Save a vinyl newbie, please

Here is a follow-up on my situation:

Last Saturday I took the turntable, preamp, and some of my records to the dealer where I bought it. We hooked the turntable and preamp to one of his amp and speakers. My records didn't sound very good, but it was a little better than my system. (I think my gear is very revealing of everything upstream.) I thought the records I played looked pretty clean, but he said they were scratched from having shifted around in the sleeve. (That includes a sealed record that we opened on the spot.) Then he put on one of his records and it sounded fine! That would seem to vindicate the turntable and preamp.

I took the turntable and preamp home and tried some other records that I had. I tried a couple records for which I couldn't find any noticeable scratches or defects and they sounded miserable. We're back to the right channel sounding really bad, and loud clicks and pops. There are very noticeable high-amplitude ripples on the rubber surround of the speakers' bass drivers. This happens with virtually all LP's I've played but never happens with CD's, no matter what the volume.

So it seems as though I need to make a decision. Option #1 is to sell the Music Hall turntable and the many classical LP's I've accumulated over the past couple of months (anyone out there interested?). Option #2 is to hold onto the turntable and records until I might be able to build a system that will have better "vinyl synergy".

Any suggestions/comments?

Michael

Michael,

You are familiar with the system here. If you are willing to experiment further, you are welcome to come over with your turntable and some of your LPs and we can work together to diagnose the possible problems by trying your LPs on my turntable, then plugging your turntable in and trying it with the same LPs. We can also do some record cleaning to clear up that variable. If our findings are positive, I'm willing to follow that up with a trip to your place to check things out with you there, if you're willing.

Contact me directly if you'd like to pursue doing this. This coming weekend would not work for me, but I'm sure we can find a time.

Best regards,

Well, one thing is for sure, you have a low frequency problem that is feeding back into your turntable, causing the woofers to modulate excessively. Try re-locating the position of the TT into another area of the room which is not in a bass heavy node. Try a different dedicated TT stand. One or both of those should cure the woofer bouncing problem.

Second, on the record noise problem, if it will sound fine on another system with good records, then it is likely not your turntable or system causing it. However, I will say that MM type cartridges, like the one included on the MMF5, are generally more noisy on clicks and pops than MC types.

And remember that when you make the switch from CD to vinyl, it is unrealistic to think that no noise will be present. There will be the unavoidable few clicks and pops no matter what you do. Some people who have been raised on CD cannot seem to overcome this, and prefer no clicks at all. If this is the case, then you are saddled with lower sound quality of CD, simply because of a little noise on vinyl.

Your vinyl rig is not high-end enough to expect totally noise free performance, and that would also require a VPI record cleaning machine, and very good care of new records from the start.

As far as your system being too revealing of this noise, I doubt your system could be any more revealing than some high efficiency horn type systems, which are over 100db/1watt, and use vinyl all the time. I don't think that is the problem.

I would recommend that you select imported or premium records that are pressed on virgin vinyl for the least possible noise performance. This is more expensive, but will give you the least noise possible from the record. Then keep them very clean, and cared for.

Twl you are going a little overboard on the lp rant, not that what you say is not true. Just that mike is a newbie. TWL you hit the nail on the head with the low frequency problem. This must be the source of your problem. you have a lot of low frequency information being introduced into your turntable, this will cause multiple problems for you. Its hard to belive you took a sealed lp and it sounded bad. I have lp's with obvious damage and do not hear any pops clicks. This lp the dealer played was it a MFSL or audiophile recording ,it must have been. while these are generally better, a regular domestic pressing should sound great also. This "vinyl synergy" thing, you have a good system for LP's. You need some vibration isolation. I do not think your turntable has any.
Don't give up so easy, we will resolve this problem yet.

Anyone else figured this one out yet? I have never had this kind of problem.
Ron

If you are in a situation where you can drill holes in the wall, get an Apollo wall shelf from Needle Doctor (theyv'e got a website). It's got adjustable steel spikes so you can perfectly level the table, and the minimal contact point of the spikes will supress the subsonic feedback loop.
Also, the rigitity of the structure will increase detail and transient response. It SHOULD "make the difference" but then again I dont know what you currently use.