What is best turntable for listening to Rock from the sixties like Led Zeppelin?

I remember playing Zep 1 shortly after it was released on a system cobbled together by taking a suitcase stereo my parents owned, and jacking the output into an organ amp and a PA column that I set up in my bedroom when my parents weren't home. Since then, I think all my peregrinations in high fidelity have been about re-creating that thrill. :) 
Zep, for the most part, is not well recorded. I have many, many pressings of some of the albums, and they offer different strengths and weaknesses. Sure, I'd use Zep to check out a system, just to see how it handles the lesser quality recordings, rather than the audiophile spectaculars that make everything sound better.  I'd say if this is part of a quest for table, just buy the best table, arm and cartridge you can afford, with the recognition that if you aren't prepared to write a check from a bottomless account, you have an upgrade path in mind, so you aren't re-buying components unnecessarily. What that is, specifically, is beyond my competence. I like what I own right now, but I've had other, cheaper set-ups that delivered the goods in the context of the systems in which they were used. And yes, I continued to play Zep on all of them. :) :)

That sixties/seventies sound was more a speaker thing IMO.  That's how Bose got their popularity.  Maybe try the JBL 12" 3-ways.  The cart on its own won't take you there.

It is entirely possible to optimize the TT for one genre over another. Much of that is merely cartridge /tonearm selection. Though the selected cartridge/tonearm may be entirely fine in all other genre's, it has been voiced by its owner for one particular genre.

With regard to the motor unit, all genre's will benefit from a platter spin that doesn't change its pace, however minutely, in response to modulated stylus drag. But it will be more apparent when reproducing rock.

I'd like to know how you can optimize a TT for 80's rock as opposed to 70s' rock.

Modulated stylus drag is likely more audible solo piano FWIW.

Some phono cartridges will describe the texture and tones of an acoustic instrument better than others. But will the same cartridge that so deliciously described the wood inside the soundbox of that Martin guitar also lend itself toward getting that over-cooked Jimmy Page electric guitar solo rendered so that the listener perceives its reality?

Yes.

Some turntables will deliver this compulsion better than others. All you have to do is hear this to know it.

This is 100% correct. And audible with all genres of music.

Atma-Sphere is wrong, once again. But if he wants to convince some of us he should try and prove what he says.
Next thing he might say is that amp is an amp, and if it's good it's equally good for everything. Then he will move to speakers. And after that to guitars. Martin guitar would not be best for flamenco or the kind of music that John McLaughlin used to play. John himself said it, I am just repeating it.
There is a lot of art in designing good equipment, not only "stupid" science. But a lot of science too.
 

Actually Inna, you are once again wrong. Here's how:

Amps and speakers are for music reproduction. Guitars are not. They are a source of music. You are engaging in a Strawman argument, which is a logical fallacy. The use of a logical fallacy in any argument renders the conclusion to be false. That's why they call it a 'fallacy'.

Amps and speakers do behave differently BTW, which is why I make tube amps. But the goal is to reproduce the signal applied to them as accurately as possible and any good speaker design has that at heart as well.

FWIW I play in a band, one of the louder ones in the Twin Cities area. Its not like I'm any stranger to rock, and I've also played in orchestras here in town including appearances with the Minnesota Orchestra.

Atmashere, you amps are good and that's about it. Stay within your area of expertise. The source of music is mind not an instrument.

I know, as I guess any Zep fan does, that Page used a Tele on Zep 1 with a small overdriven amp. When he started using Les Pauls, I think he overdrove them by using the Echoplex preamp into the amps- Marshalls? Live -very loud.
Reproducing that at home- OK.
Source?
What I hear on the various pressings is differences in emphasis- the Classics, particularly the 45s (I only have Zep 1 and IV on Classic 45) have detail galore, but are a tad bright to my taste- very much a modern sound. The UK of III is pretty yummy, as is the UK of II (both early plums, my III is a Peter Grant credit so it is a very early one, my LZII not a first UK, probably a second). Everybody likes the US RL of II which does kick ass, but the plum of II is underrated. For 1, which I probably have the most copies of-- though I don’t have a Turquoise first, I have an early one with essentially the same lacquer info--it is bested by both the ’74 US Piros remaster and a Japanese third pressing, which is pretty impressive. The Piros is very ’of a piece’- cohesive, in the sense that it all fits together- it doesn’t have the bass power or punch of Zep II, but overall, it and the Japanese pressing are currently my preferred copies- nothing seems over emphasized. I don’t really want to shell out the bucks for a Turquoise LZ 1, but if anybody has directly compared one to some of the other Zep 1 pressings, I’d be interested in their impressions.
It’s too bad the Zep catalog wasn’t better recorded.

