Frequently asked questions about turntables and vinyl, belt-drive vs direct-drive, cartridges, headshells, alignment and more.
Oh, that’s simple: belt drive turntables are cheap to make. Even small manufacturers can tool up to make basic new belt drive turntables. You could just about make your own at home, and that’s how many small manufacturers start out. Direct drive turntable manufacture is quite different, though. It requires considerably more engineering and capital […]
That depends on the circumstances. Properly installing and setting up a cartridge with the right hardware and precisely calibrating overhang, azimuth, tracking force, anti-skate, VTA, arm lifter position and height using the correct tools is not a 5-minute job. It can take significant time with a complex deck/installation, and doing this work correctly requires time
Many of the best cartridges ever made hail from the golden era of analog, so yes, the right carts are definitely worth chasing down. Types To recap, there are two main types of cartridges: moving magnet and moving coil. The best cartridges tend to be moving coil designs and these are usually more expensive and
You bet, there are some awesome second-hand bargains to be had! Sadly though, the golden days of $1, $2 and 5 records from the smoky second-hand record store in North Perth are long gone. Yes, you’ll still find $1 Engelbert Humperdinck records, but you’ll come across all sorts of other bargains second hand. Some will
Yes, though this answer depends on what one considers decent and affordable. Those looking for new high-performance machines for under $1,000 will find very little of interest. High-performance turntabling can’t be done for $1K new; spend a little more, though, and things start to improve. If you broaden your horizons to include pre-owned equipment, then
Are there any decent, affordable new turntables? Read More »
Anywhere from 200 to 2000 hours, depending on the cartridge design and stylus profile. I’ve written more about this in my cartridge inspection and cleaning deep dive, but the increased contact area of line contact gems, found in more expensive cartridges, reduces contact pressure, leading to less friction, lower wear and better sound. Line-contact types
Without getting too technical, as a cartridge mounted to a radially tracking tonearm moves across the record, playback distortion characteristics change with changing tracking error. Generally, the highest distortion is found playing the innermost grooves of a record. There will be two points with the lowest distortion, where the radial arc traced by the arm
Assuming you have around $1000 to spend, this gets you a far better vintage turntable than a new one, assuming the vintage deck is in good working order. There actually isn’t anything I can strongly recommend for $1000 new, unfortunately. But, that same amount of money would get you a decent Technics SL-23, SL-120, SL-1200,
Because in order to faithfully amplify the minuscule signals generated by a phono cartridge, they must have the highest precision and lowest noise of any amplifier in your system. It’s no mean feat to take a 0.3mV signal and amplify it to the level needed by a regular line-level preamplifier. One millivolt or 1mV is
Only if you like ‘cheap’ sound from your vinyl playback system! There is enormous variation among phono preamplifiers, and sound technical reasons why the best phono preamps, ie not Cambridge Audio, Gold Note, NAD, Pro-Ject, etc, are genuinely expensive. The parts quality, engineering and execution found in the best phono preamps are extraordinary, and need
