NYT: on modern phonograph turntables [telecom]

- H
- HAncock4
  
  Contact options for registered users
posted
12 years ago

Thu, Apr 19, 2012 3:23 AM

The technical evolution of the telephone and phonograph went hand in hand over the years as advances in electronics and acoustics developed. For many years Western Electric made commercial audio systems.

The New York Times had an article about the technology of modern phonograph turntables, which are growing in popularity. It discusses things like the "moving magnet" vs. "moving coil" cartridge and elliptical vs spherical needles.

for article please see:

formatting link

(The turntables mentioned still use a stylus. I thought they had developed a turnable that used a laser to read the groove, but apparently nothing more came of that.)

***** Moderator's Note *****

Damn! I just gave mine away!

Record players held sway over home entertainment for so long that many songs were written about them. Who can forget Spirit's immortal classic "Gramaphone Man"?

We all knew how important it was to track at exactly one gram ...

Bill Horne Moderator

- P
- PV
  
  Contact options for registered users
Vote on answer
posted
11 years ago

Thu, Apr 19, 2012 7:01 PM

They exist, elpj.com sells a laser turntable ... for $8,100 minimum. Great for an archivist (though they'd want the 78 rpm version, $10,200), not so great for someone who just wants to listen to some old discs. *

- -

PV Something like badgers, something like lizards, and something like corkscrews.

***** Moderator's Note *****

In 1978, I was working in California, and met the owner of Pacific Labs, which was in the business of making direct-to-disk recordings. He had a machine in a truck that would cut a master LP recording in realtime, and used to do live recordings of concert orchestras for the high-end audiophile market. How times have changed!

Bill Horne Moderator

- N
- news
  
  Contact options for registered users
Vote on answer
posted
11 years ago

Thu, Apr 19, 2012 10:28 PM

formatting link

-or-

Yep, and I still have my Thorens unit that can plug into the back of a Sherwood AM/FM amp that I specifically purchased a few years ago because it had a Phono input (not that easy to find these days....)

These days you can buy USB turntables that plug straight into your PC for less cost than the price of an average stylus.

Given how much my ears have now degenerated over the years (like ALL of us), vinyl records now sound *so* much better than in the days when I could still hear all the surface noise, clicks, mistracking etc.

- S
- Scott Dorsey
  
  Contact options for registered users
Vote on answer
posted
11 years ago

Fri, Apr 20, 2012 5:25 PM

It's not really very good, but it's interesting. Right now there is a huge split between the audiophile and DJ worlds and little between them.

Lots did. There are several commercial products, and a lot of archival folks use them. They require a lot of post-processing and extreme cleanliness, because light dust that would be brushed away by a stylus is detected as modulation by the laser, so the noise floor is far higher. You can get set up with a Finial for around $10k today.

--scott