I primarily use 3 electric guitars these days (and one lap steel) made with differing woods, pickups, bridges, etc., and the sound and feel of each is completely different. That's why I use them. My amps are tube (except my current bass amp) with and without tube rectification, either push pull and single ended, with differing speakers…and they sound different…each as unique as my acoustic guitars. Note there are actual experts here, and to ignore expertise is a missed opportunity to learn something.

So, Wolf, have you gone to hear David Lindley do his one man shows? He is out and about again. Killer player, great range of stringed instruments. (And, not too loud, which always kills it for me- he used to use a Dumble but I think he just uses the house system for all these oddball instruments). And, he's great fun to talk to- very old Los Angeles, before everybody got so caught up in things. 

IMHO, tables and arms are built for neutrality. Not that all are good at this. Cartridges are to, however, they miss the mark......and some more than others. What they do well, or not so well, may in fact make them suitable as a tone control.

But unless you have unlimited funds and a large space for several tables, I still believe that searching for a table, to use a a specific tone control is not wise for all the reason stated.

No one is saying that equipment can't have qualities suited for what you might consider a flawed album but the solution presented creates more problems then it solves.

Stick with swapping out cartridges or go out and buy an EQ.

I agree with Raymonda and several others who have suggested that a turntable should not be chosen based on its alleged suitability for a specific genre. Regardless of the kind of music it would be used to listen to, it should be chosen to be as uncolored and accurate as possible, within budgetary constraints of course.

That said, if you do want to try to optimize a given turntable/tonearm/cartridge combination so as to make reproduction of 1960s rock sound as pleasing as possible, an approach that I suspect would be more effective and more practical than most would be to install a moving magnet cartridge and experiment with different capacitive loadings. This kit from DB Systems would be helpful in that regard.

Also, while I’m not familiar with the FM Acoustics Linearizer you mentioned having, based on general familiarity with the brand I’d expect that whatever functions it may perform are implemented in a high quality (and expensive) manner. However, if that device doesn’t do the trick for you, and if you are willing to invest a few $thousands in a component that provides exceptionally flexible equalization capabilities, with audible side-effects that nearly all users (including me) report to be somewhere between negligible and none, and that also provides many other functions that may be useful to you, consider purchasing one of the models from DEQX.

Regards,
-- Al

Hey, Wolf, perchance did you play at the Boston Tea Party, Boston, Mass, circa 1969? Or, Fillmore East same time frame? Best, Rob

It's Jerry reincarnated. His cover has been blown. You should have guessed earlier. Wolf equal his guitar....circa mid late 70s  and Garcia, well, that's obvious.

Raymonda, Wolf,
Not trying to unmask anyone; but I did play or substituted in certain bands below from the Boston Tea Party or Fillmore East. So maybe an old geezer like me /Wolf were on the same stage at the same time. My stage name back then and my real name is not the same. Ironic if it happened, which I would find amusing. Also, saw most of these groups. Lothar and the Hand People used one of the first quasi synthizer, the Condor Electric Modulator.. I first learned about it at Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Atmastphere and Wolf are right with comments on this thread.

My time was mostly '68-’70. Here you go: Boston Tea Party play dates circa 1967/70:

Boston Tea Party
53 Berkeley Street, Boston, MA

1967
January 1967
20 The Lost (Opening Night)
21 The Lost
27 - 28 The Lost / The Hallucinations

February 1967
3 - 4 The Lost / Catharsis
7 - 9 Film Makers Cinematique
10 - 12 Chambers Brothers/ The Hallucinations
17 - 18 Beacon Street Union / The Hallucinations
24 - 25 Cloud / Bagatelle
26 Baroque Concert (Afternoon)

