How to choose a turntable for vinyl records?

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

The turntable is a very popular music playback tool among true audiophiles. Vinyl is valued primarily for its ability to convey the feeling of live sound and high quality playback of tracks.

What is a turntable? How to choose a good retro stereo system? Let's try to figure out these issues together.

Features

Quality modern turntables must meet the following parameters:

• Weight of about 10 kg or more, which confirms the production using reliable metal components.
• The presence of an adjustable tonearm and a massive cast rotating disk.
• Smart drive.
• Built-in equalizer and sound amplifier.

Foundation

The basic element of any vinyl player is a table on which functional components are placedstereo systems. The key to sound quality is having a solid base that can keep the turntable stable while in use.

Disc

The rotating disc is the base where the vinyl record is placed. Usually, there is an elastic mat between it and the audio data carrier, which ensures the adhesion of both elements.

It is recommended to purchase a turntable for vinyl records, which has a fairly massive and heavy rotating disc, since the level of vibration during system operation directly depends on these characteristics.

Manual or automatic player?

Turntables, which are operated by manually lowering and raising the tonearm, are revered by true connoisseurs of high-quality sound. Such designs contain a minimum number of parts, the mobility of which can cause additional vibration when playing records. These models include mainly Soviet turntables and Western-made retro models.

In turn, automation allows you to start the process of playing an audio recording with a single press of a button. This option is suitable for music lovers who are just joining the tradition of listening to music on vinyl.

Pickup needle

When choosing a turntable for vinyl records, the priority should be given toinstalled pickup needle, because the overall quality of playback depends on its nature.

The cheapest are spherical needles. They are used in the production of budget models of players. The main drawback of such means of playing music from vinyl is the insufficiently accurate passage of the grooves. Repeated playing of records using a spherical needle leads to the appearance of small scratches on the surface of the record and, as a result, damage to it.

Elliptical playback means are free from the above disadvantage. In addition, their use can improve the sound quality of audio recordings. However, buying a turntable for vinyl records with an elliptical stylus will have to be well spent, since the price of such systems is an order of magnitude higher.

General recommendations

What questions should I ask a seller when choosing a turntable? How to choose a quality new or used equipment?

At any point of sale of audio equipment, you can stumble upon frank "trash", whether it's a new player or a used system. On the other hand, the ability to attach importance to important moments will not only save money, but also find a truly high-quality, reliable means for playing sound from vinyl.

So, when buying a turntable, ask the following questions:

• Does the system work for playing vinyl records.
• How long has it been usedmachine.
• Whether the seller is the original owner.
• Was the system used by a DJ (it is not recommended to consider such options, since in this case there is a high probability of severe wear of the device components).
• What is the condition of the stylus, cartridge, motor, drive belt.

Getting confident answers to these questions greatly increases the chances of getting a really decent turntable. If the seller openly avoids communication, it is worth considering considering other available options. Finally, when choosing a used system, especially on the Internet, you should be puzzled in advance about the possible return of low-quality goods.