11. Turntables

I must confess that I am still a relative ‘newbie’ to the subject of turntables. Like most turntable owners around in the 80s, I was excited about the emergence of the new, super silent, digital technology that came in the shape of a shiny and more compact disc. And, honestly, at the affordable price range of an adolescent, the CD performed much better. I consequently sold my record player in the early 90s, never to look back until ... summer 2018, when we found a 1972 Philips 212 deck in our grandpa’s basement.

Lots of time reading and experimenting has passed since then. The Philips needed a new belt, bracket, and cartridge. We lubricated the moving parts, upgraded the internal wiring, and changed the output terminal from 5-pin DIN to RCA/cinch sockets. We checked the platter speed, corrected the azimuth, as well as the offset and rake angle. We made sure that the turntable was placed on non-resonant footing and was level with the ground. The result is astounding, and for the first time, our turntable actually does sound more impressive than CD, if the record itself is of a good pressing. Since buying a well-engineered LP can can be a bit of a gamble, it is a good idea to share personal experience on sound quality, as I have started doing here.

The Lenco shown here was our second project. Once famous as a well-built budget player with surprising sound quality, it arrived here in pretty poor condition. We have had to remove motor noise, bring in new blocks, and adjust the other parameters described above to uncover its potential. The investment of time and effort has not been in vain. For audiophile listening, turntables should not be underestimated.

Note on cleaning vinyl: For the longest time I had massive issues with static charges and dust while playing my records, despite using a brush to clean them. My records would crackle and pop and sometimes even skip a groove as a result. I later learned that while one hand is doing the cleaning, the other needs to touch some sort of grounding. Usually, touching a metal part of the amp will be enough. When doing so, I can see the dust flying up to the brush and feel the static charge disappear. A small realisation with an impressive result.