Hi Opus88,
Just to get things started, please look at this site and see if this is the general direction you want to go:
http://www.audiorevelation.com/cre/information.php?info_id=8
Best regards,
Mark
A "house sound" among turntable manufacturers ?
Some Audiogoners have had the opportunity and good fortune to partake of "shoot-outs" or listening comparisons between various turntables. Others have had fairly long term experiences with several individual tables. I think it would be most informative, interesting and perhaps helpful if any of you could please share some of your impressions about the personalities of tables you have heard. Maybe some sort of consensus can emerge regarding a characteristic sound among competing brands. Some suggested areas for consideration might be: tending toward warm, neutral or cool; projected image size; softer or sharper presentation; midrange presence; top end extension; bottom end weight and extension; dynamic range; transparency and soundstaging. Thanks very much to all for your contributions.
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This will be extremely difficult to gauge, cause cartridge, Arm combos will have huge effects on any given table.. A new cart. can take you from Cold, Studio image, to Big warm image with sloppy bottom end....Or perfect everything for your listening tastes Etc... I mean really the best table is one that can do it all depending on the combo setup. Your question will be pretty tuff to seriously answer, mostly a good table will consist of good ergonomics, speed control, build quality that really keeps everything quiet, and of course better bearings, tonearms all come into play. Example a rega is a pretty thin and wimpy looking and sometimes sounding table.. A notingham is beastly heavy, and not quite as ergonomically stable table.. A Vpi is somewhere between the 2, also by design between them. So for the cost it comes down to what you really can justify for the money in your own mind, and all of them could sound great in their own way. I will say this, The new MMF 9.1 by music hall is a giant killer.. For the money I believe nothing is as nice, and this thing to me sounds like what analog should sound like, But Music hall tables are extremly Bottom weighted and go to extremly deep bass levels, so good table isolation with decent platform is really needed. So I guess for BASS I can say the Music hall designs seem to have the most abundance of it from all that I have heard. Anyway, I am not saying any specific table is better or worse, but dollar for dollar you need to choose who gives the best in your performance mind. Its actually much easier to give an idea on what the CD players sound like, cause for the most part beyond changing a power cord they all stay the same in a given system, but too many factors effect a turntable via VTA, VTF, Isolation, Arm, Cartridge Combo... To many variables from system to system setup for anybody to say their Table sounds the same as the other guys with the same setup. But you might get a little idea if nothing else. |
Interesting. Here's a side-by-side comparison where a half-as-expensive rig killed the giant killer: http://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/technics_sl1200_2_e.html It was a Technics SL1200 with KAB mods. After a 3-turntable shootout, this is the turntable the reviewer bought. |
Mark and Undertow: Your points are well taken, and before initiating this thread, I was well aware of the potential here for opening the proverbial can of worms. I have tried to minimize that tendency by emphasizing conditions where either other variables have been held constant or when a number of those owning the same table for some time have reached virtually identical conclusions about its aural traits. Obviously, experiences of the first kind are typically uncommon. Being able to set the stage for this sort of scenario is not an easy proposition for a number of reasons. Though the somewhat less objective second scenario has its limitations, at least it might hopefully provide SOME kind of collective view that underscores a measure of familiarity with the table's sound. Yes, it's a tough road to hoe, and I certainly don't expect definitiveness here. Mark, in the site's article you make reference to---"How to Buy Analog"---the author himself describes some of the sound characteristics of several brands of tables. His observations may have been drawn based on a reasonably objective process of comparison, but without his telling me, I honestly don't know. That notwithstanding, I contend, as do many, that at one time or another probably all audiophile hobbyists and sellers of audio equipment, have asserted views, impressions and/or conclusions about components without having engaged the most objective methods of comparison. But I'm not interested in criticizing or faulting anyone here. And I'm not looking for anyone to tell me what component is "better than the others". I just thought it would be enjoyable to have a little light enlightenment on some reasonably reliable impressions of some of the turntable offerings in the marketplace. So, I welcome the comments of anyone who wishes to offer his or her two cents. |
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