Frequently asked questions about turntables and vinyl, belt-drive vs direct-drive, cartridges, headshells, alignment and more.
A smart question to ask, belt-drive turntables are much cheaper to make. Even small manufacturers can tool up to make a basic belt-drive turntable. 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 […]
Why are there so many new belt-drive turntables these days? Read More »
That depends on the cartridge and turntable. 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 and test records can take a significant time with a complex deck/installation. It’s much quicker fitting basic cartridges to
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 somewhat depends on what you consider 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,
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 about this elsewhere, but the increased contact area of line contact gems leads to lower contact pressure, less friction, lower wear and better sound. The best line-contact types can last 2000 hours or more, but line-contact styli are more
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
