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WallySpace
3
Oct 4, 2021
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Hello, as a former HI End Audio (stereo) salesman here in So. Calif during the late 70's - mid 80's I can only attest to the 'Hi-end specs' and (usually handmade) traditions of creating amazing turntables, including linear tracking arms, direct-drive motors, and of course what most hi-end equipment junkies generally agree is the most stable, and noiseless (as the drive motor is theoretically isolated from the turntable cabinet) 'belt driven' table. In the belt-driven category, the holy grail of sound demands that the tonearm/cartridge/stylus has complete separation from any possible rumble (transference of motor shimmy, or vibration to the tonearm from the table/motor drive). After spending a fortune of paychecks during my ten+ years or so as a salesman working in little boutique shops catering to very wealthy, and or crazed and insanely demanding audiophiles that would NEVER use digital media (of that era) in their $100k (even into the MILLIONS of dollars with specially built environments made for stereo listening specifically) systems. Living and working in the Orange County/Newport Beach area this all was quite common at that time. Spending as much as $25k for pure silver speaker cables (really) to $100k TONEARMS ( w/NO stylus/cartridge), or $500k+ preamps and power amps, people like us were chasing what is called soundstage or three dimensional sound from two speakers. Using speakers like $150k Martin Login electrostatics, or MagnaPlaner Array, and on and on. I myself ran a LiNN LP table and arm from Scotland, countless cartridge/stylus configurations, Dalquists DQ10's speakers (and countless others on loan) but always powered with at least 100 watts minimum of tube-powered class 'a' amps (various brands, as I could borrow new demos from the manufacturers...those were the days!!!!!!). However, it was ALWAYS the turntable/arm/cartridge that was supercritical at the front end of the audio chain. You see all this kit HAD to work harmoniously to create the volume, presence, and that elusive 3d soundstage from just two speakers. Lack of system noise of any kind that could affect any of this system chain was a major goal. SO HERE IS THE POINT: If you had asked for a fully automatic turntable, you would have been laughed at in these high-end stores, and possibly told not to bother coming back. there was NO automatic anything in this rarified end of the listening community. Sure anyone could get the automatic 'record players' like Sony's, Techniques, Pioneer, and a slew of other mid-fi brands at Sears, Pacific Stereo, Cal Stereo. Stores that disappeared by the early to mid-nineties. The new Digital Sound (cd's) changed so that society became used to quick play, instant track choice, and memory functions not available in analog turntables (or cassette tapes). Soon a stereo was what your dad or grandparents had in their living rooms unplayed by the future generations because they weren't small and portable. Like the original mp3 players, which are NOW your phones. We have all been taught to listen to flat and tinny sound playing through crappy headphones and eeny teeeni speakers in your player of choice (your car is only a little better). I'm weeping just thinking of digital mp3 and Flac formats. It ain't the sound of analog vinyl, sigh. So the original 'audiophile' goal was to isolate a tonearm from motor rumble/movement which caused inaccurate playback of what was in the record groove, along with the way the arm translated the motion/vibration of the stylus's travel through the groove of the record. LP records are ALIVE when a stylus plays the etches in the groove of a moving record. Digital has no physical motion. It might sound good to you, but it is not ALIVE as with the sound created when originally recorded. The playing part of a hi-end Turntable is made up of gimbals with jeweled or micro-machined pivot points from exotic metals, along with incredibly engineered tonearms created with lightness and strength in mind, as well as the lack of mechanical energy transference from the stylus movement into the tonearm which could create a physical energy feedback loop that could incur microscopic interference of the correct travel of the stylus in the record groove i.e. loss of accuracy. This added minuscule vibration could add interfere with the tiny pure electrical current being made by the 'cartridge'. If not the sonically tainted signal was then sent to the pre-amp to be stepped up to the power amps etc. TRANSLATED: It would sound like streaming media through your cellphone into some earbuds. NO MAGIC You see, a clunky and extremely noisy table/motorized automatic tonearm unit would SOUND LIKE SHIT on a true audiophile system. The reason modern DJs like the Technics Turntable with the industrial 'S' tonearms (from the 80's) is because they have A DIRECT DRIVE MOTOR under the plater. These are sonically ham fisted with no effort to creates a sound stage. There is no requirement to 'warm up' the motor for 10 minutes BEFORE (on a belt drive) you even think of playing a 1/2 speed master P.F. Dark Side lp pressed in a limited run on one or two metal masters to protect the sound quality of the grooves. Of course these are then pressed on 18-20 gram (then usually German) virgin vinyl to eliminate noise from micro-divets created by bubbles that surfaced in the conventional pressing of standard vinyl records.  Yes I know, not enough periods. I'm a talker, not a typer. Anyway, THAT is why a new regular mass-produced vinyl records surface sounds noisy. WHEN BUYING LP'S TODAY BUY THE GOOD STUFF!!!! They sound better and literally sonically last long longer also. So that was my snobby world for a while.  IF you ever get to hear a system like I described above and play a half-speed DSOTM with a hi-end table - arm - cartridge, well, I GUARANTEE that the ringing of the clocks coming OUT OF THE SPEAKERS WILL LITERALLY FLY AROUND THE ROOM.........AROUND YOUR HEAD.........AROUND THE BACK OF YOU.......and then those clocks will all fall DOWN ON YOUR FREAKIN' HEAD BROTHER!!!!! AWESOMMMMME A digital format played through a digital device creating a digital signal (DAC or no DAC) into headphones, well it's not the same. My generation is used to waiting for our food, being patient, and getting little immediate gratification. Not much was fast compared to today. We were used to listening to one side of a record (usual 15 to 30 minutes a side) then having to get up, lift up the tonearm, and MANUALLY place it back on its holder (If you had a $1,000 dollar cartridge and stylus you would do the same). Then we would have to stop the player and turn over the record to play the other side. Putting it back on the platter, CLEAN THE SURFACE OF THE RECORD, manually place the tonearm onto the noisy leading groove and THEN you could go sit down and listen to the MAGIC HAPPEN!!!!!!!!!! It was so worth it. Really. So my hats are off to any of the Japanese, American, or Europen manufacturers still trying to create the magic for today's listener that is accustomed to digital streaming music on earbuds through their iPhones. It is so worth it friends! I promise..... Yours truly and a well meaning purest at heart, Wally Space Owner and sound engineer at Lost in Space Studio
Oct 4, 2021
davewave
5
Feb 9, 2022
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WallySpaceso what do you think of this turntable set up?
Feb 9, 2022
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