Today with the high quality available from digital sources, nobody need do without the best phono record playing equipment that Ebay makes affordable.  Getting high quality phono sound is all about S/N ratio or Signal to Noise ratio.  Not only the rumble of your record playing platform is amplified as noise, but arm vibration and a multitude of other distortions urge the old-vinyl-record user to go Hi-End with phonograph records.  You know you deserve the best so why make do with trash?

REVOX B790  (Hi-End) US $389, CAN $448, AUS $491, UK £237 GUIDE PRICE

THE IVY LEAGUE:- Nakamichi GyroDec Oracle Revox VPI Linn Michell Transcriptors

The REALISTIC stereo receiver and speaker combinations are still firmly recommended, with improved Hi 92dB S/N Hi-End phono connecting cables and O.F.C. speaker wires, O.F.C. is oxegen free copper, in time oxegen makes the copper less conductive turning it dull brown, you lose power and heat up the wire, O.F.C. keeps the conduction and power to equipment at newer quality.  Try a turntable from the brand choices below, a Linear Tracking cartridge is recommended to avoid many problems of pivot arms on record players, although a highly skilled enthusiast will manage to get pivot arms to compete with Hi-End Linear tracking players, these are not recommended without such support, or from a local vinyl phono service center.

In the diagram below sound is reaching the pick-up arm from the speaker in the same cabinet for which old radiogram autochangers had springs in them.  

Feedback howl caused by speaker sounds reaching the phono pick-up

RCA Victor Collaro VM Magnavox Motorola  BSR Monarch

Some say the springs were to isolate gram motor noise and not meant to prevent feedback howl but the old spring type record playing chassis were better at resisting feedback howl than the pure plastic base.

A.D.C. Accutrac remote access of tracks is its main advantage

A.D.C. Accutrac Bogen Marantz Model 6300  Micro Seiki  Marantz  MCS Luxman  Scott  Sugden Conoissseur  Yamaha  Toshiba Sony Akai  Sansui  Dual  Pioneer Toshiba Technics MCS JVC  Trio  B&O Philips  Kenwood harman/kardon Rotel  Denon Hitachi

 Single play decks minimised the surface scratches and playing life imposed on vinyl records as most old autochangers used to 'plop' down the record.  ADC Accutrac and LAB-400 are the 'Easy end' of phono record players.  The ADC is a British design from B.S.R. who used to make chassis record players for REALISTIC.  Since ADC Accutrac were rare and expensive, they could never have worn the REALISTIC brand, but are the real full automatic record players, the closest to CD in track access and convenience.  Note the ADC Accutrac has the much preferred strobe platter of the Garrard 301, 401 (superb) and REALISTIC LAB 400 series (genuine woody look garbage), allowing pitch control of records, as used by DJs, to adjust the pace of tracks for the dance floor or making some records more interesting.  Some stone resin Garrard and 70s SONY vinyl record decks have a central front strobe viewing window like the Garrard Zero 100 (nice real woody plinth chassis Lo-End), the strobe platter edge pattern is hidden from view.  Garrard and  Technics plastic integral 1980s turntables had stone resin decks but even the basic Technics Direct Drive turntables were 0.025% Wow & Flutter with pitch, to REALISTIC's 0.03 or 0.05%.

'Wow' was a slowing down of the record platter, the turning part that holds the record and it was worse in belt-drive record players, although Wow & Flutter happens in all record players.  Flutter was a speeding up of the record platter and worst in Direct Drive record players.  The Technics SL1200mkII is a Disco DJ turntable and not used much by Audiophiles since it's a Direct Drive and Flutter was less acceptable to Audiophiles than 'Wow' was.  But Wow & Flutter is only one of so many problems of vinyl record players, few Audiophiles still continue to use records.  At one time true Audiophiles made Secondhand Record Shop profits.  Folks able to buy Hi-End record player Audio systems bought a hundred copies of an LP and played each only ten times before selling them on to Secondhand dealers.  Their equipment was so sensitive and costly, spent records were passed to eager buyers with equipment tolerant of slight record wear!

*********RESTORE YOUR ACRYLIC LID's APPEARANCE*********************Slight record wear is one thing and slight turntable acrylic cover wear is another.  Ebay traders claiming their turntable lid is real nice and pristine, no doubt just finished polishing it up with Novus 1, 2 & 3 as well as Kleenmaster's Brillianize.  Yeah real easy when you know how, like 1.2.3... *************************************************************** 

Class of '83 relaunch AR belt-drive TT, arm and platter suspension (Mid-end).

