Feeling Retro Vibes? Learn How to Choose the Turntable

The heyday of the popularity of vinyl records fell in the 70-the 80s of the last century. Now they are considered a rarity and a lot of true connoisseurs of music. How can you explain the continuing interest in turntables in the digital age? How not be mistaken when choosing a quality player? This will be discussed further. Keep reading.

What’s so special about the analogue sounding?

Any composition is recorded on a vinyl record in an analogue way. During such a recording process, the continuous signal is transferred to a hard medium without undergoing various kinds of discrete transformations. The shape of the tracks on a vinyl record is an analogue “cast” of the original signal.

Another matter is with the popular digital format MP3. The principle of obtaining a sound recording is as follows – at certain and very short intervals, the values of an analogue signal are read, and then stored in digital form. When playing back speech or music, these values are restored to the original sound. However, this process is associated with such phenomena as unnatural sound, excessive saturation and the presence of additional harmonics.

The problem is that in the 21st century finding a cool inexpensive vinyl turntable is very difficult. Much depends not only on the quality of the pickup head but also on the level of performance of all equipment. The repeated re-releases of vinyl records, which generate very noticeable distortions of the records, also do their bit.

What to consider before buying the turntable?

First of all, these are the speed characteristics and functionality of the engine. Be sure to adopt the following selection criteria:

• The brand must be known worldwide and for many years.
• The weight of the device is not less than 10 kg.
• Ability to adjust the tonearm.
• Cast large disc.
• Competent execution of the drive.

Main types of turntables’ drive

The drive is the mechanism responsible for transferring the torque from the turntable motor to the disc. One of the main requirements for a drive is to keep the level of vibration to a minimum because the quality of the reproduced sound depends on it.

There are 4 main types of drive:

• Traditional drive in which the mechanical link between the alloy wheel and the electric engine is created by means of a common axle.
• Belt-type. The most popular type of drive, in which a pass acts as a transmitting element of torque.
• The peculiarity of this drive lies in the installation of an intermediate roller between the turntable disc and the motor axles.
• Worm gear. The connection of the engine to the disc is realized using gears.

Most buyers buy turntables with direct drive or belt drive options. But it is better to refuse to buy a roller drive – it has the highest vibration level. The disadvantage of direct drive is the generation of electromagnetic interference in the pickup. Therefore, it is best to opt for a belt-drive turntable.

Specifications are another important point to consider when purchasing. It is desirable to have quartz frequency stabilization in the drive mechanism. It effectively suppresses noise and sound distortion caused by deviations in the rotational speed of the disc.

Materials

The quality of a vinyl turntable is eloquently indicated not only by its characteristics but also by the materials from which it is assembled. For example, the weight of the model must be bigger in order to effectively suppress the vibrations that occur. An important requirement for the material of the case is the complete absence of the effect of sound resonance in it.

To get your turntable and enjoy good music visit the PRC Direct website.

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