• Los altavoces bien posicionades en la sala
• Ajuste de un giradiscos

The Turntable Mat

LP Records for SALE

Record Storage

LOUDSPEAKER PLACEMENT
Are you planning to buy new loudspeakers?
Do you need a new amplifier? Or cables?
Maybe you just need repositioning your loudspeakers!
READ MORE

>>> L i n k Page

The Record Cleaning Page

DIY Record Stabilizer Turntable Weight For LP and 45 rpm 7 Inch

Concert Hall - MMS
Musical Masterpiece Society

 

Discographer Ernst Lumpe's Research:

Allegro-Royale Pseudonyms of
Bootlegged Recordings

---

The TD124 Page with tips and instructions:

THE REMINGTON SITE STARTS HERE

Ideas for Building a Dynamically Balanced Tonearm and a Unipivot Balsa/Aluminum Arm

Your Desert Island Discs

RESPONSIBILITY: Every so often you will find a link to the website of this or that manufacturer, shop, or designer. These links are there for you to inform yourself about interesting facts, products, views, etc. There ends my responsoibility.

WHY COLLECTING VINYL?

As a young kid in 6th grade I spend a holiday with an aunt and uncle who lived in a small fisher's town. I remember the beach walks with my cousins and the movies we went to see. But there was more what I remember.

My uncle was a radio technician. He had made himself a beautiful tube amplifier with a separate power supply. He had constructed a turntable driven by a cotton thread and the arm was an Ortofon. The loudspeaker was also home made: a big reflex enclosure with a unit made by Philips with a dual cone of paper. The cabinet had a large square mouth.
When he played a 45 RPM Telefunken record with the title "In der Bar nebenan" (In the bar next door) on which a pianist was accompanied by a bass player and a drummer, my mouth fell open because of the realism in the sound. Just then and there did I realize that the reproduction was completely something else than the sound of the radio we had at home. It was a pivotal experience.
My first one.

Much later similar experiences would follow. For example when I had bought "Checkmate" played by Shelly Manne and his Men, my first Contemporary Lp.
Or when I heard Jan Endenburg's 3KF loudspeaker systems incorporating the Ionofane high frequency units and also the versions with the Decca London Ribbon tweeters, combined with the great Janis subwoofer. And of course with his turntable-arm-cartridge setup.
Today many people just collect vinyl because the discs are cheap. I must admit that I have quite a few records in my collection which I would not have bought if I had to pay the original price.

Many people collect records because it is cool to do so. They do not care about the quality of the reproduction. They will never understand and enjoy the benefit of analogous sound. There is also a category of collectors who buy so they can sell. And there is yet another category who collect because of the performers and the performances. Another reason for buying is the sound quality of vintage stereo recordings and of perfect pressings from the nineteen seventies, and even digital recordings pressed on lp from the nineteen eighties of the last century.

Not everybody falls strictly in just one category. There is mostly more than one reason for buying records.

Calligraphy by Tsuneo Kobayashi <tsuneokobayashi@hotmail.com>

But if you had an enlightening confrontation with a good sound system at a friend's place, if you were struck by the performance of a good system at a show or in a shop, then that event could be your pivotal experience which would make you discover that the high frequency region was more extending and added to the naturalness of the instruments, only of course if the recording was not damaged by a bad needle. And you would also find that definition in the lower and mid region gave more depth than the CD is able to.
In that case my pages are for you. Here you can find information which can help you to enjoy the richness of any good analog Lp you have discovered. The front end should be as perfect as possible: a good turntable, a good cartridge which is well aligned and adjusted, a turntable weight or clamp, and a device or a method for cleaning records. Enjoy!

The question is not whether the analog LP is such a wonderful medium and is better than the currently available digital formats. Because it is.
The real question is: why doesn't the industry make a digital format that is truly superior to the high resolution analog tape and vinyl record. - R.A.B.

Sometimes you hear a person state an opinion with an aplomb as if he were the expert on the subject that he is talking about. There are many experts. But is every expert a true expert?

When vinyl records are the subject, one has to read fora and magazines or sometimes there is a newspaper article that comes up with a so called expert opinion. In a shop where they sell second hand vinyl and newly pressed 180 gr. records, I overheard a conversation between a novice and an "expert". Both were visitors of the shop. The expert stated that vinyl records do not last forever, thus warning the novice not to invest in LP's.

Interesting Record Shops in Amsterdam

He - the expert - does not realize that we have prove that vinyl records can last more than 60 years. The LP was ready in 1947 and was officially introduced in 1948.

It is true, not many of these discs are around any longer. And the ones that have survived the ravages of time, are generally no longer in an acceptable state. They may have been played with heavy cartridges and worn needles.

Yet there are items that are still fine to listen to and give exceptional sound quality for their age.

There are many records from the 1960s and 1970s that were well taken care of by their owners and still have a high quality. And what about the digital editions that were pressed up to 1993 and are the last "analog" testimonies of the artists of the 1980s and early 1990s ?

In case the wizkid meant that only the antique discs would be collectable, he should not forget that even the non-antique discs give so much joy. On top of that, records can always be played back.

Even with a pin and an improvised paper membrane, which cannot be said of any digital format.

Specifically in the last decade the understanding of the exceptional vinyl record has increased. New cartridges have been designed. Turntables are better than ever, even the vintage specimen function perfectly well because knowledgeable people restore them.

Loudspeakers too have improved significantly. Today it is possible to buy even small loudspeaker systems that are dynamic in behaviour and extended in frequency response. And more than ever before, they measure a low distortion figure and reveal the analog signal in full detail. Also the understanding of how to keep records in good shape by cleaning them, and storing them correctly, has improved.

Well, the so called expert had probably come to his opinion because he bought a Beatles Parlophone disc that had been used for a frisbee. In that case it did not even last 1 year, let alone 100 years - what IMHO may be well expected. Remember also that after a market low, the value may well increase. Take care. - R.A.B.

Poem of Ecstasy

The strings lie in a golden bedding,
eyes wide open, tensely awaiting
the moving gestures of the virtuoso.

All is quiet yet. The scanty light
is mirroring in the black lacquer.
Steps are approaching softly, and
a chord will hesitantly emerge.

It will resonate a brazen warmth,
and will fill the air with thunder.
It will simply die and go away again.

R.A.B.

Gina Bachauer playing
Rachmaninoff's Prelude
No. 10, Op. 32.
(Erato STU 70768)

Important:

Cartridge and Needle Check. When was the last time you had the diamond tip of your cartridge checked? More than 2 years ago?

Then it is time to have the tip checked by an expert. Or you can do it yourself if you have a microscope. Some people think that new needle assemblies are no longer available or that a specific MC cartridge is no longer in production. There are still over 3000 types of diamond styli available. Just find a dealer or an importer, or contact the manufacturer directly. Remember: a diamond stylus will last for 1000 hours of playing time. Quality tips (like van den Hul's special shaped tip) have a life span of 2000 hours of playing time.

And remember: you should always ask for the original replacement stylus which sounds the best. Only if it is no longer available you have to opt for a cheaper imitation or change the cartridge for a modern type.

If it is a Moving Coil cartridge you can have a genuine van den Hul tip mounted. Ask him about the possibilities of retipping your specific cartridge. Sometimes the distortion you hear is not from the damaged grooves, but is generated by a worn diamond tip. A perfect stylus lowers the distortion and will increase the life span of your treasured records. See also: Turntable Adjustment

Audio & Music Bulletin
Copyright 1998-2009 by Rudolf A. Bruil and co-authors