Zany measurements and theories


I have to say that I do accept stylus drag exists, however where on earth do people get:
1. Stylus getting to temperatures that can melt vinyl - if so we'd never play out records more than once
2. Our records get hit with tons of pressure - if so why are none of my records smashed
parrotbee

Showing 3 responses by swampwalker

From a theoretical standpoint, the real issue here is what Rodman9999 points to; how much heat is actually transferred from the stylus contact point (very small) and the vinyl (which is only in contact with the stylus for what I would venture to guess is milliseconds at a time). Also the elasticity of the vinyl, how that varies with temperature, and it's heat transfer properties.

OTOH, the empirical evidence he presents gives me a high degree of confidence that the interaction of those variables in real-life situations is such that this is a non-issue. Thanks, Rodman. Very important information.
The empirical evidence I was referring to was Rodman's
I've got a number of test records, that I used in my shoppe, for setting up turntables. They were, of necessity, played multiple times, during a setup. They are still as pristine in function & sound as when I purchased them. Even the very high velocity, "Tracking Torture Test Tracks." My
favorite demo record tracks, were often played numerous
times, within a few minutes, to compare my various speaker
models to customers. That was in the 80's and I'm still
enjoying those vinyls, with no loss of presentation.