Does vinyl have a sound?

In 1978, a common $200 Japanese or European table + $10 vendor cost cart, like a basic Grado of the day or similar, could do quite well if set up properly or sound horrid otherwise.

Things have progressed since then but factor in inflation and I would expect much better results today in that all the supported and related technologies have progressed, although so have the costs due mainly to inflation.

Thanks for the responses -- while my question makes sense to some and not to others,I'm satisfied that I got my answer -- whatever I'm trying to describe as "plastic" can be eliminated.

Yes Vinyl has a sound. It sounds REAL and Correct. Unlike digital that is so remixed and amped up and tweeked with. Of course i'm speaking of music that was made during vinyl's reign. I am so glad I can still find used records that sound fantastic and when this happens it really takes you back. If your not getting the goose bump effect listing to vinyl, you need to change your rig or speakers or electronics.

Matt M
Austin TX

Ralph (if I may be informal) I meant no arguement. I am sure you are correct. My problem is understanding what an arm must have to track well. The VPI's performance puzzles me as I have heard this negative comment in several posts (not you). So I was wondering why it sounds good to me.
I guess given the logic this thread has conveyed, it must have been set up correctly. I know it is actually pretty good. I have heard a number of fine set ups from my audio group, several of them own Walkers Black Diamond rig. including his personal set up!

Mechans, no argument taken!

An arm will track a cartridge well if it and the cartridge together have an effective mass that allows the two to have a low frequency mechanical resonance between about 7-12Hz. If the mechanical resonance falls outside of this range you can have all sorts of mistracking problems.

Additional factors are the 'sticktion' of the arm bearings, any play that the bearings might have, and uncontrolled resonances in the arm tube that might cause the arm to editorialize.

In addition arm bearings can be fragile! This can result in really variable results. But if all these factors come together in a good way then the arm does not have to be particularly expensive and things will work fine. If OTOH something is a little off the results can be dreadful.

Sounds like things are working better for you than bad :)

Have a good holiday!