[ale] Mysteries of turntables was Re: OT:Digitizing my old vinyl

[drifter]

In the "For What It's Worth" Dept.,

I purchased my first HiFi amp in 1961 -- a monophonic amp.
It had a selector switch with at least eight different recording curves to 
choose from.  Back then most LPs (and nearly all of the good classical 
albums) had the recording curve listed on the jacket.

Today there is at least as much variation in the response curves of 
microphones and audio engineers are left mostly to their own skills to 
correct for the bias within the entire recording system.

Sean


On Friday 21 August 2009 14:32:42 david w. millians wrote:
> Ken Cochran wrote:
> > They can't do line-out because the phono cartridges don't have
> > sufficient output.  Also the sigal has to be "corrected" to
> > "undo" the RIAA equalization that applies to all vinyl LPs.
> > This is/was all part of the LP/phonograph spec.  The quality
> > of the phono preamp impacted sonic quality every bit as much as
> > (if not more than) other pieces in the "chain."  All I've ever
> > seen were contained in the (separate) system preamp/control.
> > (Example: Crown IC-150)  I'm sure the likes of Wikipedia would
> > have more detailed information...
>
> Fascinating. I still don't know *why* that standard evolved; I suppose
> the earlier amps were more finicky, so it was better not to have it in
> the actual turntable. Or perhaps line-level wasn't as consistent as it
> is today. Reading about the different cartridges that were available,
> though, it seems like the preamp would have been much more important
> prior to the 70s.  Or maybe it was just cheaper not to add the preamp
> circuits.
>
> Certainly, I'm sure the audiophiles preferred separate ones, much as
> they do today. I like a good stereo, but there's a pricepoint beyond
> which I can't imagine *ever* going, even if I had the money. And that's
> far below 'danceable' cables, to be sure.
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