Forgot to post my table, oops!
This has been my second go with a turntable set up, my first was on 2008 and I failed miserably at not understanding some basic keys to turntable set up. Putting too much money into a table without regard to cart, tone-arm, and phono stage matching was the death of me along with applying a mindset where I attributed the wrong noise as problematic.
This is a MoFi StudioDeck upgraded with their MasterTracker cartridge, phono stage is a Musical Fidelity X-LPS V3 which can handle both MM and MC carts. Why did I go for this table and cart combo? Ease of use, flexibility in matching with phono stages, and dead simple set up in regards to VTA, VTF, and Anti-Skate. Dead simple!
Some tips for maintaining during typical use, and typical maintenance:
Grab a few accessories to make these andjustments easy, and to spot check every so often. I check once a week to make sure nothing was accidentally bumped:
Clean your vinyl, and not just once but often, especially when you first receive them as they often come from the pressing factory with all sorts of crap in the grooves.
Deep clean with a vacuum type, or ultrasonic cleaner once a month. If collection is too large, rotate every month a batch.
Do a quick dry or wet brush clean on each side before playing, and buy a static gun to de-static each time you play (will minimize a lot of noise which generates those pops and clicks).
Also clean the stylus, not too aggressively, use one of those tiny brushed which have small mini brushes to remove dust. You would be surprised at what gets in there even with a cart cover and table dust cover.
Oh, when playing an album, don’t leave that dust cover box on, completely remove it or it will fuck up the leveling of your plinth.
Buy a record weight, make sure it’s appropriate for your table and not some cheap heavy block or metal.
Greasy the bearing the platter spins on every 6 months, and never ever push it down, let it naturally fall into place. Could take a few hours, you can play while that is happening, won’t do any harm.
If belt driven, change your belts out at least once a year, don’t touch them with dirty hands as it will degrade them quick. Always have back ups on hand.
Store them in rice paper sleeves which fit inside the thick card board sleeve. Will help keep dust and debris out and less harmful than the stock sleeves. If they have artwork on them buy a a plastic binder cover with inserts to store them in.
When shopping, do some research. Not all pressings are the same, identify if they came from the analog masters or converted to digital masters. A re-master may or may not be great, actually could suck a lot.
Look for 180g unless it never was released in any 180g form.
What else….im missing a few things as it’s getting late. Surely will have to edit later.
Approach it with logic, not price point, do the maintenance and cleaning required, match the phono, don’t go for an MC cart until you are better versed in cart loading and phono stages. While not as convenient as CD or streaming, there is a certain ritualistic/meditivae zen vibe to listening to vinyl. It’s a deliberate choice, and you want to enjoy the album as a whole.
Good luck.