March 1967
3 - 4 The Hallucinations / Eden's Children / Bagatelle
10 - 11 Lothar & The Hand People / The Orphans
17 - 18 Lothar & The Hand People / The Hallucinations
24 - 25 Bagatelle / The Growth
31 Ill Wind / Bagatelle

April 1967
1 Ill Wind / Bagatelle
14 - 15 Lothar & The Hand People / Front Page
21 - 22 Lothar & The Hand People / The Hallucinations
28 - 29 David Blue & The American Patrol / Ill Wind

May 1967
5 - 6 The Orphans / David Blue & The American Patrol
12 - 13 Lords & Ladies / Orleans
16 - 18 Film Makers Cinematique / Peyote Queen
19 - 20 Beacon Street Union / Children of Paradise
26 - 27 Velvet Underground / The Ferris Wheel

June 1967
2 - 3 The Hallucinations / Jeremy Steig
9 - 10 Velvet Underground / Beacon Street Union
16 - 17 Ill Wind / The Hallucinations
23 - 24 Grass Menagerie / Beacon Street Union
30 - Jul 1 Lothar & The Hand People / The Shakers

July 1967
7 - 8 The Ragamuffins / The Street Choir
14 - 15 Peanut Butter Conspiracy / 90th Congress
21 - 22 Free Spirits / Shakers
28 - 29 The Paupers / Bagatelle

August 1967
2 Seeds / Cheetah
4 - 5 Peanut Butter Conspiracy / Bagatelle
11 - 12 Velvet Underground
18 - 19 The Hallucinations / Ultimate Spinach
25 - 26 Country Joe & The Fish

September 1967
1 - 2 Catharsis / Mushroom
8 - 9 Canned Heat / 90th Congress
15 - 16 The Wildflower / Bagatelle
22 - 23 The Mushroom / The Hallucinations
29 - 30 Children of Paradise / Beacon Street Union

October 1967
6 - 7 Canned Heat / Ultimate Spinach
13 - 14 The Luvs / The Grass Menagerie
20 - 21 Pluph / Cloud
27 Bagatelle / The Sidewinders
28 The Hallucinations / The Sidewinders

November 1967
3 - 4 Bagatelle / Mandrake Memorial
10 - 11 Sun Ra Arkestra
17 - 18 Butter / Bo Grumpus / Salvation
24 - 25 Ultimate Spinach / Baul Singers & Dancers

December 1967
1 - 2 Kaleidoscope / Chain Reaction
8 - 9 Clear Light / The Street Choir
15 - 16 Richie Havens / Bagatelle
22 - 23 Lothar & The Hand People / Beacon Street Union
29 - 30 The Hallucinations / Children of God

1968
January 1968
5 - 6 Cloud / Ill Wind
12 - 13 Ultimate Spinach / The Colt Brothers Conception
19 - 20 Beacon Street Union / Butter / The Hallucinations / Bagatelle
26 - 27 Tim Buckley / Nazz

February 1968
2 - 3 H.P. Lovecraft / Butter
9 - 10 Eric Andersen / Grass Menagerie
16 - 17 Bagatelle / The Apple Pie Motherhood Band
23 - 24 Peanut Butter Conspiracy / PPMWW

March 1968
1 - 2 Chambers Brothers / South End Hate Band
8 - 9 J. Geils Band / Canned Heat
15 - 16 Beacon Street Union / The Hallucinations
22 - 23 Velvet Underground / United States of America
29 - 30 Ultimate Spinach / Butter

April 1968
4 Muddy Waters / The Hallucinations
5 - 6 Amboy Dukes / Tangerine Zoo
11 Yardbirds / Steve Miller Band
12 Steve Miller Band / Cloud / Earth Opera
13 Steve Miller Band / Earth Opera
18 B. B. King / Cloud
19 - 20 Siegal Schwall Band / J. Geils Blues Band / Cloud
25 Procol Harum / The Hallucinations
26 Howling Wolf / Beacon Street Union / The Hallucinations
27 Howling Wolf / Beacon Street Union

May 1968
2 Traffic / Butter
3 - 4 Clear Light / Tim Rose
9 Blue Cheer / Quill
10 - 11 Bagatelle / The Hallucinations
16 Velvet Underground / The Hallucinations
17 - 18 Velvet Underground / Bo Grumpus
23 John Lee Hooker / The Hallucinations
24 John Lee Hooker / The Hallucinations / Quill
25 John Lee Hooker / The Hallucinations
30 - 31 Van Morrison Controversy / Ill Wind

