Sound advice! A turntable is basically a seismograph reading those minute vibrations engraved on a plastic disk. Better mechanical construction costs more!
Dr. Feickert Analogue Woodpecker turntable
This weekend I brought home a new turntable -- a very classy looking Dr. Feickert Analogue Woodpecker. It was a breeze to set up, as it is really a well designed, well made product.
But what surprised me the most was the very noticeable jump in the sound quality. I originally decided to buy this turntable because I was having trouble installing my Jelco SA-750 10 inch tonearm on my Systemdek IIX turntable. And since Dr. Feickert Woodpecker has a brilliant sliding docking for installing any tonearm up to 12 inch long, I thought at the very least I'll extend the life span of the stylus on my cartridge.
I wasn't expecting such stunning improvement in the sound quality. I was of the opinion that my Systemdek, which is modded and very well maintained, is basically as good as any other table. But no, Woodpecker really left Systemdek in the dust!
Goes to show that turntable really, really matters in the vinyl reproduction equation. The better the table gets, the less distorted the sound becomes. Moral of the story: go with the best turntable you can afford.
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Congratulations and thanks for sharing your experience with your new turntable.
I think most of us that have been pursuing high quality sound for a long time have had more than one experiences like this. And if you doubled your investment again you would be shocked at how much better that would sound… and so on and so forth. I’ve been at this for fifty years and have really enjoyed all of my upgrades.
Enjoy. |
@jasonbourne71 Not to feed your ego too much, but I loved your 'seismigraph' observation. That is exactly what a turntable is. And explains not only what an unlikely technology it is to have lasted over a century (!) but why turntables, arms, and carts are the most upgradeable and accessible component for most people. In its primitive analog-ness, people can wrap their heads around the whole idea. Not so much with digital. Witness efforts on this site to discuss DAC technology, DAC filters, sample speed, bit depth and all the rest. |
I hate to spoil the party, but a seismograph is exactly what you do not want your turntable to be. It is a vibration measuring device that is supposed to be isolated from the environment. Turntables that are not adequately suspended are reading environment vibration that is ever present in variable amounts. Get a seismograph App for your phone. out it down on the surface your turntable is on and jump up and down or bang the surface with a fist. Now put the phone on the turntables platter and do exactly the same thing. If you see any reading at all on the platter your turntable is not adequately isolated. |
+1
@JasonBourne Seems to mean a turntable arm and cartridge looks like the pen and arm on the old paper seismographs.
To prevent my TT from being a seismograph (picking up vibrations) it uses an internal suspension, isolating the plater and tone arm from small vibrations. When I put a Silent Running vibration platform under the TT to absorb the micro vibrations, its sound quality jumped even higher.
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