Vinyl spinners club

[Philbiker]

how exactly does a turntable destroy records??

The playhead on a turntable is a diamond. Sound comes from the diamond vibrating as it is dragged along some vinyl grooves. If the pressure from the diamond is too light or too heavy, it can badly damage the records it plays. The diamond is an extremely hard substance, and it can act as a cutting head if the pressure is to high. Conversely if the pressure is too light, the needle will bounce around in the groove as it plays. From what I've read, too light is more damaging than too heavy.

Vinyl records are relatively fragile. This particular family of turntables have ridiculously heavy weight when measured.

 

[Deluge Of Sound]

Here is a sound clip of me practicing:

http://soundcloud.com/vinylkeith/scratching

I've been working at it for about 3 months.

I like what I hear. My turntablist taste tends toward [DEL]alliteration[/DEL] guys like Kid Koala, but this is a good start.

 

[Jonyak]

The playhead on a turntable is a diamond. Sound comes from the diamond vibrating as it is dragged along some vinyl grooves. If the pressure from the diamond is too light or too heavy, it can badly damage the records it plays. The diamond is an extremely hard substance, and it can act as a cutting head if the pressure is to high. Conversely if the pressure is too light, the needle will bounce around in the groove as it plays. From what I've read, too light is more damaging than too heavy.

Vinyl records are relatively fragile. This particular family of turntables have ridiculously heavy weight when measured.

well come on now, we need to separate the turntable from the tone arm.

you mean the tone arm is destroying the records. any tonearm of and worth should have a adjustable weight on the end. you can use that and a record gauge to make sure you have the correct weight on the record.

 

[Brick Top]

I was a pretty disappointed when I realized the rega p1 doesn't play 45's, but I might get it anyway.

I don't know what I think about the Audio Technical LP120USB, because I thought I would be better off with a belt-driven table.

Rega is a good table..but rather rigid. make sure you have pretty good isolation for the table to avoid vibrations. Rega's are not real forgiving. If you have a shaky floor look at a used sota or VPI as an example. Both tables are still being made...so parts are available if ever needed.

 

[Philbiker]

well come on now, we need to separate the turntable from the tone arm.

you mean the tone arm is destroying the records. any tonearm of and worth should have a adjustable weight on the end. you can use that and a record gauge to make sure you have the correct weight on the record.

Correct. Take a good look at the design I'm talking about.

All the tables in this family have no weight adjustment and horriffic looking tonearms to anyone who loves vinyl. I have read on the Steve Hoffman boards and elsewhere that people who have used the scales mention to measure the weight have reported weights well in excess of 3G for these models. The whole family of models is all just as bad, they are all apparently built on the same platform at the same factory; they all have the same tonearm. All these clones are record destroyers.

They are like the new Garrard or BSR. For a little history, Garrard and BSR were two OEMs who made many of the turntables which were built in to the big furniture console stereos in the 60s and 70s.

 

[Jonyak]

Correct. Take a good look at the design I'm talking about.

All the tables in this family have no weight adjustment. People who have used the scales mention to measure the weight have reported weights well in excess of 3-4G for these models. The whole family of models is all just as bad, they are all apparently built on the same platform at the same factory. All these clones are record destroyers.

yugh....

ya, never buy a player without a weight adjustment on the tone arm...

haha sorry, I thought you were talking about just the turntable.

 

[Josh Pelican]

I think it's time someone helps me choose some new speakers.

I'm setting up my record player again but it's going in my room. I have two larger speakers but I do not want them in my room. I want something that will sound good but I don't want to spend too much. Most of my records are powerviolence and grindcore so I don't need the highest quality speakers.

My price range is preferably under $500. Hell, under $300 and I'll be stoked. I was looking at some nice Spendor speakers then realized how much they were.

I'm looking at speakers like Polk Audio, KRK, M-Audio, JBL... Any recommendations would be awesome (including price would be, too)!

 

[Brick Top]

For a good cheap set of new speakers...look at swanns. I recommend buying used. A real good vintage high audio set can be found for a song(pun intended)...and even if the surrounds on the woofers are punched....$25 bucks and an hour labor....and they're good as new.

