10 Levels of Turntable Mastery

Here's another thought. I think that as you progress up the levels of Turntable Mastery, you learn that the biggest gains in performance are from knowledge and less from money spent on hardware.

Case in point: I just had a *huge* increase in analog performance by building my own Loricraft / VPI hybrid record cleaning machine out of an old Pioneer PL-A25. I thought my records were immaculate because of my DD process. But after re-cleaning them with MFSL Plus and my new DIY cleaning machine...wow. I probably spent $35 on my new fluid, and $50 in parts to create my RCM.

It's hard for someone new to analog to accept that much of your initial budget *should* go to things other than the table, the arm, and the cartridge. Proper alignment, clean vinyl, and careful setup will (IMHO) yield far more satisfying results than that money spent on the Analog Trinity. However, even it I *was* told those things when I bought my first table (a Music Hall MMF-5), I would have thought you were trying to scam me. I guess this is part of the journey.

Nrenter,

To appreciate the truth of what you just posted just requires a little thinking, a gedankenexperiment in fact, and any newbie can do it. Two minutes of thought will demonstrate the intricacies of accurate vinyl playback and the importance of all the factors you named.

Imagine you're a microscopic V-shaped stylus, balanced against two sides of a microscopic V-shaped groove. You're under strict orders to maintain steady and even contact with each side of the groove. No bouncing around or you'll damage the groove, which you've been told is more precious than gold - and alot softer too.

Did I mention that you're made of diamond, the hardest substance known? Better be careful!

Hey! The groove just started sliding beneath you! You discover you can't move forward or back, so you can't slide along with it. No problem though, the groove seems perfectly smooth and you are too, so it slides along while you just sit there. Heh! And they said this would be difficult.

Whoops! the sliding groove walls just started oscillating back and forth, or up and down, or both! You discover you're also free to move left or right and up or down. It's getting more difficult, but as long as you keep your balance and they let you move in those directions you can maintain contact with those two groove walls.

Yikes! Now the two groove walls are oscillating at multiple frequencies at once. Still no problem, just a little more difficult to maintain contact. Your freedom to move up/down and L/R must be really free - hope they oiled whatever doohickey is holding you in place while letting you move!

Oops, your two groove walls are now moving at different frequencies and amplitudes relative to each other! Guess they just invented stereo (let's hope they don't think of quad). This ride's getting pretty exciting, but you can still handle it.

Oh no, the groove is angling gradually off to one side as it slides by. You're still free to move up/down and L/R, but you're not able to twist yourself to match the changing groove direction. You're no longer sitting precisely across the groove, who designed this piece of junk anyway?. If that's important, we may have a problem. Maybe no one will notice...

Whoa! They just put you in a different groove and it sits lower (or higher) than the old one. Kinda hard to balance and stay in contact with those oscillations when you're tilted forward or back. Don't you wish you could adjust yourself so you're stranding straight upright again?

Panic!!! Someone must have dumped a bucket of trash in here. You're bumping your @ss over all kinds of junk that prevents clean, constant contact with the groovewalls. It's not so easy any more, impossible in fact. The jerk should have cleaned this groove before asking you ride it.

Hmmm... the groove is sliding past slower and slower and those L/R oscillations are getting smaller and smaller. It's tougher to fit inside each one and follow it cleanly. It's tempting to just slide past the tops of the really tiny ones, but every time you do the boss screams at you. Sheesh, you'd think it was him in pain and not you. Time to lose some weight and make your own V shape really skinny. Who knew this job would involve dieting? Is that requirement even legal?

Big oops - now you're under electronic surveillance! Every move you make is being monitored by that dork and he can tell whenever you fail to follow the tiniest movement in the groove walls perfectly. Even worse, the better you do the more the bastard wants! It's like perfomance reviews, you did great last year but now you have to do even better - the bastards!

WTF! He keeps fussing with your angle across the groove, your angle tilting forward or back, the amount of pressure he puts on your head, the amount of pressure he puts on one side of you, etc. etc. You're so dialed in you can practically trace individual vinyl molecules, but he wants more. The guy's some kind of sicko...

See? There's nothing to it.

Dougdeacon,

Wow, that is a mess! I think I'll switch to all digital....

'swonderful, Doug!

Seruiusly, the thing that got me into audio as a kid was watching that little needle follow the grooves on records and being amazed at the fact that sound came out. Its still amazing to me that the sound can be as good as it is given the task at hand.

Digital has it easier though, doesn't it? Al that's involved in good playback is to retrieve all the bits available, and transport them intact to a device that can accurately reproduce the waveform. Its all electronic. No physical rollercoaster rides involved!

You also have to hope that the producer of the digital source material gave you a set of good bits to start with, but that's out of your control as is how well the record is produced. Nowadays, 9 times out of ten, they do at least a decent job of capturing those bits accurately, I find.