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Turntable "upgrade" not living up to expectations?

Posted by Paul Keller (A) on October 31, 2004 at 13:43:31

Hi all,

I'm a relative newbie to vinyl, I got into it by going to a local library sale, where I found loads of classical music LP's for prices that made me feel guilty for buying them (but not guilty enough not to buy dozens anyway).

Obviously, in that situation, some of the LPs I got are in fairly tired condition; but some are also very good, all are at least listenable.

Now for my problem; I had initially purchased the very cheap AT-PL50 turntable by Audio Technica to listen to these as I wanted to minimize my entry cost. I fairly quickly decided I wanted something better, and recently I've mangaed to get my hands on an old Pioneer PL400 turntable w/ an Empire cartridge mounted on it (it was free froom a relative that hadn't used in for years, but said it worked fine).

While not an audiophile grade piece, I had expected the Pioneer to be definite upgrade from the el cheapo AT I started with.

Except most of the LPs I've played through the PL400 sound worse than when played with the ATPL50.

Especially when the music gets loud and busy/complex (for orchestral classical pieces this is often) I hear lots of distortion, particularly for sound in the treble range.

I've read this sort of distortion can be indicative of groove damage on the LP, and for some albums that's certainly the case, but it sounds markedly worse on the "better" TT when I play them A/B.

What I'd like to know is what the likely reason for this is?

Improper cartridge setup on the pioneer table?

Or is everything fine, and the Pioneer table simply resolves the damaged information on my tired LPs better, making them sound "worse" when I'm really just hearing a more accurate reproduction of what's in the grooves?

I'm saving up for a "real" TT, something on the order of a MMF2.1 or Pro-Ject Debut II, so hopefully I won't have to deal with either or these two for too much longer, but while I do I'd like at least adequate sound quality.

Advice?

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Herbie's Audio Lab

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