 Strathearn Rega Fons Pro-Ject  Clearaudio Mission Moth Music Hall Thorens Heybrook Ariston  

AR's classic single-play belt-drive sub-chassis turntable is a Mid-end product with claims BELT drive was superior. Technics and not the DJ's SL 1200mk II but other more basic models were top turntable choices.  BELT was superior as the Direct Drive system was meant to have more Flutter while the BELT was meant to have more Wow.  Wow was a slowing down and Flutter a speeding up of the platter, speeding up was meant to be the most audible, belt was better and motor noise 'not transmitted via belt drive'.

There used to be real expensive, Shure phono record cartridges had a brush out front like a Cowcatcher!  If you don't know about Dynamic Range and see only what you appreciate in specifications, you'll be a loser with vinyl records, these and woody looks aren't enough data to make CD/vinyl choices.  Only on older amplifiers does vinyl sound better, as they weren't designed for CD player inputs!  Their input voltage maybe too low or dynamic range too poor to flatter CDs. 

American Audio DENON DJ Gator Gem sound Gemini ION Numark Stanton Technics Vestax

Before Linear tracking this Garrard turned the cartridge to track best!

Garrard 301 , 401  , Zero 100. Gates Electra LAD Neat VM Elac Miracord  Goldmund Studio  Presto  Empire CD Co. Lenco Lafayette ROK Conoisseur Goldring PE CEC EMT

You'll find on Google Image, if you don't already know, the English QUAD 44 was a superior phonograph control amplifier often partnered with German Thorens TTs capable of holographic images albeit with problematic Ortofon MC 100 U cartridge and pick-up arm issues.   Forgetting all the problems with TTs, a QUAD 405-1 main amplifier and transmission line Castle Chester speakers, made a balanced system.  The QUAD 44 was an advanced TT control amp with special matching for different types of cartridge, in pull-out modules.  But in old age this is one problem product!  Like the rubber buttons on remote controls, it has button problems and other issues besides no longer being considered a match for more recent QUAD equipment.  This may be due to the way it has aged and the wrong speakers, as not any speaker suits any amplifier.  The Walker QUAD 44 is still an awesome looking control amplifier attractive to many, sellers know it's the same story as an ancient Jaguar XJS;  both have that low price to new performance gambit, 'all that glitters like gold' wearing off with the paintwork!  

A TT has to reject feedback howl from speakers and its pick-up arm is often changed to suit specific cartridges and Hi-Fi systems, the TT is a mechanical instrument affected by its environment.  A NAD 5120 arm, as flat as a pancake, can't "ring" and color the sound like metal tone arms.  A thousand Ebay sellers claim their REALISTIC 1310A super tweeter is superior, cause it is made of metal and the 1310B is 'junk' cause it's made of metalised plastic!  -Well!  'How many times can a Woodchuck Chuck' when the junk is not the 1310B, but the claim by Bozo traders that metal always has to be better than plastic?  The R&B star 'Eve' has got this hang-up about 'plastic', in her track 'Let Me Blow Ya Mind,' even Jefferson Airplane used to sing about 'Plastic Fantastic'.  On the NAD 5120 Midrange resonances of tubular arms are replaced by a single, optimally damped, low frequency vertical flexure mode from a phenoilc plastic arm and it has a floating sub-chassis like the AR '83 re-launch above.

The idea of S-arms was to increase the effective length and like the carbon-fibre straight arm these were attempts at defeating arm vibration!  Linear tracking arms probably avoid the issue of arm vibration concentrating on a straight path across the record.  The Linear Tracking keeps a stylus perpendicular to the record groove sides, pivot arms -if any DIYer ever changed their own cartridge, don't have the stylus stay in a linear track on the record.  (except for a Garrard Zero 100 International right?).  But the sales pitch was a record is cut by Linear Tracking and not pivot arms.  Still Classic Vinyl collectors persist with pivot arm TT decks, as some these have a very nice sound.  Accuracy though is bound to be another issue!  This 'accuracy' was pursued for long enough in paper specifications until British Audio specialists argued sound quality was more important but Bob Carver had the superior 'value' approach!

Linear tracking vinyl record player turntables - last step to CD players

Worth looking for SONY PS-X555ES (Hi-End), PS-X800 (Hi-End)  See Linear tracking turntables

CD players use Linear Tracking arms still affected by the type of amplifier and speakers used.  Bozo reviewers don't say what model of CD player they're using with what system, they just try claiming vinyl phono more advanced!  Every CD player, instantly becomes worse than record players when someone is selling their old record players.  But old record players have a lot of faults, that is why the very basic ones like the NAD 5120 are more reliable.  Here are some old turntable faults to consider:-

Rumble from bad platter bearings  - wonky arm return, arm returns then lifts up slightly or platter stops dead with arm at end of the record - failure to change speed - electric shock danger - noisy wiring - capacitance cartridge lead mismatch to amplifier - rubber platter mat echo - worn stylus - wrong stylus geometry due to cartridge overhang error - arm vibration - arm not level - turntable not level - wrong tracking weight or arm not accurate enough for expensive cartridges - loose rubber belt - noise in pitch controls - worn idler wheel - worn springs - failed cue-ing damping - acoustic feedback howl - lack of 78 rpm playing speed - damaged headshell - missing screws - cartridge failed on one channel - etc etc.

