Frequently asked questions about turntables and vinyl, belt-drive vs direct-drive, cartridges, headshells, alignment and more.
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 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
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,
What’s better: a vintage turntable or a new one? Read More »
