bigger and pricier Reference), that’s what’s happened. Which is, as is so often the case, slightly ironic, as of all the basic models mentioned above, the Systemdek, with its low-slung, low-frequency suspension was arguably the most mechanically stable and forward looking of all… But if you really want to go back to the dawn of time – at least UK ‘triple-time’ – then the third player would really be the Dunlop Systemdek, a turntable whose star had arguably already started to wane when the Logic first appeared. Likewise, the expression ‘big three’ means different things to different people: for some it consists of the Linn, Pink Triangle, and Roksan, while those with longer memories or more fundamentalist views might include the Logic DM101 in place of the barely suspended Xerxes. Ask a Linn-acolyte and Year Zero is marked by the birth of the LP12 – the AR-XA and Thorens TD150 simply ignored, while the Ariston RD11 has been expunged from the record with all the extreme prejudice normally reserved for a Stalinist apparatchik who got a little too good at their job. Considering just how central the three-point suspended sub-chassis turntable has been to the development of the UK audio experience, its genesis and evolution is at best murky and at worst obscured by the sort of “nothing to see here” smokescreen that any government would be proud of. Nor is it a fixed or finite truth, famously being written by the victors – victors who more often than not, airbrush the content as well as deciding on their own starting point. Generally speaking, saying that you “have history” with someone, isn’t good. ![]() It can be positive – or it can be negative.
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