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Does a record player make that much of a difference??

Question for all you Audionerds - in your experience, how much of a difference does one record player make over the next compared with the differences that a cartridge, phone pre-amp, and separate head amp make in the signal chain?

Reason I ask: I just upgraded from a MM cart to a MC cart (Dynavector 20x2-low output). Huge difference - the Dynavector sounds much more alive and detailed compared with the MM. I find my current record player (a Marantz TT16) to be a real pain to work with - I have to manually move the belt on the motor hub to change speeds, and the arm is not very adjustable or easy to do so. But, aside from that, it's not terrible. How much of a difference can I really expect if I upgrade to a better record spinner vs the change I heard from upgrading to a better cart? 

My next acquisition is a separate head amp to feed the phono stage.

Thanks for all your insights!

Josh

joshindc

Showing 1 response by kennyc

kennyc
1,223 posts
 

Could be wrong, but my point is, I think the reason record-loving audiophiles put so much more attention and money on record players vs carts and phonostages is because there is more to look at.

@joshindc 

This seems a bit insulting. Your opening question is which has better “sonics”, then later assume we’re purchasing for “visual bling” instead of sonics.

The turntable is a vibration detection device.  As audio chains become more transparent like lowering the noise floor through better electronics, sonic differences in turntables become very noticeable including tonearm performance with specific, platter materials, platter speed, plinth material, motor noise, etc.  

Your Marantz TT16 is a fine turntable at it’s price point, but I’d expect noticeable positive sonic differences if you upgraded to a $3-5k turntable - at least better tonearms and better platter material like Delrin on MoFi turntables 

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