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What is turntable “liveliness”.

I have listened to turntables for sixty years. I bought my first high end TT about thirty years… it was revelatory. I do not swap tables often. I do a huge amount of research and then stay with one for fifteen years or so. My most recent upgrade was from a VPI Aries (heavy mass) to a Linn LP12 (light weight, sprung)…very nearly the very top level. Could we please not turn this into a religious thing about Linn… mine is an outstanding TT which compares favorably with any other $45K analog leg (TT, cartridge, and Phonostage)

The term lively comes up in descriptions. One of the differences in character I noticed between the VPI and Linn… which I thought might be considered liveliness was to me a bit of what I perceived as the images very slightly jumping around… the kind of thing you would think of when you see films of “The Flash” maybe vibrating in place. While I found this gave me the feeling of the notes wanting to jump out at me, I found it a bit disconcerting. I attributed it to a relatively light weight rig, that is really good at rejecting low frequency vibrations (it is a sprung table… known to be lively sounding) up to a relatively high frequency… but beyond that not. Something a really heavy rig would not be effected by.

 

To test my theory, I had a Silent Running Ohio Class vibration platform constructed for my turntable. The image smear, as I called it disappeared. There is no smear and it has great solidity.

Is this attribute “liveliness”?

ghdprentice

Showing 1 response by perkri

perkri
888 posts
 

@ossicle2brain 

I think there are a lot of people who believe as you do that a TT has no sound and that it’s just a spinning platter.

 

Here’s the thing. A TT is a combination of a plinth, a motor/drive system, a bearing, a platter and may or may not include some form is suspension. That tiny little stylus, being dragged through the groove  of the record, is prone to all kinds of external disturbances. How all the elements of the turntable work together, will determine what kind, and how great those disturbances are. And seeing as how we are dealing with the tiniest of movements, with the tiniest of electrical signals that are being amplified an insane amount, any tiny disturbance, is going to magnified along with the signal.

 

An ideal turntable, will have no sound. An ideal turntable will impose no disturbances to the movement of the stylus in the groove. A turntable that imposes no disturbances, is very difficult, and costly to manufacture. A turntable with no sound, will allow the cartridge and tonearm to do their jobs with far greater accuracy. A turntable with no sound will let you hear the music more clearly, with better drive, better attack,  channel separation, soundstage etc.

 

All that to say, turntables have a sound they impose on the signal, regardless of how good the tonearm and cartridge are.

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