Frequently asked questions about turntables and vinyl, belt-drive vs direct-drive, cartridges, headshells, alignment and more.
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
