Top 5 Turntable Mistakes - May 2023

In over the nearly 40 years of Audible Elegance, I have seen my share of unfortunate mistakes made by turntable owners. I will be doing a top 10 Ten List on YouTube discussing this very subject. But, for those who like to read, I thought I would give you dibs.

The biggest mistake I see on a regular basis is that the cartridge (with stylus) is not even in the right location in the headshell. This includes both removable headshells as well as fixed. This has become particularly troublesome even on used turntables as often times the overhang gauge which was originally packed with the table has gone missing. The position of the cartridge must be exact (forward or back in the slots provided) so that the stylus properly tracks the record from the outside to the label. There are various products out there that help you in this regard but Audible Elegance has two fairly expensive (and one rare) devices to help us properly mount your cartridge.

The next common mistake is, sadly, nothing we can fix but can detect that it has happened. In short, the tonearm itself has been wrecked. This usually happens on fixed headshells but I have seen it on removable ones as well. What is the problem? That the owner attempted to mount the cartridge themselves to save money but applied so much force in one direction or another that it ends up damaging the tonearm bearings themselves. Typical tonearms use 7 micron bearings while more advanced ones can use down to 1 micron size. Stress placed on the tonearm in either downward pressure or the unresolved force of holding an nut in place while tightening the bolt or screw is another. There is no resolution other than replacement of the arm, if at all possible. I’ve flunked over 50% of the tables brought in for consignment for this very issue. Think of it as a broken tripod for a camera. The game is over. My YouTube video will have diagrams of how the force is wrecking your arm. In short, with a removable headshell, the process is slow and steady but the headshell is never fussed with while on the arm. For fixed headshells, in most cases, the arm should be removed first which makes the mounting a bit more tricky as you have both the proper overhang distance and VTA affecting that position. It’s work. Again, we have the proper tools.

Next is an old favorite. If I can not get the arm to stay down, add weight to the headshell. Yep, I’ve seen pennies, quarters, and gobs of goo place on the the headshell to get the stylus (needle) to sit down on the record and play. This is usually caused by the improper choice of a cartridge for the tonearm and, again, done by inexperience and the desire to save money. Well, two things are happening. First, likely kiss your records to hell if the force is nuts and I have seen that. At 1.7 grams, if the cartridge is designed for that tracking weight, it is putting down thousands of pounds per square inch and heating the vinyl to around 600 degrees Fahrenheit. Just imagine those numbers at 3 grams. Even if you can get the tracking weight correct, which it usually is not, then you have the inertia force of that weight way out on the end of a arm (a long stick). This additional weight greatly changes the weight the cartridge must deal with or was designed for. The compliance of the cartridge ends up being ignored and can lead to a collapse of the cantilever, particularly in moving coil cartridges.

My fourth one goes straight at reviews, the web or word of mouth. “Oh, I’ve just read or been told this and I want one.” What is often overlooked is whether or not the required geometry for tracking angle can be achieved with the combination of arm and cartridge. With cheaper turntables, there is no adjustment at the pillar of the arm and so your choice of cartridges demands a certain body – stylus height. Too much height and kiss the bass good-bye and hello treble. Too low, thump therapy and where’s the treble? Even separate arms may require the purchase of a shim to raise the arm high enough to achieve the proper tracking angle. And sometimes, you just can not get the arm low enough to meet the needs of the cartridge. This is, actually, the most common issue I see when people bring in tables for a new cartridge.

The last is a killer. I want to spend a lot of money on a cartridge because that’s the most important thing on a turntable. Absolutely wrong. Why? The better the cartridge, the better it is in picking up all the other defects of the table you are using. It’s like using a video camera on a broken tripod in the middle of an earthquake. It may be a fine cartridge but the fact remains you will not get the full benefit of its abilities because of everything else that is going wrong. So, if you use a cheap camera in place of the Leica, you still get the smear image but at least you didn’t pay thousands of dollars to get the same results. Conversely, a very cheap cartridge, allowed to perform properly on a good turntable, will bury an expensive cartridge on an inferior turntable. I’ve done many demonstrations of that in my store crushing a $2,000 moving coil cartridge with a $50 moving magnet one.

Hopefully you have not done any of these but if you are buying a used turntable, well, you never know about the tonearm bearings. There are ways of checking that in some cases. Again, subscribe to our YouTube channel here. But honestly, we have the proper tools to do most turntables. Most times its not an instant oil change so be prepared to leave your table. Again, as always, it’s your money. But remember, the dog is cheap, the food’s expensive. Think about your records.

Lou

The Reason To Donate Life - April - March 2023

There are times and moments that I put aside my thoughts about audio, video, home theater and accessories. For while those things can bring you temporary and fleeting enjoyment, none compares in the slightest to the Gift of Life itself.

There are times where unfamiliar families become united through both joy and grief. You see, my wife was one of the very fortunate in this world to receive such a gift, a heart.

