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Your Turntable
Introduction
As the owner of a record collection of several thousand carefully I am surprised but pleased to find myself under pressure from
chosen and well loved LPs, I am delighted to find that in the year enthusiast customers to write a booklet about how to get the best
2001 the vinyl LP survives, and that turntables, arms and out of the medium. Distilling 30 odd years of experience into a
cartridges are still made, sold and enjoyed. few pages of useful help is no easy task! I’ve made it easier for
myself by confining the scope to the essential things you must
Ten years or so ago when we discontinued our range of RATA
get right in order to be able to relax and enjoy your records. This
cartridges, and Grace and Supex were no longer made, I was sure
is not a history of the turntable, an engineering guide, a physics
that the LP was dead. The market for turntables, arms and
textbook or a comprehensive ‘all you need to know’ book. It’s a
cartridges is certainly much smaller than it was, but reports of its
practical ‘do-it-yourself’ guide in the familiar Russ Andrews
death were greatly exaggerated.
style.
The Mains
• Why ma
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Russ
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2
The Turntable
The basic elements of any turntable are: the motor, (separate Suspension
motor power supply if it has one), the main bearing, the platter
Turntables like the Linn LP12 with a suspended subchassis are
the suspension (motor or subchassis) if it has some and the
rarely prone to failure, but the springs get tired and need height
plinth.
adjustment to restore correct levelling. Linn dealers can supply
Whatever the operating principle of your turntable, it must upgrade sub-chassis, bearing and spring kits. We have an
achieve its minimum acoustic feedback, maximum dynamic information sheet on how to correctly set-up and service an LP12,
range, minimum ‘wow’ and ‘flutter’, maximum speed accuracy, available on request.
correct cartridge alignment and tracking pressure to give its best
Solid plinth turntables like the Rega Planar and Roksan Xerxes
musical performance. If any part of the turntable/arm/cartridge
have the motor suspended on rubber bands, the bands age and
combination is worn, damaged or faulty you are wasting your
need replacement every few years to maintain optimum
time trying to set up the whole combination properly. So before
performance.
you do anything else, check that your turntable isn’t suffering
any of the following faults.
Plinth
Motors Every turntable needs a strong, rigid plinth or the sound will be
soft, soggy and unfocussed. Check the corner joints to make sure
Motor problems are usually quite obvious; it will either be noisy or
there is no movement due to dried-out glue. If it has a plastic
it won’t go round or run at the right speed. Replacement is usually
plinth, fill the cavities between the stiffening struts with ‘Plastic
the only option unless it is a Garrard motor where refurbishment
Padding’ body filler. This will both stiffen it and dampen its
is available from Lonicraft or Martin Bastin. Technical and General
resonances.
also stock spare parts for a number of different makes of turntable
(see page 6 for full names and addresses). It is also very worthwhile replacing your original equipment feet
with Oak Cone Feet. Most turntables are fitted with rubber feet
Power Supplies which increases the time smear and changes the balance of the
sound to a slow boomy bass heaviness (see also p7, Turntable
External motor drives or power supplies are now common on
Accessories).
many turntables and are prone to failure. The original
manufacturer is usually the only source of repair or replacement. Use three Oak Cone Feet rather then four. Three feet are more
stable, they prevent micro rocking, couple your turntable to its
Main Bearing stand more effectively and improve timing, musicality, bass
The main platter bearing is the weak link in any turntable of any performance and 3-dimensionality.
type. Its design is critical and wear is inevitable. Wear occurs at
the bearing point and the sides where it runs through nylon or Platter
phosphor bronze sleeves. Have it checked for wear and make The correct choice of mat is very important (see page 7) in the
sure it has the right lubricant in the right quantity. Garrard main final performance.
bearing refurbishment is available from Martin Bastin.
3
the circuit (usually with ceramic capacitors) degrade the sound no effect on it. Supex once had a stylus cleaner that worked
quality. It is essential, therefore, to prevent radio pick-up getting superbly but is no longer available. At the time of writing we
into the preamp in the first place. That is only one of the reasons have a stylus cleaner fluid that works effectively but we haven’t
why correct earthing of the turntable, the arm and the tone arm sorted the packaging out yet so be patient!
lead is essential, see page 5. Even the best techniques though
don’t always eliminate the biggest culprit, Radio Moscow, when Demagnetising
the atmospheric conditions favour good radio reception.
