New vinyl's noisy little secret

07-08-09: Jaybo
...The days of hundreds of thousands of turntables being made that are dependable and affordable?...yeah, they're gone too.

Well, except for the Technics SL12x0 series--over 3 million manufactured and available for $400, which is equivalent to $107 in 1976 when they came out for around $350.

No matter how you feel about the Technics DD turntables, they are indisputably "dependable and affordable".

And speaking of the soundtrack to Hatari, I would imagine that's a fun record. I've found many RCAs from the early '60s black label era to be a real hoot. I usually heard the music from those albums on my plastic-bodied Zenith AM clock radio, so when I play these records now on my relatively hi-rez system, revelations abound.

I just played "Baby Elephant Walk" (written for Hatari and also won a Grammy), and I was really surprised to find that the instrument that drives that song is a real, honest-to-God calliope. You can hear the air pressure and rush whenever it's playing.

Similarly, I have some Al Hirt records (RCA black label), and I was surprised to find that his hit songs like "Java", "Sugar Lips", and "Cotton Candy" all make extensive use of vocal harmonies in the crescendos.

"I usually heard the music from those albums on my plastic-bodied Zenith AM clock radio, so when I play these records now on my relatively hi-rez system, revelations abound."

Yes, I agree.

I suspect a lot of us heard some really good recordings back then on some really crappy playback gear, the most common of which was the basic am radio.

Some of the best audio treats I've encountered over recent years have come from listening to old stuff that I had written off years ago once again on my current good rig.

BTW, this can happen with well remastered CDs as well. Try any CD from the remastered Time/Life Fabulous Fifties CD Collection and you will be treated to many pleasant and one of a kind audio surprises, albeit mostly in mono.

Was your Hatari album sealed? If not, it was prabably played by somebody. I find that with albums pressed today, in lower volume production, a lot more mold release is applied to insure better quality pressings. HOWEVER, that means it's more important to make sure you remove it before playing the record.

Back in the day, playing the record would eventually get the stuff off (at least where the stylus contacted the groove) because the pressure on the groove with spherical or elliptical styli was much higher than with today's line contact styli.

So if you have a high quality vinyl rig (which you do) and a great (and extraordinarily quiet) cartridge like a Temper W, you're not going to like the sound of today's pressings right out of the box. You have to 'clean' them first.

Clean before playing.

The time it takes me to clean one album is approx the length of one side on the album.

That leaves me not complaining about today's pressings, just some grumbles about the time to clean.

Agree with Nsgarch and Bosrt.

There's no RCM listed in your system. There should be, and all LP's - new or used - will benefit from using it.

I don't enjoy cleaning LP's any more than Bosrt, especially new ones, but the sonic benefits (at least in my system) are indisputable.