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do turntables sound the same

I had a plinth made for me in 100yr old oak by a friend who was a furniture maker. It was slightly heavier than the original afro plinth and has no slots in it. It looks lovely, and I was convinced at the time it sounded better too.
 
The original premise was that all turntables sound the same. The discussion has retuned to the concept of 'better', inevitable I guess since 'better' is the holy grail of hifi (whatever 'better' turns out to be).

I contend that turntables do sound different. The quality of engineering and construction behind a design approach; the way a turntable deals with environmental influences; the design philosophy behind the motor system, suspension system, and arm; the material selection. All of these play a part.

If none of the above had any real bearing, why would we end up with the wide variety of turntables being sold today?
 
Tony L said:
LP12 plinths should be a nicely grained wood and fluted. Anything else is just sick and wrong.
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Ooh no! I love my American Maple plinth! I had a fluted Afromosia one for many years and finally changed to the Maple one a few years ago - my wife loved it and finally owned up to thinking the old one looked really old-fashioned!

Mick
 
Werner said:
You'll find some here http://www.vinylengine.com/turntable_forum/viewtopic.php?f=66&t=2225, but you'll have to register.

Yes, it is an ancient review, from when people were still serious about issues like these, but from before the arrival of affordable and powerful measurement gear.




BTW, there is an apocryphal (to me) German review of the LP-12, 80s time, where it was auditioned in the room (and sound field), and then again removed to another room (isolated). The listeners preferred the in-room performance. The isolated Linn lost its majic ;-)
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I have done a variation on this test myself, but using a Technics SP10. I expected to hear a big improvement by moving my deck out of my listening room, following what I learned at Garrard.
The records sounded flat and lifeless compared to the sound with the deck in the room. I was pretty disappointed.
I am 99% sure that what most people like about vinyl is this extra reverb, or whatever one wants to call it, added by the deck. And there is a considerable difference between decks in the level and frequency content of this added sound, allowing enthusiasts to mess about ad infinitum.
 
F1eng said:
I have done a variation on this test myself, but using a Technics SP10. I expected to hear a big improvement by moving my deck out of my listening room, following what I learned at Garrard.
The records sounded flat and lifeless compared to the sound with the deck in the room. I was pretty disappointed.
I am 99% sure that what most people like about vinyl is this extra reverb, or whatever one wants to call it, added by the deck. And there is a considerable difference between decks in the level and frequency content of this added sound, allowing enthusiasts to mess about ad infinitum.
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I'm not so sure this is a universal truth (TT design dependant); I'm sure I've read of several people on hi-fi forums who moved their TT's out of the speaker room and gained a big improvement. My own TT definitely sounded worse in the corner of the room where resonances are surely higher. I've also always found the better the isolation and solidity of the floor the more the TT performance improved.

I'm astounded that anyone would doubt that different plinth materials would not fundamentally alter the performance and sonic characteristics of a record player.

mat
 
Tony L said:
LP12 plinths should be a nicely grained wood and fluted. Anything else is just sick and wrong.
Click to expand...

I like my Afromosia plinth but if I was looking for something more exotic...


7305042024_e68cae4897_b.jpg
 
Tony L said:
LP12 plinths should be a nicely grained wood and fluted. Anything else is just sick and wrong.
Click to expand...

Same here.
A lot of the solid plinths make the deck look dumpy and boxy.
Some of the strongly grained solid plinths are quite nice as they break up the visuals a bit.
In Johns image above, the plinth 3rd from bottom left works far better than the one shown top right.

I also think that the black pained section as the bottom is important as again it breaks up what is otherwise a boxy visual.
 
It would be hard for me to choose between the various CH plinths. My LP12 is out of sight in a basement and the only wood I really see is from the top due to the lighting. Here's a shot I took using a light on the front part of the plinth. I like the classic look of the Afro and the painted/stained bottom as well.

scaled.php
 
John said:
I like my Afromosia plinth but if I was looking for something more exotic...
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Some beautiful woods, especially those I assume are rosewood and walnut, though I'd still want the flutes. No flutes and it's just an expensive TD-160!

My LP12(s) looked just like yours above, that's the classic Linn look IMO.

PS looks like your armboard is sitting a little low ;-)
 
Robert said:
the plinth 3rd from bottom left works
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The rosewood one my son uses is broadly like that but with the black bottom edge. The one I use is identical to John's.

I think some of the modern ones look great without the black edge. They do look more 'boxy' but it still works. They can look very classy.

It's great that the LP12 has been so popular and has remained unchanged, there is such a fantastic range of parts available for them now.
 
John said:
I like my Afromosia plinth but if I was looking for something more exotic...


7305042024_e68cae4897_b.jpg
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Those are Chris Harben plinths, they are works of art by a master craftsman.

They are so precise and well made and they do improve the sound but the reason to own one is for the looks.

Mine is African Ebony and is a real stunner.
 
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