If you want a good vinyl turntable you need an expensive turntable, an expensive pick-up arm and an expensive phono cartridge.  With a CD player you need an expensive CD transport, an expensive Digital to Analogue DAC convertor .  But there are 'Easy' CD players with built in Digital to Analogue convertors like the turntables pictured above, these don't need a separate arm or cartridge, it's all in the price.  So the record players above sound better than some CD players and some other record players - not all!

ACUTEX  KOETSU  SHURE  GRACE  Audio Technica  Fidelity Research  ORTOFON  Benz 

It is important in making a proper evaluation of CD players to have high Dynamic range amplifiers, speakers and cables.  These mean each part is capable of making a more exciting sound than record players.  The folly of using 60s or 70s amplifiers with CD players is that they don't have as good a dynamic range as CD players, they may not even have as good a Dynamic Range as Cassette Decks!  Cassette Decks were used to record from vinyl phono or CD, they are therefore an inferior source as recordings of recordings are never as good as an original recording!  With CD you get the original recording, but with a CD-recording of a CD, you need very expensive equipment to get near a replica of the original CD!  This ought to tell you that the information passed from the CD through the CD player, requires a very accurate process for listening or for passing on to a CD recording system, or even a cassette!  However using a good Digital to Analogue converter with CD players, a Cassette can make a very good recording and playback from a CD player source, but it can never be better!  Instead of recording this high quality analogue from CD, you simply listen to it on your quality Cassette's amplifier.  But CD amplifiers have digital pre-stages in modern amplifiers as phono record players had special RIAA phono pre-amplifier stages until the 1980s.  The RIAA is like the slider knob settings on your stereo graphic equaliser, it is different according to the cartridge used, it even used to be different according to the record label, phono is a problem format!

60dB phono add-on R.I.A.A. stage, poor by 1980s S/N ratio standards

REALISTIC STA-2290, 92dB phono S/N ratio in later versions, early version still good at 85dB S/N ratio phono and same 90dB S/N at AUX.

REALISTIC STA-2290 overall quality, remarkable (Mid End)

NAD 5120 (Lo-End).

If only REALISTIC had gotten bad old NAD to design a turntable for them eh?  Just looking at a NAD 5120, could be a BIG turn off, but next time you see one, you could be looking to buy!  - Looking at Eve's video 'Let Me Blow Ya Mind', you might conclude plastic was a bad thing!  Certainly their gate crashing that party is a bit like a NAD 5120 turning up where Linn Sondek turntables are thought respectable and where would plastic REALISTIC turntables be today with bass rhythms like Eve's?  NAD 5120 isolation from feedback was excellent, an exciting turntable to listen to.  Rumble was also virtually inaudible with good dynamic balance and control.  Turntables, like dogs, seem to suit types of owners, in the right lifestyle decor, they appear cool.  The 60dB add-on phono stage is quite good as a discrete transistor design, especially battery powered, but when you hear a 92dB REALISTIC STA-2290 phono stage, then you're sure to appreciate progress! 

NAD  BSR  REALISTIC  GLENBURN  Sound Design  Reference  Fisher  Sanyo  NEC  BIC Nikko
TEAC Garrard SP25 Sharp Audio Technica Lloyds Quadraflex Optonica Onkyo

The Hacker Radio 'turntable' of R.P. Radio Player 72, is for A.M.

Not everyone knows turning an A.M. radio set might improve reception of the radio station!  To get the point across Hacker made the above turntable 'foot' for their radio, but people didn't know why or what it was, they just knew the radio didn't sit as firmly as most sets!  Now you might add, who listens to A.M. radio nowadays?  And the truth is, just about everyone who still listens to old vinyl records!  These people don't really know much about progress in audio quality, it's just too much effort to read all that stuff or pull up that telescopic F.M. antennae.  Some even think the telescopic has to be pulled up for A.M.!  And in so doing they risk more noise from lighting etc.  Sets like Hacker look real good so they must be a bargain buy, the price of Hacker radios and Garrard turntables, was once way out of people's ability to pay!