Cool gadgets?

[hughnique]

Hotrodder, Is it not the case that the quality of the reproduction from the "record" is governed, by the quality of the stylus, expensive turntable and cheap stylus /cartridge, recipe for disaster?

[RobertArthur]

Cheap turntable, cheap element, cheap stylus, smiling faces everywhere!

[hughnique]

If that is 25 guineas that was quite a lot, judging by the haircuts, France's most popular should tell us something, don't think they have ever produced a decent singer.

[Hotrodder]

Hotrodder, Is it not the case that the quality of the reproduction from the "record" is governed, by the quality of the stylus, expensive turntable and cheap stylus /cartridge, recipe for disaster?

Not necessarily. There are many elements involved between the recorded media and the human ear. The disc must be clean. The stylus must be carefully ground to one of a handful of specific shapes and mounted in a precisely aligned cartridge fitted to a well designed tonearm that applies just the right amount of weight to the stylus. The signal from the cartridge should travel along a reasonably short path to a decent amplifier and from there to the loudspeakers. Any weak link in a system regardless of cost will be catastrophic. To answer your specific question, I have a system that was assembled over many years (from around the mid 80s) and would be several thousand ££s to replace today but I use a cartridge that cost about £35. It does a great job and is well-reviewed. If I was a lottery winner or a retired paper pusher I could throw literally thousands at a much better one but with high frequency deterioration in my ears it would be a waste of beer vouchers. All I need do is keep a close eye on the condition of that cheap stylus and pray they don't jack the price up when I need a replacement.

[RobertArthur]

@ Hughnique, what about Johnny Halliday sur Teppaz? I must admit, I do prefer the version of The Animals.








House of the Teppaz Company in Lyon.

[RobertArthur]

From turntables, Garrard, Thorens, Lenco and Dual and all their newer siblings to loudspeakers. Tannoy, KEF, Goodmans, Celestion and Mr. G.A. Briggs and Wharfedale. Try to imagine: Hi Fi Battles the Real Thing in the Carnegie Hall, featuring Bose speakers and the London Philharmonic?

[Polarengineer]

All these whizz machines, but none can play this disc https://newatlas.com/science/worlds-sma ... tmas-song/

[RobertArthur]

There is simple way of measuring Hi Fi quality, no whizz machines, no nano scale high-tech needed, your dog will outclever expensive lab tests:

[Spectrum]

From turntables, Garrard, Thorens, Lenco and Dual and all their newer siblings to loudspeakers. Tannoy, KEF, Goodmans, Celestion and Mr. G.A. Briggs and Wharfedale. Try to imagine: Hi Fi Battles the Real Thing in the Carnegie Hall, featuring Bose speakers and the London Philharmonic?

Back in the mist of time I was tempted to buy some Wharfedale speakers, in Wharfedale, a short drive, but in the shop some "Walnut" Castle Pembrokes' sounded better and looked nicer, it was a good choice, unfortunately due to a leaky shipping container they didn't make it to France.

[Hotrodder]

My first serious pair of speakers where Wharfedale E70s. Bought them in Comet marked down to half price because they were not a matched pair. One was walnut veneered and the other was teak. They were still way too expensive for me but I pulled the trigger anyway. I absolutely loved those speakers for years but had to sell them when I moved onto the boat. Back on land here in France I tried to duplicate them but couldn't manage it, even after making contact with a member of the original design team not retired in Australia. Matching the original drivers was a critical factor.