June 1968
1 Van Morrison Controversy / Ill Wind
6 - 8 Cloud / The Group Image
13 - 15 Quicksilver Messenger Service / The Hallucinations
19 - 22 Bagatelle / J.Geils Blues Band
26 - 29 Jeff Beck Group


July 1968
4 - 6 The Ultimate Spinach / Listening
18 - 20 Lothar & The Hand People / The Hallucinations
25 - 27 Beacon Street Union / Cloud

August 1968
1 - 3 The Nazz / Kaleidoscope
8 - 10 Staple Singers / Bo Grumpus w / Felix Pappalardi
15 - 17 Eden's Children / Velvet Underground
22 - 24 Apple Pie Motherhood Band / Wind in the Willows
29 - 31 Albert King / Jeremy Steig & The Satyrs

September 1968
5 - 7 Ars Nova / Ford Theater
12 - 14 Buddy Guy / Quill
20 - 21 Eden's Children / J. Geils Quintet
27 - 28 Velvet Underground / Fire and Ice

October 1968
3 - 5 Rhinoceros / Quill
10 - 12 Ten Years After / The Listening
17 - 19 John Mayall & The Blues Breakers / Bones
22 - 24 Jeff Beck Group / Kensingtom Market / Earth Opera
25 - 26 Headstone Circus / Far Cry
31 - Oct 2 James Cotton Blues Band / SRC

November 1968
7 - 9 Terry Reid / McCoys
14 - 16 Buddy Miles Express / Dino Valente
21 - 23 J. Geils Blues Band / The Listening
29 - 30 Lothar & The Hand People / The Cloud

December 1968
5 - 7 Pacific Gas & Electric / Quill
12 - 14 Velvet Underground / MC5
19 - 21 Fleetwood Mac / Ill Wind
26 - 28 Charlie Musslewhite Blues Band / The Listening

1969
January 1969
2 - 4 B.B. King / Fire and Ice
9 - 11 Velvet Underground / Holy Modal Rounders
16 - 18 Mother Earth / Insect Trust
22 Velvet Underground
23 - 25 Led Zeppelin / Raven
30 - Feb 1 Savoy Brown Blues Band / J. Geils Blues Band

February 1969
6 - 8 Lothar & The Hand People / Raven
13 - 15 Jethro Tull / Silver Apples
20 - 23 Byrds / Flying Burrito Brothers
27 - 28 Buddy Guy / Woody's Truck Stop

March 1969
1 Buddy Guy / Woody's Truck Stop
6 - 8 Chicago / J. Geils Blues Band
13 - 15 Velvet Underground / Wilkinson's Tricycle
16 Barry and the Remains / The Lost
20 - 22 Nice / Raven
27 - 29 Rhinceros / Ansley Dunbar's Retaliation

April 1969
3 - 6 Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & Trinity / SRC
9 - 10 Jethro Tull / Sweetwater
11 - 13 Family / Sweetwater
15 - 17 Ten Years After / Big Mama Thornton
18 - 20 Albert King / Big Mama Thornton
24 - 27 J. Geils Band / Aum

May 1969
1 - 4 Buddy Miles Express / Howlin' Wolf
6 - 8 Jeff Beck Group with Rod Stewart / Nice
9 - 11 Poco / Family
13 - 15 Who / Roland Kirk
16 - 17 Joe Cocker & The Grease Band / Roland Kirk
22 - 24 Bonzo Dog Band / It's a Beautiful Day
26 - 29 Led Zeppelin / Zephyr
30 - 31 Velvet Underground / Allman Brothers

June 1969
5 - 7 Delaney and Bonnie & Friends / The Serfs
12 - 14 Johnny Winter / Raven
19 - 21 Dr. John The Night Tripper / Allman Brothers
23 - 24 Savoy Brown Band / Crazy World of Arthur Brown (cancelled)
26 - 28 Chicago Transit Authority / Alice Cooper

July 1969
3 - 5 Closed for Newport Jazz Festival
11 Velvet Underground / Country Funk/ Quill (Last show at the Berkeley Street location)

