Vinyl Records & Set ups!

[Uncle Grandfather]

We'll see how things play out.

hopefully at 33 1/3

[rustywire]

Don't feel bad about modest setups. I've listened to some very "high end" setups with thousand dollar cables and 5k cartridges. They are very impressive, but do not meet my requirements. They're too perfect.

I like "the vinyl sound" and "the tube sound" and "the vintage sound" in particular.
The ones that let you hear happy mistakes and the personal surface noise that occurs from regular use.
The imperfections are part of the draw IMO. Things just sound realer that way, I suppose...

I like the coloration of all kinds of gear with "a signature sound" ...specifically middle-of-the-road and even TOTL stuff from the golden age of hifi.

i definitely wouldn't want to listen to music through a studios monitoring set up for pleasure. no thanks.

this is only a pocket change theory, but i think ultra uber high end gooses the 4 to 6khz presence region to give the impression of more detail and a sense of...presence. also because hearing loss is progressive in nature with the higher frequencies, i think builders also aim to boost the 6khz to 18khz to account for their tarket market's hearing. i think a subtle boost in the presence region enhances the listening experience, but certain stereo's i've heard were most def tilted upwards, but only perceptible after some many hours spent listening when i'll notice Everything i play has this coloration...if you will. maybe?

Yeah, the sibilance region def seems to be a point of emphasis and where the audiophile gear makes its money; with *sweet highs* more than anything.
The marketing line will gush about horns and string articulation, ambient noises like glasses clinking and their soundstaging, while heaping the orotundity with buzzword adjectives and adverbs.
As you brought up, the hearing range of most people in a position to spend those big bucks on audio jewelry is going to be rolling off treble and even battling tinnitus, which all but guarantees serious diminishing returns.

Electrostatic and rotary type speakers are awesome, but impractical afaic. Especially when one listens to a lot of lofi and midfi diy type stuff. All that matters is sounding good, and it's much more satisfying to achieve impressive, even results through humble means.

[Mudfuzz]

Don't feel bad about modest setups. I've listened to some very "high end" setups with thousand dollar cables and 5k cartridges. They are very impressive, but do not meet my requirements. They're too perfect.

I like "the vinyl sound" and "the tube sound" and "the vintage sound" in particular.
The ones that let you hear happy mistakes and the personal surface noise that occurs from regular use.
The imperfections are part of the draw IMO. Things just sound realer that way, I suppose...

I like the coloration of all kinds of gear with "a signature sound" ...specifically middle-of-the-road and even TOTL stuff from the golden age of hifi.

i definitely wouldn't want to listen to music through a studios monitoring set up for pleasure. no thanks.

this is only a pocket change theory, but i think ultra uber high end gooses the 4 to 6khz presence region to give the impression of more detail and a sense of...presence. also because hearing loss is progressive in nature with the higher frequencies, i think builders also aim to boost the 6khz to 18khz to account for their tarket market's hearing. i think a subtle boost in the presence region enhances the listening experience, but certain stereo's i've heard were most def tilted upwards, but only perceptible after some many hours spent listening when i'll notice Everything i play has this coloration...if you will. maybe?

Yeah, the sibilance region def seems to be a point of emphasis and where the audiophile gear makes its money; with *sweet highs* more than anything.
The marketing line will gush about horns and string articulation, ambient noises like glasses clinking and their soundstaging, while heaping the orotundity with buzzword adjectives and adverbs.
As you brought up, the hearing range of most people in a position to spend those big bucks on audio jewelry is going to be rolling off treble and even battling tinnitus, which all but guarantees serious diminishing returns.

I notice this in most recordings as a whole at least after mastering, which is why for pleasure listening I dump the trebs, I just don't like all that shit… This is also always led to a struggle when I mix and master, my view point on how it should sound vs most "pro" recordings which is what everyone is use to and seems to like

[Uncle Grandfather]

Don't feel bad about modest setups. I've listened to some very "high end" setups with thousand dollar cables and 5k cartridges. They are very impressive, but do not meet my requirements. They're too perfect.

I like "the vinyl sound" and "the tube sound" and "the vintage sound" in particular.
The ones that let you hear happy mistakes and the personal surface noise that occurs from regular use.
The imperfections are part of the draw IMO. Things just sound realer that way, I suppose...

I like the coloration of all kinds of gear with "a signature sound" ...specifically middle-of-the-road and even TOTL stuff from the golden age of hifi.

i definitely wouldn't want to listen to music through a studios monitoring set up for pleasure. no thanks.

this is only a pocket change theory, but i think ultra uber high end gooses the 4 to 6khz presence region to give the impression of more detail and a sense of...presence. also because hearing loss is progressive in nature with the higher frequencies, i think builders also aim to boost the 6khz to 18khz to account for their tarket market's hearing. i think a subtle boost in the presence region enhances the listening experience, but certain stereo's i've heard were most def tilted upwards, but only perceptible after some many hours spent listening when i'll notice Everything i play has this coloration...if you will. maybe?

