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New member Username: AnubisBirmingham, West Midlands England Post Number: 8 Registered: May-06 | I know there are people in here who will see through this question and into it's real meaning. Because a better turntable may mean the retrieval of more information, does this mean my pops and clicks will be more distinct? Anubis |
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Gold Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 8585 Registered: May-04 | It depends. Mostly on the actual condition of your records. If the vinyl has been damaged, the stylus will let you know. There's not much you can do to repair chunks of vinyl that are missing or have had large chunks of debri pushed into the groove by playing with nonexistent or poor cleaning. However, most record surface noise is the result of a poor turntable, and a better table will reduce or eliminate most of that problem. Think of the table/arm/cartridge/vinyl connection as a closed loop. To extract the most information the stylus must respond to its own tracking and tracing of the LP groove. As the stylus and cantilever move while tracing the highs and lows of the LP groove, the cartridge/arm/platter must remain perfectly fixed in space. Obviously the platter rotates, but this is part of the problem as any random movement of the platter can be translated by the stylus as information within the record groove. An extra push or pull by the play or noise in the platter's main bearing can either add or remove information retrieved by the stylus. Any movement or resonance in the cartridge body/arm/table can also introduce or reduce the information the stylus imparts to the coils inside the cartridge. Therefore the job of a better turntable/arm/cartridge is to eliminate the extraneous movements and resonances that plague lesser designs. The more effectively the system works, the less noise exists as a result of random motion being introduced at the stylus. Thus, the generally agreed upon heirarchy of a turntable dictates that the table be of the highest quality affordable. This establishes the noise floor of the system and without a top quality table, everything else you do is going to suffer. Next in importance is the arm as its job is to hold the cartridge, and thus the magnets and coils, perfectly fixed in space and allow the stylus to respond only to the record groove. Finally, the cartridge should be of the best quality possible with the best stylus/cantilever assembly you can afford. Reducing the tip mass of the stylus and cantilever will reap more benefits than stepping into a more expensive cartridge alone might provide. All this implies a top flight table with a good arm and a decent cartridge will provide better overall sound that an expensive cartridge on a cheaper table and arm. The more expensive cartridge on the cheap table will only pick up the noise of the poorly made table and arm. This hierarchy will reduce the surface noise that exists in vinyl playback. At its best, a turntable will be as quiet as many CD's. Also, A better cartdidge will typically have a better stylus/cantilever assembly. Depending on the type of stylus you've used on your LP's in the past, a new stylus will often ride in a different portion of the groove and trace across relatively new vinyl. This will also extract less noise than your old table. But, you are correct in assuming a better table system wil do its job properly and find whatever is in the record groove. Or, in some cases, what is missing from the groove. If vinyl has been worn away by a poor system or a worn stylus, the new stylus can only tell you exactly that. Also, if the vinyl has been damaged, the stylus can only track that information. And, as the stylus rides further down in the groove to find information, it is very likely to find lots of dirt, debri and crud that settle to the bottom of the groove when a record is improperly cleaned or not cleaned at all. So, a better turntable involves not only a better table, but a better support system to minimize the external vibrations that would impose their sound on the closed loop. You also need a good cleaning regimen to get the dirt out of the groove before the stylus traces it and creates the noise it implies. |
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Gold Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 8587 Registered: May-04 | http://www.gcaudio.com/resources/howtos/index.html |