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The Record Turntable and Types of Turntable Cartridges
When it comes to a record turntable (aka stereo turntable or vinyl turntable) and LPs (Long Playing records), forget about your parents' radiogram. Today's analog equipment is highly sophisticated and modern pieces of technology.
Before the advent of CD players the vinyl turntable was the epicentre of hi-fi systems. It was the mainstay around which music lovers used to gather. It was like the office cooler around which people liked to gather.
Analog sound – record turntables, cartridges, phono preamps, and LPs – is alive and is growing steadily. The sale of LPs and turntables has steadily been growing over the past few years.
The main reason for this unexpected growth is that a good LP played back on a high-quality stereo turntable has a more natural and warmth sound that is unmatched CD players.
Only the very high-end, high-resolution digital audio equipment comes close to the naturalness of analog sound and these cost thousands of dollars. It is now readily accepted that LPs played on a high-end vinyl turntable is musically superior to Compact Discs (CD).
Record turntable and LP technology have not been stagnant. New technologies and materials together with innovation and refinement in the manufacturing process of both LPs and vinyl turntables are constantly being applied in order to tweak the best sound out of analog systems.
Getting Started in Modern Analog Audio
Getting the best sound out of your LPs would depend on the combination of turntable, tonearm and cartridge, and how each of these components interacts with each other.
Turntable Cartridges
The turntable cartridge is at the front end of the playback process, and its function is to extract as much musical information as possible from the LP. The phono cartridge converts the modulations of the record groove from a mechanical form of energy into an electrical form of energy. There are two types of turntable cartridges:
moving coil cartridge: in which the tiny magnets in the cartridge are stationary and the coil moves
moving magnet cartridge: in which the coil is stationary and the magnets move
The part of the cartridge that comes into contact with the LP is the turntable stylus (also known as turntable needle). Turntable needles have tiny pieces of diamonds at their tips, and are either conical, elliptical, or hyper-elliptical in shape.
The Tonearm
The function of the tonearm is to hold the turntable cartridge rigidly over the LP while the stylus is tracking the groove. The tonearm needs to be light enough so that it easily swings inward as the stylus tracks the groove.
The Stereo Turntable
A good quality stereo or vinyl turntable is essential to getting the best sound from your LPs. The turntable consists of the following components:
The base which constitutes the main structure
A platter which is the heavy disc on which the LP is placed
The bearing assembly which allows easy rotation of the platter
A plinth which lies beneath the platter
The drive system that is either a belt-drive or direct drive mechanism.