Yeah, the sibilance region def seems to be a point of emphasis and where the audiophile gear makes its money; with *sweet highs* more than anything.
The marketing line will gush about horns and string articulation, ambient noises like glasses clinking and their soundstaging, while heaping the orotundity with buzzword adjectives and adverbs.
As you brought up, the hearing range of most people in a position to spend those big bucks on audio jewelry is going to be rolling off treble and even battling tinnitus, which all but guarantees serious diminishing returns.

I notice this in most recordings as a whole at least after mastering, which is why for pleasure listening I dump the trebs, I just don't like all that shit… This is also always led to a struggle when I mix and master, my view point on how it should sound vs most "pro" recordings which is what everyone is use to and seems to like

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law

[Mudfuzz]

in a way very wise… if only we didn't have to work with and for others at times still… what you said helped make up my mind on something that is either really cool or really dumb

[Greenfuz]

I've got one of those portable record players from urban outfitters


I know they suck but whateva

just be careful cause you are ruining your records.

that's because the stock needles are rounded or somethin right?


are the replacement ones better? because I bought one of those

[Uncle Grandfather]

I've got one of those portable record players from urban outfitters


I know they suck but whateva

just be careful cause you are ruining your records.

that's because the stock needles are rounded or somethin right?


are the replacement ones better? because I bought one of those

No, I was referring to the lack of an adjustable counterweight. doesn't matter what stylus/tip you use when its just going to bore away your groove anyways.

seriously, if you have albums you've bought that are valuable to you, or are literally valuable....don't play them on that machine. and no, a different cart won't help.


edit: actually a diff cart might work. or find out the recommended tracking force on the cart you already have. then use a digital postal scale set at the height of where a record would be...they make scales for such purpose but they cost more than your turntable....to measure the downforce. whatever the difference between that reading and the recommended force, you have to account for somehow. this is done with an adjustable counterweight at the rear end of the tonearm.

you might be able to add mass to the end of the tonearm to get the tracking force correct.

next you need to adjust the anti-skate, which that table doesn't have provisions for?...what this means is that one side of the groove is going to have more wear on it than the other.

also make sure that when the needle is on the record, its perfectly parallel, if not make an adjustment using....oh yeah, nevermind.

There's lots of reasons not to use those tables. but if you're just having fun and don't care about how the records will sound down the road, go at it. i think those tables were marketed at a demographic that is more interested in the idea of playing records than the actual care and setup and maintenance involved with playing records properly.

[The4455]

I do vinyl and worked at a record store. I've got about 500 LP's. It was an interesting job.

[Uncle Grandfather]

I do vinyl and worked at a record store. I've got about 500 LP's. It was an interesting job.

when you do vinyl, does it do you back?

[The4455]

Only 45's.

[Uncle Grandfather]

Only 45's.

wait a minute....does that explain your name???? the4455....the 45, 45....have i uncovered the key to some underground vinyl fetish scene where you all stand around gingerly holding records while staring deeply into the grooves to "hear" what's been pressed?? you make me sick. also, can i join?

[The4455]

Well...

[Uncle Grandfather]

Here's a stock photo of my turntable/tonearm. Its an acrylic platform with a 20lb platter. it is isolated from floor vibration via the air bladders in each footer. utilizes a 12" tonearm, and has an outboard flywheel and motor to distance any vibrations from the motor. There is also another component, the SDS which takes the incoming ac and regenerates a perfects sine wave so there are no speed fluctuations due to power line issues. Its made by VPI, was their flagship model years back, its the TNT HR mkV w/jmw 12.5 tonearm. weighs roughly 100 lbs. Just posting about it cause I had to take it apart the other day to work on the sandbox isolation platform had shifted for some reason...Now i think its about time to put it up on top shelf of VPI's rack, which i'll load the legs with a mixture of buckshot and sand to dampen them and add mass. The thing is the damn table is so large and long that the stock top shelf vpi makes isn't long enough. I think a 4" thick maple butcher block platform will work nicely as a shelf. Just need to choose which builder to make it. Timbernation has made plaftorms for my table before and their prices are very reasonable...but the shipping is a bitch.

[D.o.S.]

Using Hi-Fi to listen to Lo-Fi.

[Uncle Grandfather]

Using Hi-Fi to listen to Lo-Fi.

for 13 years and counting