Seeking turntable knowledge

[sgtpepper9]

Decided I might want to look into getting a nice turntable. But, seeing as they are quite complicated mechanisms I don't want to rush and buy the wrong the thing. I was wondering if anyone knows of some good tech articles about the different aspects of turntables and how all the components work together. If any of you have some good advice I would like to hear it.

I am also concerned about the price range. I don't want to spend more than $500. It seems some peoples opinions are that you won't gain anything using a cheap turntable less than $1k+. Do you really need to spend that much to get a unique and improved sound over redbook? Any suggestions on quality turntables in my price range? Any and all help will be greatly appreciated

 

[highfigh]

They're actually pretty simple, but some people like to make them out to be really complicated. It needs a base that dampens vibrations, whether produced by the motor or something outside of it. The tonearm also needs to be free from vibrations and should be light enough to react to any undulations in the vinyl. The motor needs to keep stable speed and not cause audible vibrations.

The cartridge is a special exception. That is all-important in several ways. The compliance needs to match the mass of the tonearm and its resonant frequency. If you use a high compliance cartridge with a heavy tonearm, it will feed back and will never track warps. If you use a low compliance cartridge with a low mass tonearm, it will have its own problems. Think of the compliance as the spring rate for shocks on a car.

Cartridges don't sound the same, from brand to brand, at all. You'll need to listen to some in order to find what works best and in the age of online shopping, you'll have a hard time doing that. If you audition equipment at a local shop, at least have the courtesy to not just use them for the listening test and then buy it online, based on price.

I got a turntable for a customer a couple of years ago (my suppliers don't really sell much phono equipment) and it wasn't very expensive. It's a Pro-Ject, distributed by Sumiko. I get the upgrade cartridge, too. It sounded very nice and it was easy to not pay attention to the fact that it wasn't a CD/DVD playing. You should be able to get the same combination for less than $500, too.

 

[Alex2507]

I have 4 threads that I subscribed to under 'Turntables' and this is one of them.

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50594

 

[highfigh]

One other thing- any turntable manufacturer (or seller) who claims that the tracking error is zero, is wrong. Tonearms that pivot only have two points that are truly in correct alignment (if set up correctly) and linear tracking turntables are constantly mis-aligned, but also constantly correcting for it. I would think that with some of the newer technologies we have now, it might be possible to have a controller for a linear tracking tonearm that uses predictive logic to analyze the skew at the beginning of an album so it can set the speed of the arm's movement. That way, the only time it will be badly aligned is when the songs end.

 

[sgtpepper9]

What about a pre-amp? Does a Technics 1200 need a pre-amp? If so, what for? I thought the turntable was just passing the signal to my receiver which will amplify it...correct?

 

[Geno]

What about a pre-amp? Does a Technics 1200 need a pre-amp? If so, what for? I thought the turntable was just passing the signal to my receiver which will amplify it...correct?

You need a receiver with a phono input, which includes a circuit that processes the phono signal correctly. If your receiver (or pre-amp) doesn't have a specific phono input, you'll need a separate phono pre-amp. You can spend anywhere from $99 to $199,000 for a turntable, but you can do quite well for $500. Check out Needle Doctor or Acoustic Sounds for a rather mind-blowing array of possibilities.

 

[sgtpepper9]

Well actually, I just bought a Technics 1200 for $200 on eBay and a Denon DL-110 cartridge. I checked and I do have a phono input, thanks for the help. Anything else I should look into? What about needle or arm?

 

[sgtpepper9]

Good lord tone arms are expensive! I think I'll be sticking with the stock arm

 

[WmAx]

One can get a turntable that should be literally transparent for around $1500-$2000, if one picks wisely. But you can get a great one for less. The Technics SL-1200MKII is a great value. However, it can use an upgraded arm for best performance.

The DL-110 cartridge you picked happens to be very neutral with very low distortion, and tracks well on inner grooves(which many carts have a problem with, causing audible distortion on inner grooves). The DL-110 has a slight lower mid-range boost and a gradual high frequency roll off based on the modern sample that I measured. This HF gradual roll off actually will help many recordings some more natural/realistic on many speaker systems. However, you can add a slight(2-3dB) EQ boost above 8-10Khz if you want a flatter response. This is probably one of the best value cartridges one can get. The only thing that improves if you spend a lot more is an even flatter response, which is only true for a very few select example models. In most cases it seems you just get different built in EQ curves. Now, with cheap cartridges, all sorts of problems can occur. But the DL-110 is a fantastic quality unit even though it's not expensive. These are still hand made and quality controlled in Japan according to Denon. BTW, according to 3rd party examiners, the diamond on the DL-110 is of a quality you expect only on much more expensive cartridges.

-Chris

 

[sgtpepper9]

WmAx, it was no coincidence I picked the DL-110. I refered a previous thread and read your comment recommending it there. Thanks for all the advice and info. Is there an arm similar to the DL-110 in terms of value and performance?

 

[WmAx]

WmAx, it was no coincidence I picked the DL-110. I refered a previous thread and read your comment recommending it there. Thanks for all the advice and info. Is there an arm similar to the DL-110 in terms of value and performance?

Did you get the SL1200 MK II(I presume you did)? If so, then there are a few sources for adapter mounts to install arms such as the Rega RB-250. This is an arm with far lower resonance as compared to the stock Technics arm. This is the cheapest 'new' replacement arm option. You can find even better arms for less if you know what to look for on the used market. But that is a variable market and you can't depend on it. There is also a great arm by Jelco that costs about the same amount. Between the two, I would likely pick the Jelco SA250. Here is a source for Jelco adapter plate to fit the SL1200 MKII: http://www.soundhifi.com/sl1200/index.htm

-Chris