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What's wrong with classical music on vinyl?

As I go through my collection of classical music on vinyl, and get new ones from record stores and eBay, I notice that I am not impressed with the sound quality. Most of my pop music albums sound fine. The classical (even sealed), on the other hand, sounds full of static, noise, and pops that completely drown out the music. The rubber surrounds on my woofers ripple visibly, and the more intense passages become distorted (particulary the brass instruments). (And yes, I've tried it with minimal volume, to test the feedback theory, and with the same results.) I've tried extensive record cleaning with some of the most recommended products. On the other hand, my non-classical music sounds fine. Madonna, Yes, and Simon and Garfunkel play fine. So do Crosby Stills + Nash, REM, and Nickelback.

The only thing I can think of is that the classical music tends to be recorded at a much lower volume, thereby causing a low signal to noise ratio, whereas the pop music is inherently recorded at a higher volume, and this helps to drown out the noise.

I'm beginning to think that I should stick to CD's or brand-new 200g LP's for classical music from here on.

Any comments/suggestions?
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Showing 2 responses by sufentanil

sufentanil's avatar
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sufentanil OP
782 posts
 
Hi Rushton, thanks for your input, and for confirming one of my suspicions about recording volumes (happens on CD's, too). As you may recall, I had similar problems a couple years ago with my Music Hall MMF-5. I now have a Project RM-6 which is a great turntable for the price, considerably better than the Music Hall and Technics I was using earlier. I have it mated with a Goldring Electra cartridge and a Parasound zPhono preamp.

And yet few of my classical recordings are actually listenable. I have become more tolerant of occasional pops and clicks, but when the softer passages are difficult to ear through the noise, or the high-energy dynamics are limited by distortion, this becomes very frustrating. I believe it's largely record-related, because there are a few records that don't have the distortion.

On the other hand, I have a couple of Alison Krauss' 180g audiophile LP's that sound amazing on my system. A couple of my friends have heard it and literally wouldn't believe that the sound was coming from vinyl. But if I put any one of my four copies of Dvorak's Symphony #9 (my favorite) on the turntable, they would run for cover.

The cartridge alignment is correct, and I have the tracking force set to the cartridge's recommended 1.7g. I hear no difference with increased tracking force or with changes in the anti-skating.

Maybe the solution is to just buy new, audiophile-grade classical LP's.

Michael
sufentanil's avatar
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sufentanil OP
782 posts
 
Thanks so far for the responses.

Rushton, to answer your question about if I have audiophile-grade new classical LP's, the answer is no. (However, there are a couple that I'm considering getting.) Maybe that would be a decent test.

And yes, it's certainly possible that my setup isn't 100% perfect. I've adjusted the cartridge tracking angle with the turntablebasics.com mirror tool, and the stylus tracking force has been confirmed with a Shure gauge. The azimuth appears visually to be OK, but I haven't yet figured out how to adjust it (great turntable, terrible manual).

I'll have to investigate the possibility of improving the situation wiht a new cartridge. I also have a local dealer that I can take some records over and listen on his Nottingham stuff to observe the difference. I just have a hard time believing that pristine-looking classical LP's sound so much worse than their pop/rock counterparts, and apparently that isn't universally true.

That definitely gives me more to think about.

Thanks.

Michael
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