Frequently asked questions about turntables and vinyl, belt-drive vs direct-drive, cartridges, headshells, alignment and more.
No, a good, well-set-up vinyl playback system should be almost silent and exhibit no audible hum. This is one of the great revelations about vinyl that folks discover on the typical journey from basic equipment to more aspirational gear. The short version is that, if you haven’t listened to a serious vinyl rig, you need […]
Not if you care about sound quality and preserving your vinyl! Funky Furniture Radiograms and stereograms, with few exceptions, are not hi-fi equipment. These are furniture pieces that play music. This was their original design intent, and they work well in this role but don’t expect more of them. The problems are varied, but generally
Should I play my records on radiograms and stereograms? Read More »
Yes, cartridges are a critically important part of the chain, just as important as the turntable itself. Cartridges are transducers, like microphones, headphones and speakers. You may already realise just how much each of these contributes sonically. Precision Cartridges do incredible work, converting minuscule groove modulations, via the stylus and cantilever, into tiny electrical signals,
Does a cartridge really affect the sound of a turntable? Read More »
No! Never buy or use Crosleys or other cheap plastic record players if you care about your records and how they sound. Cheap plastic turntables like Crosleys destroy vinyl due to their crude engineering and super-low-quality cartridge. The gems in these cheap styli – diamond or sometimes sapphire, have terrible profiles, are often poorly polished
There isn’t one best turntable, just the best one you can afford. All the really good machines are heavy, for various engineering reasons. Therefore, aim for something solid, well built, preferably costing over $1000AUD new if you want a good first turntable. Alternatively, you’ll get better performance in almost all cases from a second-hand classic
There is a long-standing myth amongst an admittedly ever smaller cohort these days that belt-drive is a superior drive methodology for turntables. It isn’t. There’s a bit to know of course, but the TLDR is that the drive method is only one of many factors determining turntable performance. Direct-drive (DD) has many advantages, as does
Ah yes, the record store guy, who paradoxically often knows very little about record players! With the greatest respect to record store guys, this isn’t a judgement, just an observation based on experience – several of my customers are record store guys, one owns a record store! Nice people, good tastes, but rarely experienced enough
But the record store guy says belt-drives are better! Read More »
