The sound of music
Those who have heard the difference between the sound qualities of a vinyl record and a CD during the latter’s infancy were among the driving force of the so-called analog renaissance today. These hard-nosed audiophiles simply refused to be taken in by the digital age. The phenomenon spawned an infectious zeal among younger audiophiles to hear what their grandparents consider to be the real sound of music.
But reproducing the real sound of music through analog gadgets is not simply a case of plug-and-play. It is a hobby that demands patience and involvement. The task is probably what turns off digital die-hards from jumping ship. They just are not willing to forego the luxury of hearing music at the push of a button.
Just what does it take to get into music nirvana? To sum it up:
Location: Having a turntable gives you the opening but it’s not the end of it. First, you have to find a suitable location for this precious analog gadget. It should be free, for instance, from vibration. This means that it has to be placed on a sturdy cabinet, in an audio rack or on a special structure that is attached preferably to a stone wall in your listening room. The structure must be perfectly level.
There are turntable models that have a floating sub chassis (Acoustic Research, Oracle, Thorens TD150, TD160, TD 166, TD 145, TD 147, Ariston, Linn LP12, etc.). They have springs which can be adjusted for perfect leveling.
Vertical tracking angle (VTA): The tonearm and the head shell must be parallel to the record. Tonearms are equipped with a VTA adjuster.
Vertical tracking force: This refers to how much a specific cartridge should weigh when mounted on a tonearm. Manufacturers recommend specific measurements in grams for cartridges. Various weighing tools in analog and digital formats are available in the hi-fi market. Tonearms come with proper weight adjuster.
Azimuth adjustment: The cartridge, when viewed from its front angle, should be perpendicular to the record. To check, place a small mirror on the platter. Improper azimuth would reveal a reflection of the cartridge either tilting to the left or to the right.
Lateral tracking error: During the recording process, the cutter head moves sideways from outside the engraving lacquer disc to the inside. The lacquer disc is from where the master disc is peeled.
The cutter diamond makes a precise 90-degree angle with the groove it has cut. A lateral tonearm can easily emulate this particular movement. Popular tonearms, however, move in a fixed radial direction.
Overhang: An improperly aligned cartridge mounted on a radial tonearm cannot reproduce accurate music. At each instance a tracking error results in a time difference of a few milliseconds between the signals of the left and right channel. It is important therefore to mount the cartridge in a way that the difference can be virtually kept to nil. The laws of physics dictate that the longer the arm, the less the error. How much easier it would be if it were only possible to build a tonearm longer than 12 inches! A tonearm longer than 12 inches could be limited by the rigidity and the mass of the materials to be used. Some DIYers, however, are not discouraged by this. They continue to experiment, and some have had considerable success. Manufacturers provide technical specs about what the overhang for a specific cartridge should be. Fine-tuning the arm in accord with the specified overhang can result in the minimum tracking error.
The call of the sound of music is difficult to resist, but the pursuit of audio nirvana can be taxing at times. Give it your utmost dedication, and the reward you get is priceless.
If you want to learn more about analog through an audio seminar which we’re planning to conduct sometime soon, send me an e-mail. Details will be announced once we have a clear picture of the number of interested participants.
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For comments or questions, please e-mail me at audioglow@yahoo.com or at vphl@hotmail.com. You can also visit www.wiredstate.com or http://bikini-bottom.proboards80.com for quick answers to your audio concerns.
