SCIDB
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Hi Lawrie,
You should get better musical performance from the SME IV when you get it on your deck. The Graham arm sounds interesting as are uni-pivots. I tried a Wilson Benesch arm on my Avid Acutus, which produced quality sounds. The strengths were in the mid range but I thought the SME V offered better top to bottom consistancy.
These are reasons why the turntable is more important. Different material will be affected in different ways. Careful design helps to reduce these effects. Even heavy turntables will vibrate.
Cut these vibrations down or redirct them will result in less bad energy being picked up be the stylus. This helps to give the arm stable platform. This in turn gives the cartridge a better chance to do it's job.
Three main areas of turntable design are
the platter/cartridge/arm/subchassis loop. You need to transmit any vibrations from near the stylus away from it.
Main Chassis & suspension which will isolate the turntable from it's suroundings.
The motor system which supplies the power to rotate. This should be free vibration & instability.
The turntable features heavily in all these main areas.
This is where careful design & use of materials comes in. You could go for materials that doesn't vibrate much & or go for designs that sink energy into the sub chassis from the main bearing & away from the stylus for example.
Isolation is very important as this will cut down certain vibrations entering the system.
A good motor/drive system is very important as this can be a big source of bad vibration. Good drive of the platter will give you less noise entering platter/cartridge/arm/subchassis system & greater rotation stability. Pitch, timing, rhythm, stoping & starting of notes, lack of blurring of notes, stability of music etc will all improve.
There are many ways to produce these results, hence the array of turntables over the years but to do it well, it can cost money.
You would hear differences between A £2K cartridge & say a £50 one in a Rega P2. The arm is capable of handling a very good cartridge. You won't get big increases in pitch, timing etc as mentioned above. All you need to do is compare with abetter deck. Try the same cartridge in a P2 then a P9 to give you an idea of what can be achieved when you go to town on a design.
True the sum total is needed to be taken into account but IMO the turntable has a very big effect on things. You must go on quality of the deck, not price. Arms like the Rega RB250 & RB300 have helped bring down the starting price for quality arms. These will improve a lot of decks with lesser arms. Rega in a budget deck may sound good but in a better deck it will sound better.
The source first thing was put forward by amp & speaker manufactuers. I have seen in an old Quad manual a reference to feeding their amps with a good signal source to get the best out of them. Also I understand that Gilbert Biggs of Wharfdale mentioned the importance of a good signal to get the best from loudspeakers. These references date from the 50's.
True, Ivor T of Linn did shout out loud about this but the main change also was when people in hifi mags started to listen to the equipment rather than just measuring it. Also his deck was better than a number at the time due, mainly to the fact, it was better built.
As for proof, all you need is two turntables of different quality with the same arm & cartridge. Try with the Rega P2 & P9. Place in reasonable system & away you go. If you go to town on the measurements, you will find that the P9 will measure (in key areas) better than the P2.
As they say, when the going gets tough, the tough gets going.
As for which deck is the best, this is open to opinion.
SCIDB
You should get better musical performance from the SME IV when you get it on your deck. The Graham arm sounds interesting as are uni-pivots. I tried a Wilson Benesch arm on my Avid Acutus, which produced quality sounds. The strengths were in the mid range but I thought the SME V offered better top to bottom consistancy.
These are reasons why the turntable is more important. Different material will be affected in different ways. Careful design helps to reduce these effects. Even heavy turntables will vibrate.
Cut these vibrations down or redirct them will result in less bad energy being picked up be the stylus. This helps to give the arm stable platform. This in turn gives the cartridge a better chance to do it's job.
Three main areas of turntable design are
the platter/cartridge/arm/subchassis loop. You need to transmit any vibrations from near the stylus away from it.
Main Chassis & suspension which will isolate the turntable from it's suroundings.
The motor system which supplies the power to rotate. This should be free vibration & instability.
The turntable features heavily in all these main areas.
This is where careful design & use of materials comes in. You could go for materials that doesn't vibrate much & or go for designs that sink energy into the sub chassis from the main bearing & away from the stylus for example.
Isolation is very important as this will cut down certain vibrations entering the system.
A good motor/drive system is very important as this can be a big source of bad vibration. Good drive of the platter will give you less noise entering platter/cartridge/arm/subchassis system & greater rotation stability. Pitch, timing, rhythm, stoping & starting of notes, lack of blurring of notes, stability of music etc will all improve.
There are many ways to produce these results, hence the array of turntables over the years but to do it well, it can cost money.
You would hear differences between A £2K cartridge & say a £50 one in a Rega P2. The arm is capable of handling a very good cartridge. You won't get big increases in pitch, timing etc as mentioned above. All you need to do is compare with abetter deck. Try the same cartridge in a P2 then a P9 to give you an idea of what can be achieved when you go to town on a design.
True the sum total is needed to be taken into account but IMO the turntable has a very big effect on things. You must go on quality of the deck, not price. Arms like the Rega RB250 & RB300 have helped bring down the starting price for quality arms. These will improve a lot of decks with lesser arms. Rega in a budget deck may sound good but in a better deck it will sound better.
The source first thing was put forward by amp & speaker manufactuers. I have seen in an old Quad manual a reference to feeding their amps with a good signal source to get the best out of them. Also I understand that Gilbert Biggs of Wharfdale mentioned the importance of a good signal to get the best from loudspeakers. These references date from the 50's.
True, Ivor T of Linn did shout out loud about this but the main change also was when people in hifi mags started to listen to the equipment rather than just measuring it. Also his deck was better than a number at the time due, mainly to the fact, it was better built.
As for proof, all you need is two turntables of different quality with the same arm & cartridge. Try with the Rega P2 & P9. Place in reasonable system & away you go. If you go to town on the measurements, you will find that the P9 will measure (in key areas) better than the P2.
As they say, when the going gets tough, the tough gets going.
As for which deck is the best, this is open to opinion.
SCIDB
) about turntables, that simply doesnt apply to 1990s/2000's decks.
