[Tony3d]

Ok, so I just got back into vinyl in the past three years. Had a Music Hall MMF 5 but didn't like it. The cueing was very inaccurate, the motor started getting noisy after two years of very little use, and the overall build quality just seemed average. So I figured let me try vintage. I bought a beautiful Dual 701 fully restored by Bill Neumann at fixmydual.com which I mounted with my Shure V15 Type three, and one of my new MR styluses.

I love this setup. Sounds better than Music Hall, passes every track on my Shure Test Record at 1 gram, has excellent build quality, and even returns the arm, and shuts off at the end of a record. I'm in vinyl bliss! Only problem is I don't seem to enjoy it. Why? Because I can't seem to take my eyes off the damn needle as it tracks. I go sit down enjoy about half a track , pop up and find myself looking at the damn needle again wondering if everything is at it's best. I've become a stylus gauge junky! I check then VTF everyday, Clean my needle with a Disc washer brush, the a few drops on Magic Eraser, dry clean my records before each play, and blow dust of the damn thing all day. I am obsessed with this thing.


Now when I throw a CD I just sit, and listen. True the records do sound warmer, richer, and more engaging overall, but is it really worth the pain. How can I stop worrying, and just enjoy the sound?

 

[Will2007]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Tony3d /forum/post/20810262


Ok, so I just got back into vinyl in the past three years.

Congratulations, and nice rig. It has been a little less than a year since I rejoined the ranks. It's fun.

Quote:
Now when I throw a CD I just sit, and listen. True the records do sound warmer, richer, and more engaging overall, but is it really worth the pain. How can I stop worrying, and just enjoy the sound?

I feel your pain. I think it's because with a CD it's a frickin' laser and magic and stuff -- it's invisible to us. The music just plays. You don't see the wizard behind the curtain.


With a turntable, it's all mechanical. You can see the fine engineering and craftsmanship that went into the TT and into its components, like a fine cartridge and stylus. You can literally see them working to turn that mechanical energy into electrical energy for your amp and speakers to turn into sound pressure energy.


The TT thing appeals to the inner engineer in all of us. You get to tinker and measure and adjust this and that. You're building model airplanes again, only now that you're all grown up, you're really good at the precision part. It's the precision and quest for perfection that bugs the vinyl junkie. The constant upkeep and never ending quest for the perfectly dust free record and stylus requires our undivided attention and devotion. In the process of being the mechanical engineer, however, I think maybe a little of the artist in us gets momentarily displaced. It's the artist in you that is frustrated because the engineer keeps hogging the damn turntable. Meanwhile, the artist just wants to listen and be transported to another realm where music evokes our emotions and inspires dreams or memories.


Let the engineer take a break once your butt hits the seat in your listening position. Mentally make him go outside and trim the hedges to be perfectly even across the top and sides. With him gone, you can let the artist relax in your seat, close your eyes, and drift away, led by the music to wherever you choose to go.


Perfectionism, man. It's a *****. It's holding you back as a listener. At some point you've got to recognize the diminishing returns and just stop tinkering and sit the hell down and abide, Dude. Then you'll enjoy the tunes again.