Yes, the cartridge becomes magnetised, increasing distortion,
The Cartridge Body reducing dynamic range, soundstage and bass. The Benz MC
The MC cartridge body hides a large magnet yoke that sits Demagnetiser ABCD-1 works superbly, reversing the degrading
behind the coils at the back end of the cantilever. It is covered by effects of coil magnetisation. [The Benz MC Demagnetiser costs
a thin neoprene dust sheet, but fluff and slivers of metal and £199 (ex VAT £169), and works equally well on MM cartridges.]
other ferrous debris collect on it and can cause problems. I’ve How copper coils become magnetised I don’t know, but perhaps
seen quite large slivers of metal bridge the gap across the yoke it’s the magnetised iron filing dust from the vinyl that causes the
hole to the cantilever, causing severe mistracking. It is a good problem. Anyway, if you want the best performance from your
idea, therefore, to conduct an annual inspection of the yoke area expensive MC cartridge, demagnetise it regularly - even weekly
and cantilever and remove any debris that has built up. Use a if you use your turntable every day.
piece of BluTack® squeezed out into a point to pick off individual
bits of metal. Cartridge Alignment*
There are many different designs of alignment guage available.
The slivers of metal come out of the LP groove walls, having got
The aim of most of them is to position the cartridge in the
into the vinyl when scrap LPs were ground up to be reused in
headshell so that the cantilever is perfectly aligned when the
new records. Yes, LPs made since the oil crisis in 1973 contain
stylus tip is 63.6mm and 119.5mm from the spindle; at these
both new and recycled vinyl, complete with the old record labels points distortion figures should be at 0%.
and metal from the blades of the grinder! Now you know why
If correctly aligned at these points distortion levels will not
some Audiophile record companies specify ‘Virgin Vinyl’ and
exceed 1% (+/-) at any point along the guage. Although it is
charge a higher price for it.
traditional to align the sides of the cartidge with the parallel
crossline on the alignment guage, it is, in fact, the stylus tip and
Moving Magnet (MM) Cartridges therefore the cantilever, that need to be aligned. If the cantilever
There is no doubt that these are generally inferior to MC types is in a straight line from the centre of the cartridge, this makes
(with the exception of the Grace F-9E), but many are capable of the alignment task much easier. However, the stylus tip end of
excellent performance used in a good arm. The main advantage the cantilevers of some cartridges may incline towards the inside
(other than price) of an MM cartridge is the replaceable stylus edge of the cartridge after a while, perhaps because too much
assembly, extending the life indefinitely. Therein, however, lies ‘bias’ has been applied in the past to counteract the natural
one of the weaknesses of the MM. Many provide no solid, tight tendency of a pivot arm to be pulled inward to the centre of the
location or fitting for the stylus assembly, allowing micro- record. If this happens to be the case, then try and align the
movement and loss of signal definition, clarity and information. cantilever (rather than the cartridge) with the crosslines on the
This problem can be overcome in many cartridges by glueing the alignment guage.
stylus in with a small drop of superglue. You lose the advantage
of a replaceable stylus (unless you are successful with a We recommend the Polaris
superglue softener!) but the benefits often outweigh the loss of Cartridge Protractor
replaceability. designed by Martin Bastin. It
is accurate, effective and very
Stylus Replacement easy to use.
A manufacturer’s direct replacement may not be the best
investment. Diamonds and cantilevers on MM cartridges are Polaris Cartridge Protractor
Stylus Cleaning Don’t forget the headshell pins at the other end of the
red/white/blue/green leads, or the arm cable plug
Keep the stylus clean. Fluff is easily blown or brushed off, but
and phono plugs. The effect of ProGold™ on all these
mould release agent in the record groove builds up on the stylus
gold plated contacts is nothing short of amazing.
into a hard black lump that causes mistracking. The black gunge
Remember to use only a little and to clean it off
is not easily removed because very few cleaners dissolve it. effectively too.
Alcohol and those snazzy little vibrating cleaners (careful!) have
ProGold™ Contact Enhancer
4
Vertical Alignment (Azimuth) of the Cartridge * created sounds. Instead, choose one which has a straightforward
voice and a small range of acoustic instruments.
