Hepcat's Turntable Primer!

[Hepcat]

Just read an audio review of a $10,000 belt drive that had the speed stability of a direct drive unit with less motor noise.

I think the prices of "high-end" stereo components have gotten silly. But then again I suppose somebody is buying them so who am I to say?

 

[Mr. Shadow]

LP Gear: P-mount T4P cartridge

 

[Hepcat]

The turntable that tempts me is this Thorens TD-350 with the solid wood plinth and 4.2 kilogram aluminum platter coming in at a total weight of ten kilograms. What's deterred me so far, aside from the $3740 price tag, is that it is not equipped with any auto stop-and-lift mechanism at the end of a record.

 

[LG]

I would never spend more than $1,000.00 on any turntable.

You are not paying for a Huge improvement in listening enjoyment or drastic spec upgrades, you are paying for the prestige of owning one.

I prefer to spend a modest amount on Good equipment and then spend the money I save on Media,,,after all it is what stereos are for.

 

[Foxhound]

...such as "scratching" records and hand spinning/arresting the platter.

And scratching vinyl is definitely within a feline's area of expertise.

 

[Flower]

Foxhound's personal record label ~

 

[Foxhound]

Yes, that's the label I trust to deliver quality.

 

[Hepcat]

Hep give it up, Davorp is of the "Digital" age...so I doubt that your fixation on Turntables will do any good.

You're wrong. It would do him a lot of good.

Take this:

Plus this:

Now add a nubile young lovely and you'll get this:

 

[mystic fred]

Those looking for budget turntables are spoilt for choice these days, many reasonably priced models such as Project, Technics or Rega can give great results, or for the shrewd used buyer the Dual 505/6 is hard to beat for under 100 pounds.

Turntable design is all about playing a record obviously, but over the years their development, especially in mid fi or high end models, the design brief has been to eliminate irritating faults regardless of cost - ringing platters, noisy motors, unstable plinths, erratic power supply, isolation, arm mounting bearings and cartridge/stylus anomalies (tracking error distortion), and sound issues regarding instrument separation, soundstage, bass and smooth top end rendition. Gadgets such as auto cue/return controls were convenience trade-offs to be avoided, and so called "USB" turntables - avoid like the plague.

Research on these refinements was going well until CD gatecrashed the party and many companies stopped investing in vinyl almost to its extinction, but a hard core of vinyl users including Hip Hop/Rap DJ's and eccentrics (like myself !) refused to accept it was disappearing.

Some years later the "vinyl resurgence" is gathering pace and music lovers are realising, using modern equipment, how much better those old (and new) albums can sound, CD was after all marketed for its convenience rather than sound quality, but was a huge advance over the in-car cassette tape player or Sony walkman!

Some high end vinyl systems can cost hundreds of thousands of pounds, reflecting research costs for small engineering companies - the results are staggeringly realistic, showing how much information and quality is contained in those grooves, but the mid fi market offers great quality sound reproduction at affordable costs - Linn, Thorens, Pink Triangle, Roksan and Acoustic Research have all made excellent turntables and are a significant step up from the budgets.

Obviously amp, phono stage, interconnects, power cables, speaker cables and speakers are a huge factor in good reproduction and system matching is critical, but a great quality TT, arm and stylus should sound good in front of most budget models, though better quality units will open up the sound.

This is my mid fi turntable, a Linn LP12 with Ittok tonearm and AT440MLa cartridge, a belt driven TT with a very involving smooth detailed spacious sound and could be picked up for 800 - 1000 pounds used depending on suspension and power supply upgrades. Here the TT is mounted on oak isolation cones and a wall shelf and is playing my new 'Mule LP.

 

[Hepcat]

Obviously ... interconnects, power cables, speaker cables ... are a huge factor in good reproduction....

That's a subject for heated debate. There's too much experimental evidence suggesting that listeners can't tell the difference between the cheapest interconnects and cables available at the local hardware store and those that cost $thousands per foot. (I kid you not. Some cables are indeed more expensive than automobiles.)

This is my mid fi turntable, a Linn LP12 with Ittok tonearm and AT440MLa cartridge, a belt driven TT with a very involving smooth detailed spacious sound and could be picked up for 800 - 1000 pounds used depending on suspension and power supply upgrades.

I've read/heard that the Linn LP12 sounds great in stores where it's always freshly aligned/balanced but that it's impossible to keep aligned under normal operating use - unless of course the owner also springs for Linn's very expensive Keel armboard and sub-chassis upgrade which is what Linn Corp. wants anyway. This of course always raises the question of why an armboard that works properly is not included as standard equipment with the LP12. Is your LP12 equipped with the Keel armboard?