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 […]

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

Sure, but only if you understand the inescapable relationship between price and performance, which is especially obvious with ‘small signal’ audio, like vinyl. 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 quality of parts,

A number of critical adjustments must be made each time a cartridge is fitted to a tonearm. These adjustments are vitally important in getting the most out of your records and stylus. Let’s look at them in the order I normally set them, this is a sequence I apply to all turntables that visit the