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Vinyl. Is it me? the producer? cartridge? Record?

It's no surprise that some recordings sound significantly different than others. Different studios, engineers, musicians, arrangers and instrumentation.

I probably have over 1000 albums ranging from 50's jazz, 60's folk, jazz, rock, psychedelic, classical etc.. and I can probably find certain recordings that sound fantastic on my system from any genre. Others not so good.

I am running a Music Hall 5.2 Goldring 1012GX, Scott 340B Vintage Tube amp, Silver stranded cables, Custom Klipsch that would basically be similar to Forte 2, with a 15" self powered sub.

I enjoy the the treasure hunt vinyl offers. It's great when I find an album that:

1: I like the music
2: The album was properly recorded
3: It's a nice clean copy

Of the 1000 records, I probably have 30 real standout recordings that really shine on all levels. It's great to find them.

While I can still enjoy less than perfect recordings if I like the music, it's still much better to have the whole enchilada experience, especially when sharing my system with guests, friends, family etc.

While I have read some who feel the Goldring is a bit shrill or harsh at times, I tend to put the blame more on the session engineer for adding high EQ to the recording or not recording the lower frequencies properly.

If all my records sounded harsh I would blame the cartridge, or some other aspect, tubes, tonearm etc.. but this is not the case. Some recordings simply sound correct, and I would not want them any other way.

At times I feel some of the lesser quality recordings would sound better on a different kind of set up. Probably a system with a much more colored low end, with the higher frequencies rolled off quite a bit. But on the downside, the really good recordings I have would suffer tremendously.

Do some of you feel the need for two systems where you might say "these recordings sound best over here, and these ones are best played on this other set up?"

One thing for sure is that anytime I have both a vinyl and CD version to compare... vinyl wins hands down every time..unless it's one of these new vinyls that was cut from a digital source. (they can't fool me)

Thoughts anyone?
astralography
plato
1,543 posts
 
If only 30 out of 1000 sound great then even though those 30 sound wonderful, as someone else suggested, your system likely sounds bright and those 30 are on the laid-back or rolled-off side of neutral.

If it were the other way around with the bulk of the recordings sounding "right" and the minority sounding poor, then I'd blame the few substandard recordings. Here, I blame the system.

It could even be one small component in the phono playback chain, but I'm pretty sure something is amiss. Phono cartridge, phono preamp, cables, and a mismatch between cartridge and arm are the most likely culprits. I'd try eliminating them one by one, maybe starting with different cables (you did mention silver-stranded cables) and then going from there. Good Luck.
manitunc
795 posts
 
I have found that as I improve my system, more and more albums sound good. You would think that if it is an engineering problem, that a more revealing system would reveal those defects more. While my system now reveals choices engineers made more readily, the music itself sounds better, more alive, more detailed and more open and expansive. So I think your issue is more in your system than in any engineering problem, especially if only 30 out of 1000 albums sound good. Do you really think that 97% of albums were engineered poorly or incorrectly?
mbenus
9 posts
 
It's not easy putting together a system that makes the huge variety of genres you enjoy (not to mention the myriad of recording venues, engineering and record manufacturing variables over decades of time) sound great all of the time. You can, however, make them all sound "right".

I can't advise any one component to replace. My decades of experience is that you just have to swap things out until you get it right. Enjoy the trip, one day you'll reach your destination.
minkwelder
255 posts
 
I agree that you have not reached a point where your system has the right synergy. Just don't feel that you must buy ultra-expensive components and magic accessories to reach your goal.
astralography OP
51 posts
 
Not sure I made myself clear, but my top 30 out of 1000 probably have more to do with me liking the record front to back, and also owning a pristine early release copy...not a fake digital counterfeit pressed onto vinyl.

My point is that regardless of my system, the constant would be more my system, and the variable factor would be the recording itself.

Certainly Steely Dan records were recorded with much more care than the majority of punk rock records.

If my system lacked bass, it would lack it on all recordings, not just some of them. Same with harshness or shrill.

Are my Klipsch shrill? Well if they ever would sound that way.. it should be quite apparent on Rush' Fly by Night... with Geddy Lee screeching and Peart's attack on the cymbals...however, nothing could be farther from the truth.
It sounds great.

For example if play Jeff Beck's Blow by Blow, vs Wired, there is a big difference. Wired sounds shrill, Blow by Blow sounds beautiful. Different producer. George Martin did Blow by Blow, and it probably made the difference.

All of Ken Scott's productions sound great.

DSOTM sounds much better than Meddle.

I see my system as exposing the weakness of a recording session... and exposing the greatness of a wonderful one.

I don't think my system is deciding which records to make sound great or not.

Bob Marley's Natty Dread sounds much more open and full and rich on the low end than Rastaman Vibration.

These examples are very clear about which albums were recorded better. Not a doubt..

The question really is.. is my system too good? in that it exposes the weakness of the actual recording?

Are cartridges and tone arms better now than they were 30 of 40 years ago?

Were some of the classic albums mixed more for lower end systems?.... making sure the treble cut through 1970's transitor radios? and or 8 track players?

Laid back.. I agree, Getz and Gilberto sounds great.. nothing more laid back than "Girl from Ipa...

But Rush, Chicago's First, and early Santana records sound fantastic and are anything but laid back.
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