At one time, my wife Debbie suffered through a genetic heart disease known as HCM. (It is finally getting the attention it truly deserves, the medical condition known as HCM or Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. I cannot thank Lisa Salberg and her organization 4HCM.ORG enough for both the care and guidance through all of this including the transplant events.) Eventually, even medical intervention by the Cleveland Clinic could not overcome what had happened over time to her heart and the only option left was a heart transplant. Essentially, for every 10 people who need one, only 1 is so fortunate. My wife is one of the fortunate. Of course, several things occur simultaneously when the time for a transplant occurs, and without any warning. At one end is the hope and dreams of continued life while at the other end there are families saying their good-byes to a loved one. This happens for other organs too but the heart is the cultural-spiritual existence of all living things. Transplant recipients then run the gauntlet of survival (it is not a cure like plugging in a new battery) but an exchange of one set of problems for another and, well, Deb has had quite a share of those. Near death, six times is our current count. But, there's another part too. It is the recognition by the recipient that another's life came to an end to continue theirs. There's a sort of guilt/remorse to it for a family unknown. Now, UNOS, who handles the movement of such organs does provide a narrow path to contact the donor family. However, you must wait one year before you can reach out. It goes through UNOS who knows who. If the donor family declines to respond, that's pretty much the end of communications. It must be this way as some donor families do not wish to relive those painful moments and good-byes. Then, there are magic moments. Debbie was so very fortunate 6 months after her transplant to have the donor family reach out. The conversations began. These past few days Debbie and I were honored to have the mother visit us and spend time in our home. The first meeting at the airport was a powerful moment. You see, Deb now had the heart of her young son who sadly died in a tragic event. While Deb and I celebrated the Gift of Life Thanksgiving Day 2020, at the other end was the closing of a life that day as well. We were blessed to share life together and to experience that moment that no great philosopher had ever considered. We have to blaze new paths on our own. After a few days with us, it came time for her to return home. Then, came the next magic moment. A moment few get to see let alone experience. We shared the moment when the mother's desire was fulfilled to hear her son's heart beat in Debbie. I can not speak for what both emotionally felt and it would be a great injustice to even attempt it. But I am letting you see the moment of their first meeting and a moment when the mother could hear her son's heart. It is, as best as I can describe, a living legacy from her son.

It is moments like these that should help you understand why UNOS has the banner Donate Life and ask people to become organ donors in the event of their pending death for which no amount of medical intervention can overcome. I hope you also now understand why I have a search going for a Dean Exotica guitar which is posted on the Audible Elegance YouTube videos. You see, her son played it and, most unfortunately, someone decided it needed to be stolen. It remains my hope that I can, at least, with your assistance, recover the guitar and return it to her as a part of his life and a token our gratitudes.

In any event, please do consider donating life. It is, in the end, far greater than anything that will ever be done by Audible Elegance. You, alone, can do it.

-Lou

Enter The Boogieman! - February 2023

I hope you caught my play on words. The correct spelling is Boogeyman but since we deal with both music and video, it seemed right.

Before I go any further, I want to state something very clearly: There is no such thing as an audio or video emergency. Nothing is life threatening nor should it trigger anger which, unfortunately, gets leveled on us all too often. Trust me, it does not help you at all. It doesn't help anyone else either. As my wife now has a heart transplant and nearly died 6 times, trust me, I know what life threatening means and it does not include audio or video. Not even close.

So, what's up? Well, whether we like it or not, most of the products we now own are, one way or another, controlled by software. Unlike the early days, many products can take on both software and firmware upgrades. Our first mutual experience was with our cars. Yes, it can be very frustrating and I have experienced that with my two vehicles. I don't know what vehicle I am getting back once they have them. With my truck, I have lost both power and mileage for goals never explained. With my car, well, the bluetooth went from great to terrible and my driver's window works randomly. Oh, I can factory reset that but you get my drift. But maddening is not life threatening. PITA Moments: Pain in the Ass. I'll say it now: We didn't do it and sometimes we don't even know when they do it.

The same now holds true with many electronics. You can have "upgrades" that brick (lock up) the device and make it useless. We have seen this with Bluesound, Control 4, and Sonos making them completely useless. We have also seen "upgrades" play havoc on televisions with unannounced features being added like auto brightness to room light. That got us a dozen calls from people thinking their set was failing. I'll say it here: We didn't do it and sometimes we don't even know when they do it until the phones light up.

Now, many people rely on a feature called "automatic update" or something similar much like what you may have on your computer. While this can get you the latest and greatest (I say with a word of caution), it can come with a price. Certainly computer upgrades can come with all sorts of nasty surprises for either Windows or Apple. The same is true for audio and video products. In that regard, you may want to seriously consider turning off that automatic feature so that you have the opportunity to search the web for problems before you download it onto yourself. Sometimes, you don't have a choice about upgrading firmware or software and it becomes a forced march but at least you get to choose when and what will happen. They even might have a revision to fix what they did so you don't download the mess. Again, I will say it: We didn't do it and we don't know when they will do it. You, however, can.

Then, there's another issue that has struck numerous customers. Their network is deficient. This can be caused by poor service, modems, routers, wiring, or even poor electric. This is very common today and we have had to do quite a few network systems. It's not dial-up AOL anymore, folks. There can also be communication issues with certain pieces. Of course, all along, you better have your passwords ready. We have also seen where installation companies do not give that to the owners which makes it impossible for either the owner or another company to effect changes. Most sincerely, if we didn't build your network, that can be the real issue and yet again "It's not our fault." Old modems and routers, those good ole friends that still work, can also be a problem. They get outdated too.

Then, there's power. The greatest fear in doing any "upgrade" is the loss of power while it is being performed. Sometimes, the loss of power can create an irreversible disaster. It is case by case. This is the risk of not controlling when an upgrade is done. This is where having an uninterrupted power supply, a battery backup, can become crucial. Battery backup for modems and routers is the first target. Then, something for the item actually being "upgraded." We have a couple of pieces in the store that got caught in the middle of an upgrade and they make great door stoppers. And, yet still again, it's not our fault if you do automatic upgrades without being sure you system will have the proper power to complete it. So, as we head towards spring and all those lovely storms, think about where you are now and where you want to be and plan for it.

Meanwhile, if you do have a problem, handle it as coolly as Jim Lovel in the movie Apollo 13 with "Houston, we have a problem". Don't be like the control room going into a panic when the shit hits the fan. One thing at a time and let's work the problem together.

And now, Boogie on!

Lou