Boston Tea Party
15 Lansdowne Street, Boston, MA
Picture

July 1969
12 Larry Coryell / Country Funk / Quill
14 - 16 Procol Harum / Blodwyn Pig
17 - 19 Taj Mahal / Blues Image
23 - 25 Jethro Tull / Free
26 Tom Rush / Terry Reid / Free
31 - Aug 2 Ten Years After / Magic Terry & the Universe

August 1969
5 - 7 B. B. King / Teagarden and Van Winkle
8 - 9 Mother Earth / Teagarden and Van Winkle
11 - 13 Byrds / Colosseum
14 - 16 Velvet Underground / The Serfs / Country Funk
21 - 23 Savoy Brown / Santana Blues Band
28 - 30 Spooky Tooth / The Flock

September 1969
4 - 6 The Raven / Tyrannosaurus Rex / Don Cooper
9 - 11 Ten Years After / Stooges
12 - 13 Ricky Nelson / Coasters / NRBQ
18 - 20 Chuck Berry / Bo Diddley / Mountain
25 - 27 J. Geils Blues Band / Lonnie Mack / The Move
30 Mandrake Memorial / Appaloosa / Dirty John's Hot Dog Stand

October 1969
2 - 4 Grateful Dead / Bonzo Dog Band
7 Mocha Chip / Ascension / Boswell (Tuesday Night New Groups & Jam Session)
9 - 11 Spirit / Elvin Bishop / Sha - Na - Na
16 - 18 Steve Miller Band / Liverpool Scene
23 - 25 Kinks / Lee Michaels / Quill
30 - Nov 1 Al Kooper / Aum / King Crimson

November 1969
6 - 8 Taj Mahal / Bloodwyn Pig
11 - 12 Who / Tony Williams' Lifetime
13 - 15 Santana / Grand Funk Railroad
20 - 22 Mountain / Humble Pie / Eric Mercury
23 Incredible String Band
26 - 29 Joe Cocker & The Grease Band / Fleetwood Mac

December 1969
4 - 6 Nice / Allman Brothers
7 Incredible String Band
8 - 9 Jethro Tull
11 - 13 Johnny Winter / Sons of Champlin / Ten Wheel Drive
19 - 21 Sha - Na - Na / New York Rock and Roll Ensemble
26 - 28 Fleetwood Mac / Tim Hardin
29 - 31 The Grateful Dead

1970
January 1970
2 - 3 Mountain / Blues Project II / Dion
8 - 10 B.B. King / Cold Blood / J Geils Band
15 - 17 James Cotton Blues Band / Kaleidoscope
22 - 24 Byrds / Doug Kershaw
29 - 31 Staple Singers / MC5 / Rhinoceros

February 1970
5 - 7 Fleetwood Mac / James Gang
8 - 9 Delaney & Bonnie & Friends w / Eric Clapton
12 - 14 Kinks / Renaissance
19 - 21 Spider John Koerner & Willie Murphy / Erik Mercury
22 NRBQ / Livingston Taylor / The Proposition / Club Wow
26 - 28 Everly Brothers / Sha - Na - Na

March 1970
1 Neil Young & Crazy Horse / Country Funk
2 - 4 Ten Years After / Redbone
5 - 7 MC5 / Family / Stone The Crow
12 - 14 Mother Earth / Argent / Mocha Chip
15 Santana
19 - 21 Youngbloods / Livingston Taylor / Seals & Croft
26 - 28 Lee Michaels / Faces / Zephyr

April 1970
2 - 4 Mountain / Ronnie Hawkins
9 - 11 Quicksilver Messenger Service / Sugar Creek / Roxy
12 Pink Floyd
16 - 18 Van Morrison / Blodwyn Pig / Blues Image
19 Pentangle / Livingston Taylor
23 - 25 Manfred Mann / Cold Blood
29 Chambers Brothers / Youngbloods
30 - May 2 Poco / Seatrain / John Fahey

May 1970
3 - 4 Incredible String Band / Stone Monkey
7 - 9 Buddy Miles / NRBQ / Ambergris
10 John Sebastian / Ramblin' Jack Elliot
14 - 16 John Hammond / Seals & Croft / Insect Trust
21 - 23 Little Richard