It is essential that, when in play, the stylus sits in the record
groove at 90º to the surface of the surface of the record when If there is room around the spindle, ensure that the record is
viewed from the front of the cartridge ie. with the walls of the revolving centrally on the platter. Play the record a few times,
record groove cut at 45º, the stylus should work centrally within each time slightly increasing the stylus pressure, until a point is
the groove and not slope to one side or the other. reached where the timing of the music seems right, the sound is
well balanced and has not ‘closed in’, and the bass is full but not
To check the alignment of your cartridge, cut a piece of card
over-dynamic and ‘one-note’. Until the ear had become attuned,
about 3” (75mm) square. Out of the middle of the top edge cut
this process may need to be repeated or even started afresh from
out a section, at right angles, the width of the cartridge. With the
a lower tracking weight.
base edge of the card resting on a record on the platter, check that
the sides of the cartridge align with the sides of the section that Having found a seemingly reasonable setting, listen to what
has been cut in the card. It is, of course, essential that the cut-out happens when the stylus pressure is both increased and reduced,
is strictly at right angles to the base. Alternatively, you could use to check that you have found the correct point. If the stylus
a small protractor in a similar way. pressure is noticeably outside the recommended range for the
cartridge, reassess the sound and the set up the turntable.
If the cartridge is not sitting in perfect vertical alignment, use any
azimuth adjustment that might be provided with the headshell From season to season, it may be necessary to adjust stylus
(not so common with more recent tone arms). If there is no pressure, following changes in temperature and humidity. Higher
azimuth adjustment, place shims under the appropriate side of pressure will be needed in cold connditions.
the arm base where it is fixed to the tone arm board. If this is not
practicable, it may be necessary to resort to placing paper or Anti-skating or ‘Bias’ Adjustment*
plastic shims on the appropriate side between the top mounting As a result of friction between the record surface and the playing
face of the cartridge and the underside of the headshell. stylus, a force is exerted which pulls the stylus inwards towards
the record centre. This unbalances the tracking of the inner and
If the cantilever and stylus are noticeably out of line
outer walls of the record groove and can, in extreme cases, cause
perpendicuarly with the cartridge, the options are either to adjust
the stylus to skate across the record. Anti-skating or ‘bias’
the azimuth as suggested above or have the stylus or cartridge
adjustments are used to apply a counter-balancing force away
replaced.
from the centre of the record so that the stylus tracks with equal
Cartridge Tracking Weight (stylus pressure)* playing force on both sides of the record groove.
When setting the tracking weight, err on the side of keeping the The use of these mechanisms is difficult because the correct
tracking weight as low as can be justified. Although most tone setting varies according to tone arm, cartridge and tracking
arms provide some sort of scale for setting stylus pressure, many weight. Moreover, some tonearms have no scale on the ‘bias’
of them are fairly rudimentary and it may be found easier to use mechanism to guage how far one has adjusted it. Initially, use a
a separate stylus pressure guage (preferably of good quality). You setting equivalent to around 0.5gm less than the initial tracking
are seeking sufficient stylus pressure to tension the cantilever, so weight. If no scale is provided, a setting a little above zero should
that inside the cartridge, the magnets, coils, etc, are correctly initially be used.
aligned in the appropriate fields. When the right amount of ‘bias’ has been set, it should be
To fine tune the tracking weight, choose a record thought to be a possible to lower the stylus into and out of the groove of a
good guide for fine tuning - one which has usually sounded good revolving record without there being any noticeable pull on the
in your system, but not one of your favourites, as you will be cantilever to one side or the other.
giving it some wear in the fine tuning process. Avoid recordings
*Our thanks to John Rogers for allowing us to quote from his booklet
which have been heavily processed and employ electronically
“How to Set Up & Fine Tune a Turntable” in these sections.
Tone Arms
The correct choice of tone arm for a particular cartridge has, in stylus rake angle must mirror the original cutting angle for
the past, been fraught with technical difficulties: high compliance optimum tracking and minimum distortion.
cartridges, low mass arms, high mass arms, unipivot arms,
parallel tracking arms etc. For me, the arrival of the Rega RB300 Tone Arm Alignment
(and now also the 600 and 900) and the SME IV and V has swept
The principle that armtubes should be parallel to the record for a
away all the difficulties. The Rega arms are affordable, versatile
correct vertical tracking angle (VTA) relies on the assumption
and beaten on performance only by the stunning SME arms.
that the cutting angle of recording and stylus rake angle (SRA) of
After correct geometric alignment of the cartridge in the head the cartridge are the same. In practice this is obviously hardly
shell has been achieved, the most common causes of distortion ever the case.
