Why does your turntable sound the way it does.

Here's my turntable journey.

Dual 1219, LP12 FR 12 arm,Oracle Delphi Fr 12 and EMT 2 arms,Sota Saphire SME V,VPI Scout,Rega P9,SME 10, V arm.

Ihave used the following cartidges, FR 1 Mk 3f,Dynavector Karat Ruby, and several Grado Platinum,Rega Exact2, and Clearaudio Talisman Gold V2.

I've also used several speaker, amp, phono stage electronics over the years, so how can I evaluate the sound of one turntable over the other?

Only if you have kept your original gear, could you ever know for sure what sonic differences one table has over the others.

And of course there's always that synergy thing.

The best I can add is that the tables that require the least amount of fussing, were the ones that I enjoyed the most.

Peace of mind when the table is properly set up once trumps futzing around after each listening session.

One thing I discovered is that my Grado Platinum never sounded as good on the P9 as it did on the SME.
And that an older Supex made my P9 sound better than it ever did when I used the Grado and Rega cartridges on it.

The delicacies of cartridge mounting, audtioning,is a hinderance to really discovering what works the best in what table/arm combo you have.

As such, unless you're lucky, or you have a friend who has done the experimentation for you and has a sound you like, it's hit and miss.

Reviews and forums are a good source of opinions, but nothing beats hands on experience,hearing it in the flesh.

As it turns out I am quite happy with the way my turntable sounds,perhaps the best sound I've had from vinyl in a while, the Steelhead doesn't hurt either.

The only comparison I can make where all the gear remained the same except the vinyl set up, is between my last two rigs, the Rega and SME.

I would say that the SME system has a clearer sound,more balanced at all frequencies than the Rega combo,perhaps it has less mechanical distortions or it's greater mass has something to do with it.

I have to admit that I never knew how much bottom end that Rega table could produce until I heard my old P9 on the system that the new owner played it on.
I never had the slam and dynamic bass he now has.
But he has a different cartridge and uses solid state and cone speakers, compared to my tubes and electrostatic speakers.

But what I may have lost in some areas, I feel the gains in other areas have more than made up for the losses.

And so it is with everything in this hobby, you win some and you lose some.

Trying to figure out the why and wherefore would take all the fun out of it.

It's mostly the journey and not the destination that keeps us in this hobby.

At least that's what I tell myself.

Dear Raui,
The aim of my post was to wonder out loud whether you have ever played with the vintage strain gauge cartridges, and if so, what you thought of them. I know already that you are not a fan of the SoundSmith one. By the way, I think it's the case that ALL strain gauges require some sort of "pre-preamplifier", not just the SoundSmith. I was talking to Dave Slagle about this at the recent Capital Audiofest. He is among said fans of the vintage strain gauges.

Dear Lewm: I heard the Sao Win and the Panasonic years ago and the latest SG I heard was precisely the SS.

I like the SG concept and I can't say why suddenly almost disappeared. Yes, the SG is an alternative alond the MM/MI and LOMC ones.

regards and enjoy the music,
R.

Thanks. Did you like the Panasonic or the Sao Win? Perhaps this is an unfair question, since you may not have heard those cartridges in many years. I have heard that the Euphonics is perhaps the best of the bunch, but this is only one person's opinion (who was talking to me at the Capitol Audiofest).

I'm still thinking about your question: "So, fellow Audiogoners, what do you think has the greatest effect on vinyl playback as far as only the turntable itself, and what do you think can be done to ammeliorate those effects."

I think of the turntable as a system, and in a system everything interacts with everything else to a greater or lesser degree. Maybe Atmasphere's answer is the best, since a mat might be a general solution applicable across many systems, yet there are clearly some turntables that might perform better without a mat, so maybe not?

One of the great things about this hobby is the fine variety of solutions developed over the years which represent totally different systems for playing back vinyl. The fact that outstanding results can be obtained with extremely different solutions leads me to think that your question cannot be answered generically: it will depend upon which system you are using.

I'm currently building a turntable and experimenting with materials and their acoustic properties. There's a lot of misinformation and some good information on the web (check out AudioQualia for an example with lot of both), but the one thing that I've learned is that results of combinations of materials can be non-intuitive in terms of their sonic results. For instance, the base plate that supports my main bearing is a piece of aluminum that is 1"thick. If I hang it on a string and tap it I get a huge "Riiiing." Not such a good thing, since some audio frequencies will resonate with that and it affects the sound signature. But if I sandwich the aluminum with a similar mass of 3/8" steel, I can almost completely cancel these resonant frequencies. But if I use MDF in the sandwich instead, I get some new resonances, and lower the frequency at which it rings. It completely changes the sound signature of the turntable without making any other changes. And that is just the plinth! Consider similar materials considerations for the platter and for the base/feet/platform, etc. And of course the decisions made about these things affect the above results with the plinth as they interact.

And then there's the motor. I've got a nice 3-phase motor with a solid-state 3-module T-amp based regulator, where I can adjust the voltage and frequency to minimize motor noise and maximize stability. The motor controller makes a HUGE impact on the perceived "drive" of the music. But in another design, with a DC motor, or an idler drive, maybe this would not matter so much. And so on, and so on for each component part of the turntable.

So congratulations, I think you've asked an unanswerable question. I think in the context of a specific system, there might be some answers, but mostly I think they cannot be generalized to other systems. And the general answers that can be provided are too non-specific to be helpful to you in making upgrade decisions. They all have caveats based on the system in which they are applied. I'd love to hear some general answers that ARE universal, but I'm pretty certain every one will have situations where they don't work.

Ain't this stuff fun?