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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 yoyoyaya

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yoyoyaya
644 posts
 

@OP - is your turntable a TT16 or 15 as I cannot find any references to a Marantz TT16 - perhaps you could post a picture which would allow a more precise response to be given.

Answering generically - yes, a better turntable and arm can make a big difference. The Linn philosophy was taken to extremes, with people running LP12s with Ittok arms and cheap K9 cartridges and getting pretty poor sound from a large investment. However, with due regard to upgrading a system in a balanced way, better turntables do make a difference - more resolution, better pitch stability, more bass extension, blacker backgrounds, better control of surface noise etc.

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