Quiet Tonearms/cartidges??


I have a fairly good system and am considering revamping my turntable. I really haven't played vinyl in 20 years. When I did, I would buy an album, clean it, zap it with my Zerostat, then record it going through a DBX 224 and then play the tape. This would eliminate most pops and surface noise, while also allowing me to play at high volumes without any rumble. I have been reading about the higher quality tonearms and cartridges and understand that the high end models virtually eliminate surface noise of LP's. Is this HYPE or FACT? I rarely play LP's now-perhaps because I have no really good quality way of playing them, and I must admit, I enjoy the convenience of CD's. OK - I'm sure all you vinyl purists are muttering obscenities. I currently have a 1974 Pioneer PL-71 turntable , with a Shure V-15 III cartridge, which was pretty much the best I could buy at the time. I have a Theta CB3 preamp going into Krell KMA 160 monoblocks, driving some Wilson Maxx's (series II) speakers. I'm using a Theta Miles CD transport at the front. My old pioneer turntable doesn't sound "bad", but when I look at some of the new analog stuff out there, I'm wondering if I'm really missing out on some good vinyl reproduction. Don't have the bucks to invest in a turntable to equal the rest of my system, but may want to get into a medium grade line of analog equipment. Do any of you vinyl guys (or gals) have any advice? (Blowing my head off, or ingesting poison is not an option)
handymann

Showing 3 responses by albertporter

The best setup with state of the art table, arm and cartridge and a top notch phono stage net you LP playback as free of noise as CD most of the time.

The reason I say most of the time, there will be a click or pop occasionally but moment by moment the music flows pretty much free of noise. During music sessions with my group on Tuesday evening we play a wide variety of LPs ranging from freshly opened to oldies from the 1950s. During the four plus hours of LP listening there will be a maximum of 4 or 5 total clicks or pops.

The total time these take up during the session amount to less than half a second and the other three hours, 59 minutes and 59.5 seconds are pure joy.

As many have posted in other threads here at Audiogon, even a live performance can be interrupted by chair squeaks, throat clearing or coughs. Even with CD your home is never DEAD quiet.

You have to ask yourself if the quality and availability of the music you intend buying is worth the effort rather than obsessing over possible negatives.

I also wonder why you would spend money recording to tape with prices of raw tape stock, especially since you say it will be processed with a DBX 224 which will alter the natural analog sound in a negative way (in my experience).

Even assuming you can pull off a PERFECT recording, any upgrade to your vinyl playback system (even VTA adjustment, tracking or load) would make your tapes out of date, at least quality wise. Why not just set up the vinyl playback correctly and enjoy?
Axel, yes makes sense thank you for explaining.

I built up a rim drive Lenco about 5 years ago and that is what brought me to where I am today, running two Technics MK3 and one MK2 with plans for a Garrard as well.

The cartridge in that Lenco was a new Shure V15 III with stock stylus. I agree it was amazing for the money but it did not compete with my moving coil. Perhaps as you say, it's got to do with the phono stage, I was running the Aesthetix Io which was (and still is) a state of the art piece.