June 1970
7 - 8 Traffic / Fairport Convention / Sugar Creek
15 - 17 Ten Years After / Mott The Hoople
18 - 20 Poco / Brethren

July 1970
10 - 11 Jethro Tull
14 - 16 Procol Harum / Blodwyn Pig
23 - 25 Johnny Winter / J. Geils Blues Band


August 1970
11 - 16 The Byrds / Colosseum / Velvet Underground / Serfs / Country Funk
20 - 22 J. Geils Band / Dr. John The Night Tripper / Travis Shook & The Club Wow

September 1970
3 - 5 Butterfield Blues Band / Rig
10 - 12 Fleetwood Mac / Fairport Convention
13 Miles Davis / Osmosis
14 - 16 Mountain / Mylon
17 - 19 Johnny Winter / Tin House
24 - 26 Humble Pie / James Gang
28 - 30 Iron Butterfly / Awakening

October 1970
1 - 3 It's A Beautiful Day / Flock / Chris Smither
4 Tom Rush / Murray McLaughlin
5 - 7 Small Faces with Rod Stewart / Ballin' Jack
8 - 10 Mungo Jerry / Humble Pie / Spider John Koerner
12 John Mayall
15 - 17 Byrds / Mylon
18 Frank Zappa & The Mothers (two shows)
22 - 24 Lee Michaels / Haystack Balboa
25 Pink Floyd
29 - 31 Elton John / Dreams / Rev. Gary Davis


November 1970
5 - 7 Leon Russell / Elvin Bishop / Juicy Lucy
10 - 11 Traffic / Hammer
12 - 14 Buddy Guy & Junior Wells / Cynara
19 - 21 Allman Brothers Band / Brethren


December 1970
4 - 6 Incredible String Band / Doc Watson / Mimi Farina
9 Canned Heat (two shows)
10 - 12 Poco / Jo Mama / David Rea
17 - 19 Love / Sugar Creek
26 - 29 Sha Na Na / Travis Shook and the Club World

Anecdote: I once, while rehearsing at another club on Boylston/Mass Ave, told Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground members, we were sharing rehearsal space, "they couldn't play worth $h...it! Ahh, youth! Best, Rob

As impressive a roster as any. Those shows in that era covered a huge range of different types  and styles of music, and I don't think the audiences were all that different- you could hear soul or boogie one night and go psychedelic the next. 

The sound quality isn’t great, so rather than something super revealing, something that is very musical, and can also convey the magic. Sort of the Decca cartridge equivalent of turntables. I am guessing less Caliburn and Techdas, more Linn, Roksan, Denon, EMT 927, Rega, even

. Original post quoted above.

Actually, to deliver the raw energy with more force it is hard to beat a healthy idler deck.  Choose arms and cartridges to compliment your individual taste. 

This discussion has veered off-course somewhat while musicians speak of the differences between electrified instruments.  And it is worth the discussion.

The point:  we're playing records here, not making them. 

No way can the recording of it capture the live event so that it is anywhere close to the same as being there.  Not the scale of it.  But you can play the record in the privacy of your own listening room. 

In that venue (listening room) and for playing rock records, I'll choose an idler deck like a healthy TD124.  Choose tonearm and cartridge that best synergize with the deck to reproduce rock.

-Steve

td160- and attention to the pressings, which vary considerably in what is emphasized. 

The same turntable that works with Mahler, Brahms, etc. 

I’m from Honolulu where I worked as a musician from 1967 to 1986. I moved to the Right Coast, still play here and there, and mix live concerts as an insanely esthetically rewarding sideline (highly recommended). The name Wolf Garcia is the result of my borrowing the last names of two people in my office (owned a banking business) when doing a show in 1998 or something…I kept the name for show biz stuff because I found it to be fun.

Quick aside, not to derail thread: Great stuff, Wolf. I got off the Rock 'n Roll Merry-go-round about ’72, went back to college, got my degrees and went in new direction. Great ride, fun while it lasted; but happy I jumped off. Best, Rob

Nothing is "The Best". Any decent turntable that will turn and allow a good arm and cartridge will suffice, but try to isolate it as well as possible. Mine i in the next room with my electronics. A mirror makes the CD remote work from afar.  

