What is best turntable for listening to Rock from the sixties like Led Zeppelin?


The sound quality isn’t great, so rather than something super revealing, something that is very musical, and can also convey the magic. Sort of the Decca cartridge equivalent of turntables. I am guessing less Caliburn and Techdas, more Linn, Roksan, Denon, EMT 927, Rega, even.
tokyojohn
" Again, the idea that a turntable or cartridge (or other component) serves a certain genre of music better than some other is one of the biggest myths in audio. "

It is entirely possible to optimize the TT for one genre over another.  Much of that is merely cartridge /tonearm selection.  Though the selected cartridge/tonearm may be entirely fine in all other genre's, it has been voiced by its owner for one particular genre.

With regard to the motor unit, all genre's will benefit from a platter spin that doesn't change its pace, however minutely, in response to modulated stylus drag.  But it will be more apparent when reproducing rock.

I maintain, different turntables for different records.

-Steve

I’ve professionally mixed, recorded, and performed electric and acoustic music for decades, and if anybody thinks acoustic instruments are less dynamic than electric ones, they’re unaware of the of the basics of music sound and reproduction. And that’s OK…comments like "over cook the solo" demonstrate a sincere but utterly naive perception of sound not actually existing in reality. Steve is almost charming in his somewhat innocent weird little world, and Atmasphere is 100% correct.
"I’ve professionally mixed, recorded, and performed electric and acoustic music for decades, and if anybody thinks acoustic instruments are less dynamic than electric ones, they’re unaware of the of the basics of music sound and reproduction. And that’s OK…comments like "over cook the solo" demonstrate a sincere but utterly naive perception of sound not actually existing in reality. Steve is almost charming in his somewhat innocent weird little world, and Atmasphere is 100% correct."

Dynamic?  Each acoustic instrument has a dynamic range.  Yes some will get rather loud.  Thinking of a Steinway grand piano.  I've been around live music and musicians myself.  Studied and performed.  Then got a day job.  but I know the sounds of instruments.... particularly acoustic ones.

But still, amplified rock and roll takes 'loud' to another level.  Amplified electric guitar vs acoustic guitar. The electric guitar produces a less complex mixture of tones and texture than does the acoustic guitar which has a sound box made of selected woods, rather thin and carefully seasoned, that affects the plucked string with woody under and overtones.  there is a complex texture of all the vibrating elements within.  Even the very air that carries the sound. 

  Some phono cartridges will describe the texture and tones of an acoustic instrument better than others.  But will the same cartridge that so deliciously described the wood inside the soundbox of that Martin guitar also lend itself toward getting that over-cooked Jimmy Page electric guitar solo rendered so that the listener perceives its reality?   

Well, maybe the recording engineer is responsible for that slightly 'over-cooked' guitar solo because it was mic'd a tad hot and he chose not to use as much compression as do the other engineers in the trade. 

Will that same cartridge deliver the muscular thrust, intensity and speed of the rock performance as it did reproducing a string quartet?  I'm saying there is always a compromise.  And different cartridges have their own sets of strengths and weakness'.  The cartridge designer, when he voices his particular cartridge, will favor one genre of music over another.  Some have, anyway.  Where is the sweet spot in your low output moving coil cartridge?  They all have one.

Amplified rock and roll.  It can have its subtleties, but mainly it works best when you've pressurized the room.  The energy of the reproduction should deliver a compulsion to the listener that will cause him/her to involuntarily move  feet, tap toes, bob head and generally be body and soul immersed into the groove of it.  Some turntables will deliver this compulsion better than others.  All you have to do is hear this to know it.  And you evidently have not heard this.  Though you think you do.

Will that same turntable that rocked out so nicely get the subtleties of the acoustic mix in that string quartet?....  Only your ears will tell you this much.

I get the impression you guys are listening with your intellects rather than your heart.  If you believe a thing from the outset, your mind will allow you to process all sensory input you receive in a manner that supports your preconceived notions.  This even extends to recording engineers.  And especially opinionated ones.

-Steve










Atma-Sphere is wrong, once again. But if he wants to convince some of us he should try and prove what he says.
Next thing he might say is that amp is an amp, and if it's good it's equally good for everything. Then he will move to speakers. And after that to guitars. Martin guitar would not be best for flamenco or the kind of music that John McLaughlin used to play. John himself said it, I am just repeating it.
There is a lot of art in designing good equipment, not only "stupid" science. But a lot of science too.
I remember playing Zep 1 shortly after it was released on a system cobbled together by taking a suitcase stereo my parents owned, and jacking the output into an organ amp and a PA column that I set up in my bedroom when my parents weren't home. Since then, I think all my peregrinations in high fidelity have been about re-creating that thrill. :) 
Zep, for the most part, is not well recorded. I have many, many pressings of some of the albums, and they offer different strengths and weaknesses. Sure, I'd use Zep to check out a system, just to see how it handles the lesser quality recordings, rather than the audiophile spectaculars that make everything sound better.  I'd say if this is part of a quest for table, just buy the best table, arm and cartridge you can afford, with the recognition that if you aren't prepared to write a check from a bottomless account, you have an upgrade path in mind, so you aren't re-buying components unnecessarily. What that is, specifically, is beyond my competence. I like what I own right now, but I've had other, cheaper set-ups that delivered the goods in the context of the systems in which they were used. And yes, I continued to play Zep on all of them. :) :)