[BC] Turntables (WAS:Achieving good S/N)

[Robert Orban]

At 04:12 PM 12/31/2005, you wrote:
>From: "Powell E. Way III W4OPW" <w4opw at yahoo.com>
>Subject: Re: [BC] Turntables (WAS:Achieving good S/N)
>To: Broadcast Radio Mailing List <broadcast at radiolists.net>
>Message-ID: <20060101000356.48239.qmail at web30013.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
>
>
>--- WFIFeng at aol.com wrote:
>
> > In a message dated 12/31/2005 1:09:25 PM Eastern
> > Standard Time,
> > shnewman at alaweb.com writes:
> >
> > > What do those digital/opticals price out at? Great
> > idea.
> >
> > About $10 - $15 grand. Not cheap... but amazing
> > technology.
> >
> > Willie...
>
>
>
>They sent me a CD of records being played. I was very
>UNimpressed with it. Bass response was very lacking
>and did not sound clean. NOT with my money....IF I had
>it to spend.

Given that you probably don't own the same records that they used to make 
the demo, you would know that bass response was lacking exactly how?

I have not observed any bass problems with my laser TT. There are a lot of 
vinylphiles whose turntables are not perfectly vibration-isolated. These 
turntables can exhibit a plummy, overripe bass because they are actually 
getting some feedback from the loudspeakers, although not enough to sustain 
actual oscillation. There is also the issue of what frequency to place the 
arm resonance, which is a function of the arm/cartridge mechanical system. 
Place it too high and you get the same sort of overripe, romantic-sounding 
bass. There is no getting around the fact that all mechanical systems will 
have this LF resonance. About the best you can do is to place it around 10 
Hz and try to minimize its "Q".

The laser TT pickup system does not have any LF resonances at all. Of 
course, there is still the possibility of mechanical feedback if it is not 
well isolated mechanically. But this is a solvable problem. Indeed, if one 
is making archival recordings, it is wise to use headphones and let the TT 
operate in a silent environment.

As for your observation that the sound is not "clean," this probably refers 
to the laser TT greater sensitivity to groove noise. This is indeed an 
issue, and probably the most important one with the laser TT.

Bob Orban