There have been great number of excellent recommendations in this forum. I will throw my hat into the ring with no bias or pontification.
Yamaha GT-2000l turntable (external power supply) with SAEC SX-308 tone arm with Vintage (1977) Stanton 681EEES (NOS Sterhedron stylus) Cart. FYI: Manley Chinook pre-amp, Prima Luna Dialoge HP and Sonus Faber Olympia III speakers

If you're going to blanket "Rock from the sixties-The sound quality isn't that great," then why even consider a dedicated or particular turntable/cartridge?

Wax/vinyl media then and now is uniquely conceived, produced, and manufactured. I've found that there are more examples of well recorded and manufactured pressings from the fifties and sixties that benefit greatly from contemporary cleaning and playback equipment than not. Even modern dedicated 78 RPM and monaural cartridges can add new dimension to many older recordings.

Consider radio back then which usually managed better sound than one could usually muster at home. High wattage AM still used those slipper felt matted cast plinthed decks with gated speed selector idler drives while the dawn of FM multiplex required much more sophisticated engineered electronics and typically Thorens and eventually pairs of the venerable SP10. Both of which are still in reasonable supply and would be my suggestion for your search and still provide an above average level of performance. 





 

David Lindley is a national treasure and I've seen him live many times…seeing him again in mid April.

m-db: Did someone say all ’60s rock sounds bad on vinyl? I hope not, since some of the stuff I treasure most came from that era-both musically and sonically. I will agree that the Zep stuff isn’t very well recorded, though, much as I loved the early records (and listen to a few tracks on their later ones).
N.B. I guess you could read the OP's thread title and OP that way- I read it differently, not as a blanket indictment. 

I am not a musician or audio expert. I have listened to Zep II on several different decks over the years. First cheap thrift store record players from the 70s, 80s direct drive, then an early project table, then a scout and currently a VPI prime.

I actually enjoyed the music on all these TT. I don’t agree that this record does not have good resolution. I would say everything in general on Zep II has gotten better with the nicer record players. While it’s not some audiophile recording and some of the swirling of guitars sounds contrived in general I don’t think its a bad recording. I personnel would not try to tailor a record player to one genre of music.

Get the best record player, phono state, and cart you can afford and enjoy. I don’t think better resolution, soundstage, image and better dynamics is going to make any 60s- 70s music sound worst. Many people will tell you it can revel flaws in the recording. While I think this is true its more honest and still sounds better to me than having a very thick veil closed in presentation which hides much that is in the grooves. I would say this is a much bigger problem then truly hearing whats on the record. That being said you don’t have to spend a fortune to have fun listening to music I can listen to this era of music on my car radio and enjoy it.

IMO

inna1,906 posts03-24-2016 6:34pmAtma-Sphere is wrong, once again. But if he wants to convince some of us he should try and prove what he says.
Next thing he might say is that amp is an amp, and if it's good it's equally good for everything. Then he will move to speakers. And after that to guitars. Martin guitar would not be best for flamenco or the kind of music that John McLaughlin used to play. John himself said it, I am just repeating it.
There is a lot of art in designing good equipment, not only "stupid" science. But a lot of science too.

I agree with Ralph. Turntable or ANY kind of home audio playback equipment should not depend on style of music. The musical instruments however are different. Martin guitar isn't definitely for heavy metal simply because heavy metal bands don't use acoustic guitars at all. Also you will less-likely see Stradivarius violin used in folk or rock bands either. At the same time there's nothing wrong in playing Bach on Technics SL1200 turntable via some vintage receiver and vintage Advent or Celestion speakers. Any system that can reproduce solo piano played clear is able to play any sophisticated and loud rock or metal.

bdp24

" ...  Who picks his arm first, then his cartridge? Or his amp first, then for a speaker it works well with? A knucklehead. "

As a practical matter, I think many audiophiles choose their arm first, and then the cartridge. After all, for many of us, we'll buy a fine pickup arm and use it for years and years and years, as phono cartridges wear out and come and go. That's certainly what I've done. IIRC, I'm on my fourth cartridge with my present arm.

And I agree with Ralph. If you buy a proper turntable/pickup arm/cartridge/phono preamp combo, it'll be fine with any kind of music. I have exactly one phono system, and it sounds great - from Bach to rock, as they used to say.