Vinyl's Noise Floor

Hi everyone,

It seems like the Hatfields and McCoys are at it again.

I really don't want to cause any hard feelings but the truth must be told. To Pbb, whether the noise floor ceases to exist with a quality rig or we listen around it or there is some brain phenomenon where the noise floor isn't perceived is largely irrevelent. The point to be made here is that analog has brought an enjoyment factor we vinylphiles can't find anywhere else.

First of all, I want to inform this intelligent group that I'm not an expert on electronics but I've found through listening that a lot of what is going on is being ignored to the detriment of this hobby we all love so much. I have many more questions than I have answers and hope that before I leave this life these mysteries are solved.

Get a lead fishing sinker and a marble. Toss each one on the sidewalk. You then may get an understanding of a momentary imperfection in vinyl with the marble being the result of playback on a lesser turntable and the lead sinker being the same imperfection played on a quality rig. Knowing quite a lot about mechanics I will state in no uncertain terms that lesser rigs echo dirt/static/imperfections making them much more audible.

Through personal experience I have found that lesser cartriges play back noise with gusto equal to the music.

Some phono stages amplify the noise floor and some don't.

Crossovers behave the same way. Lesser ones enhance the presence of the noise floor and others don't.

I really feel sorry for the folks that post analog questions as, IMHO, they are not being well served. Case in point. I know that many of the turntables recommended here are of way less musicality than the LP12 which I have owned for over thirty years. It seems cool to be down on Linn. Yes, I REALLY am offended by the manufacturer and many of the retailers who represent this product line. I have even stepped up to the pump and sent Linn a critical letter about the state of affairs in this country. No, I wouldn't buy a new Linn tt today as I feel they are way over priced, but used is an entirely different story.

To those that are considering getting into vinyl I suggest you follow TWL's lead and buy the Teres. Also, if you aren't going to get into vinyl correctly, then don't do it. You won't be happy and if you stay in the vinyl game it will just cost you more in the long run. Yeah, you may find an older Thorens and do it on a real budget but it's unlikely since the sun, the moon and the stars rarely line up.

With the vast majority of my vinyl library what is referred to as the noise floor is simply silence. This is with an analog rig that the idealogues love to hate. Sure, a VPI or Rega will sound superb with great pressing as will my LP12 but I maintain that on lesser recordings my Linn will blow them away.

Grab a few of these recycled vinyl American pressings and use them to audition your choices. Only using the best software is what the retailers want you to do.

Active crossovers have done more for my enjoyment factor REGARDLESS OF SOURCE than any other improvement I have made since the purchase of the LP12. Most of my complaints about digital are minimized through my active system. Of course, this is another concept promoted by Linn so will be largely ignored by the idealogues. Does this sound like politics, or what?

TWL is again ahead of the curve on this concept by eliminating crossovers entirely. Should his research prove fruitful I would love an invitation to listen because I relish the day I can dump my Linn electronics and buy from a manufacturer that doesn't insult me every step of the way. Until then however, I will continue my dance with the devil because I like listening to the music.

If any naysayers are coming to the Boise area send me an email and I'll show you a good time. Dinner is on me and if we get tired of listening we can always load up my drift boat and go fly fishing.

Regards,
Patrick

Just a couple of experiences I've had for you guys to ponder. In my room when I'm doing serious listening the peaks measure 90-93 db. That's where I like to listen. At that volume when I lift the tonearm I first sense the small amount of tube noise that is present. Note that to really hear it I must place my head pretty close to the speaker. It annoys me. Since my dedicated music room is open to the rest of the house through a six foot opening there is ambient noise that masks the tube noise and the surface noise, in plane or out of plane, to some extent. When a number of my audiophile group friends are here and in the sweet spot in control of the volume they almost always listen at a lesser volume, around 85 db. The tube noise and surface noise is imperceptible at this level making me wish that I was satisfied listening alone at this volume setting.

Upon visiting with a friend and listening to his SOTA analog rig with software ranging from very nice generic pressings to the best audiophile pressings AND the uncleaned used record just bought that day the background was so dead silent that I doubt anyone could tell blindfolded between tracks if we were listening to digital or analog. I'm not exaggerating here at all. Sure, there were a few occassions during several days when you could acutally hear a defect but it was exceptionally rare. We also were not generally listening at the volume levels I listen to at home in solitude. This experience was in Dallas at the home of Albert Porter. I'm so glad that I was able to go and experience this. Understand, Albert has about as impressive a collection of viny as I've ever seen and he has been most anal in his approach to system setup, record condition and cleaning. But, once the listening starts he's not anal at all. He's not one to let an uncleaned LP go unplayed if it adds to the enjoyment of the moment.

I respect today's digital players and a lot of the software offerings and I'm glad that many are totally satisfied with it. Sometimes I'm even glad that's the case since it leaves much more software for the rest of us to buy at favorable prices. I embrace buying whatever software is the best be it analog or digital. That's the best of both worlds and I'm really envious of those audiophiles with deep enough pockets that can afford SOTA players of both kinds.

As a follow up on my first paragraph here I just this week had doors installed to isolate the rest of the home from the music room. Big difference for sure with the ambient noise level. Today I'll be installing dedicated circuits for the system. Hopefully these changes will make vinyl surface noise THE issue with my listening. Maybe I'll find happiness with an 85 db level which I think will happen. I'll report my findings.

Enjoy it all my friends!