and mistracking are excessive stylus pressure and incorrect
SRA is often set too high and this means reducing it by lowering
vertical tracking angle. The two are obviously linked because
the VTA of the arm. With the arm tube parallel to the record, the
changing the pressure changes the stylus rake angle (SRA). The
back of the arm must be lowered so the arm slopes down
5
towards the pivot, a drop of 3-5mm usually achieves the best ensure that the force doesn’t go down the arm. Even if you don’t
VTA. The only way to get it right, of course, is to conduct damage the bearings whilst fitting your cartridge, the vibrational
listening tests using a record typical of the manufacturing age of energy from the cartridge whilst playing a record travels down
the bulk of your records. Ensure the room is at 20/24ºC (70/75ºF) the arm and causes wear at the bearings. High output, stiff
and therefore the turntable at room temperature. cantilever cartridges like the Decca put the most energy into the
armtube and bearings and so do most damage. Bearing ‘rattle’
The Rega arms suffer from lack of height adjustment, but if you
sounds like cartridge mistracking, so bear that in mind if your
are using it with a Garrard 301 or 401 we stock the Armony Arm
arm is more than 3 years old. Rega and SME have an exchange
Base that solves the problem and allows you to set the correct
policy rather than a bearing repair service, giving you a new arm
VTA. With other turntables you can use the RingMat Support
at lower cost.
System that provides a RingMat and a set of spacers to fit
beneath the record to achieve the correct SRA.
The Headshell
Set the tracking pressure to the cartridge manufacturers
Make sure the headshell is very tight on the armtube, especially
suggested minimum (commonly 1.5g). Set the arm height much
if it is a detachable headshell. Any looseness here is worse than
too low and do a series of listening tests, gradually increasing the
loose cartridge screws in its ability to degrade the sound.
height until a ‘sweet spot’ is reached. At this point: bass will be at
Remember too that you can alter the cartridge azimuth at this
its cleanest, tightest and deepest; treble at its most extended and
interface.
sweetest; and female voices will have least distortion and
sibilance. As you increase height past this ‘sweet spot’, voice
sibilance and treble becomes hard, and bass becomes over Tone Arm Cable
dynamic, over punchy and lacking deep, clear extension. The Original equipment arm cables leave a lot to be desired! Even the
sound becomes very ‘Hi-Fi’. At the ‘sweet spot’ everything drops very best are just bits of screened cable that are quite unsuitable
into focus, you know it’s right. You can now experiment with for this application. They generally sound hard, splashy, noisy
tracking pressure, maybe increasing it slightly to secure tracking. and have a one-note thump bass. Being screened cable, they are
Then fine tune the VTA again, lock up the arm tube and enjoy! really good at injecting RFI into the disc stage, the last thing you
want there. The disc stage is a sensitive amplifier designed to
Bearing Wear accept the incredibly low output from a cartridge. In the case of
Bearing wear is the most common problem encountered with most MC cartridges that’s about 200 microvolts, similar to the
tone arms. Damage can be caused by excess pressure inflicted output voltage from an aerial! No wonder it is common to hear
when fitting a cartridge. Unless you take care not to use the arm radio stations in the background when you listen to LPs.
pivot point as a lever whilst tightening the cartridge screws, you
If you are lucky and the arm cable is detachable with the
should remove the arm from the armboard after cartridge
standard five pin socket, a massive upgrade is available to you in
alignment before doing the final tightening of the cartridge
the KIMBER TAK or RA-TAK arm cables. I believe that Kimber’s
screws.
cables are unrivalled in their ability to deal with the problem of
I always use an Allen key and small headshell screws spanner, RFI. Their unique woven cable design is very effective at
and lever one against the other to achieve good tightness and cancelling RFI and rejecting further RFI pick-up.
Useful Addresses
Lonicraft Audio Expert Stylus & Cartridge Co. Ringmat Developments
4 Big Lane PO Box 3 PO Box 200
Goose Green Ashstead Brentwood
Lambourne Surrey KT21 2QD Essex CM15 9FB
Berks RG16 7XQ Tel: 01372 276604 Tel: 01277 200210
Tel: 01488 72267 Fax: 01372 276147 Fax: 01277 201225
Further Reading
“How to Set Up and Fine Tune a Turntable” by John Rogers
(Contact Ringmat Development)
6
Turntable Accessories
7
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How to Upgrade Your Mains
Russ
FREE! FREE! Russ
Andrews Andrews
3rd
Edition
Russ Andrews Accessories Ltd., Windermere Road, Staveley, Kendal, Cumbria, LA8 9PL.
www.russandrews.com E-mail info@russandrews.com
UK Freephone 0800 373467 UK Freefax 0800 5424528 Int. Tel 00 44 1539 825500 Int. Fax 00 44 1539 825540