Jump to content

Beginner’s Guide to Turntables & Hi–Fi *READ 1st PAGE BEFORE POSTING NEW THREADS / BASIC QUESTIONS*


Recommended Posts

I have loved my first weekend back with vinyl many hours passed and alot of rum was drunk.

 

But I need to bin the static heaven mat that came with the thing as it is completely pants.

 

If I buy a cork mat that is 1.5mm thick would that be a good direct replacement (no adjustments needed)??? The project cork-it mat is listed as 1.5mm thick but I can get one off ebay (non project) for a third of the price.

 

or would neoprene be better? as I have an acrylic platter

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nope, No idea why they'd supply one so you've done nothing wrong using it as it's supplied but there is absolutely no need for it and I suspect it's there because it's part of the packing list when they assemble them, makes you wonder a bit how many other people do this and then say can't see what all the fuss is about with these acrylic platters.

 

One of the major upsides of an acrylic platter is that it reduces static build up during play by a huge amount. You should also find it sounds a bit different without the mat as well, I won't put words in your mouth and tell what you should hear but let me know if you hear a difference without the matt and what it is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey guys, how robust are styluses? I just got my Sunlight Ascending 7", and when I put the needle on, I guess I didn't place it far enough in, even though I placed it where the run-in grooves are, and my needle skimmed off onto my felt mat and skipped along that for a second.

Upon visual inspection, I can't seem to notice any defects or changes. But I did play the record, and it sounded kind of trashy. Now, that could be the production of the song itself; it sounded like a home-recorded hardcore song production. Just trashy and not full and clear.

The needle is a Numark DJ needle I got at Guitar Center for $20, i don't know the model.

My turntable is a Stanton T.62, so if you guys could recommend a good replacement cartridge/needle to get, that would be cool too. I have absolutely no fucking clue where to start.

Something in the $30-40 range would be great; my setup isn't super super amazing (I need a new amp because mine has a lot noise when you turn it up) but I'm thinking a good needle is always something you need regardless of your setup.

Anyway, sorry for the rambling post... just not sure what to do. I'm scared to play any other records in case my needle is defective now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

yeah I've got my copy of "Amongst The Catacombs of Nephren-Ka" by Nile spinning right now and it sounds fine. Must be the release itself that sucks.

Do you guys have any suggestions for needles/cartridges for a Stanton T.62? I'd like to get something nice, but I honestly have no clue where to start and all the research I've tried to do never turns up any conclusive results.

I do know that Stanton's cartridge only fits their own stylus ports. At least none of the Shure ones fit that I tried at Guitar Center (there aren't any good vinyl places in Albany with a selection of these things to try pairing).

Also, would you guys say that a receiver upgrade should be done first, to improve sound quality? I'm happy with my speakers for now, and my BBE phono preamp, and my turntable is good for now (I want a Technics at some point) but when I turn my stereo up, there is lots of signal noise that comes out of the speakers when I turn it up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd save up for a new table honesty. Those straight tonearms are not meant for listening, more scratching.

 

I'd 2nd that, it's only straight arms with straight headshells though that get used on DJ decks like the Stantons that are the problem, HiFi straight arms have the headshells angled in at 18 degrees for proper tracking

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry, meant to say the straight headshell too. Gumbo, your best bet is too upgrade at this point, we don't want all your post-rock getting destroyed by poor tracking ;).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Allenh removing the felt has made a big difference to my ears already, static lost. You were 100% correct and my ears are thanking you.

Its made more of a difference than I would have thought

Good to hear. Allen is a nice guy. Me on the other hand, I couldn't help but laugh at the idea of putting a thin felt mat on an acrylic platter, negating the benefits of the platter. :D
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Allenh removing the felt has made a big difference to my ears already, static lost. You were 100% correct and my ears are thanking you.

 

Its made more of a difference than I would have thought

 

Thought you might

 

Good to hear. Allen is a nice guy. Me on the other hand, I couldn't help but laugh at the idea of putting a thin felt mat on an acrylic platter, negating the benefits of the platter. :D

 

Nice possibly but it didn't stop me having a chuckle either, Assuming this is a new table with an acrylic platter the bit I find funniest is that Project would put the felt mat in there in the first place.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry, meant to say the straight headshell too. Gumbo, your best bet is too upgrade at this point, we don't want all your post-rock getting destroyed by poor tracking ;).

So even though my cartridge is angled in, it still affects the tracking?

The tone-arm on this is straight, yeah, but the headshell has these grooves where the cartridge is held in place by screws, and you offset the screws from each other so that the cartridge is at an angle.

But I don't think it quite gets to the 18 degrees that the other ones do.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The thing here is that the tonearm is also shorter, from the specs that I could find it's about 4-5 centimeters shorter than other straight tonearms, meaning the cartridge angle must be different, and even set up perfectly it will still result in a much higher tracking anomaly than usual.

 

In short, spending any amount of money trying to get more out of that table is pretty much:

throwing-money.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unfortunately even if it was the right length you would never be able to get it to track properly because it will never angle in enough and to get it to angle in even close then the overhang would be off so basically Slinch has the correct visual representation for it.

 

These tables are made to be cheap copies of the straight arm battle DJ tables where cuing accuracy is far more important for mixing than outright sound quality, trackability or record life for that matter, the problem is they are cheap so Stanton can shift a lot to budding bedroom DJ's who then get bored because this mixing shit is quite a bit harder than they thought and sell them on for peanuts.

 

Don't get me wrong apart from the arm problem the basic table is fine but it's not easy to change the arm and even if you did it wouldn't make it any more valuable sadly, so try and find a failed bedroom DJ that bought tables with angled arms then you've got a much better basis for a usable table.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

yeah I've got my copy of "Amongst The Catacombs of Nephren-Ka" by Nile spinning right now and it sounds fine. Must be the release itself that sucks.

Do you guys have any suggestions for needles/cartridges for a Stanton T.62? I'd like to get something nice, but I honestly have no clue where to start and all the research I've tried to do never turns up any conclusive results.

Also, would you guys say that a receiver upgrade should be done first, to improve sound quality? I'm happy with my speakers for now, and my BBE phono preamp, and my turntable is good for now (I want a Technics at some point) but when I turn my stereo up, there is lots of signal noise that comes out of the speakers when I turn it up.

 

I'd save up for a new table honesty. Those straight tonearms are not meant for listening, more scratching.

 

I third this. I'm surprised you're using a DJ table considering all the post rock / post metal you listen to.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×

AdBlock Detected

spacer.png

We noticed that you're using an adBlocker

Yes, I'll whitelist