I just picked up a set of AR 3a speakers for $7.50 at a local restore. New surround kit just arrived....so they will be good as new. A pair just sold on Ebay for $1200.00.

Look at canadian brands like PSB, Mirage, Energy. Should be able to find an excellent used set. The Canadian companies built many great speakers through the 90's.

 

[Josh Pelican]

Would a pair of M-Audio AV 40s do the trick? The have the right connections, and I know a few people who use them (for their computers/recording studios) and they love 'em.

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.co...ered-Reference-Speaker-System-pair?sku=600092

 

[ckitz]

I'm only 14, but I love vinyl records. They sound better than mp3s. I have about one or two hundred LPs. Mostly classic rock.

 

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

Hey! After fixing a problem I had with my turntable (signal intermittently interrupted), these days I'm spinning my vinyl records a lot and thanks to that I recalled something that annoys me: Because of the tonearm angle, the cartridge grazes the edge of the record at the very beginning when it is noticeably thicker than the rest of the disc, and that grazing noise can be heard through the speakers. Is there a way to correct that? The tonearm doesn't seem to have something to adjust the angle. Here's a pic trying to show the situation:

Thank you in advance for your input.

 

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

It seems that the tonearm's weight wasn't properly setup and, after trying different positions for the counterweight, the problem seems to have been solved. The cartridge, while still at that angle, is not grazing the record edge anymore.

 

[EdHunter]

This may be cheating, but if means that lovely crackling and warmth to "Hey You" while I'm sat on the train, I'm all for it...

Link Removed

Around 1/4 of the 5000-odd songs on my iPod were converted from vinyl.

 

[wdinc01]

Would a pair of M-Audio AV 40s do the trick? The have the right connections, and I know a few people who use them (for their computers/recording studios) and they love 'em.

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.co...ered-Reference-Speaker-System-pair?sku=600092

I also want to get people's opinion on these.

I have a pair and use it with my record player (which is one of those Ion USB dealies). It works, but I don't know if I'm missing out on anything. Obviously having bigger speakers will give a different sound, but I think they're working for the current set up I have.

 

[Brick Top]

Hey! After fixing a problem I had with my turntable (signal intermittently interrupted), these days I'm spinning my vinyl records a lot and thanks to that I recalled something that annoys me: Because of the tonearm angle, the cartridge grazes the edge of the record at the very beginning when it is noticeably thicker than the rest of the disc, and that grazing noise can be heard through the speakers. Is there a way to correct that? The tonearm doesn't seem to have something to adjust the angle. Here's a pic trying to show the situation:

Thank you in advance for your input.

I don't think it's the tone arm. Looks to me like the headshell is installed wrong.

 

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

Well, not exactly true since the deluxe edition of AC/DC's "Backtracks" released last year also included an LP record, but this is my first vinyl-only purchase since the mid 90s, and I'm enjoying it so much.

 

[EdHunter]

Lucky sonofa...

I can't complain though, thanks to an error at my local shop, I got it a week early, albeit in the most basic form. Killer album though, on a par with SiT.

 

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

I don't think it's the tone arm. Looks to me like the headshell is installed wrong.

It's possible, but take a look at the tonearm without the headshell:

Couldn't take a better picture, but anyway I think it's clear that the part that connects the headshell to the tonearm (I don't know how it's called) needs to be slightly turned counterclockwise for it to be perfectly centered, both vertically and horizontally. That's why, when attached, the headshell gets that angle.

 

[Philbiker]

You'll get uneven sound unless you get that thing straightened out. Something's out of wack. The needle needs to be straight up and down. The turntable also needs to be perfectly level.

 

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

You'll get uneven sound unless you get that thing straightened out. Something's out of wack. The needle needs to be straight up and down. The turntable also needs to be perfectly level.

Thank you again, Phil! Well, I guess you get what you pay for. That's a cheap Gemini turntable, which still is much better than the turntables found in those old home stereo integrated systems. I desperately wanted a Technics SL-1200 (and still is at the top of my list of things I do quite want but I don't really need), but it was very expensive for me at the time. Unfortunately, now I have other priorities and isn't that easy to me to spend around 700 USD on one of those, but some day I will be able to have one at home.