CLASSIC HI-FI EQUIPMENT

The noise (rumble) is the sum of all disturbances that accompany the signal provided by the cartridge and that do not belong to the musical message. It is caused by all kinds of vibrations that occur in every movement and are captured by the magnetic cartridge, which is sensitive to vibrations. Hearing these noises fog the music and make a presence as a background purr. This noise annoys more or less depending on the level of the signal that is recorded on the disc. Thus, it is noticed more in a pianissimo than in a part of great orchestra,...

The speed of rotation of the platter should be as exact as possible equal to the nominal. The DIN standard requires it to be maintained between + 1.5% and -1%. The technology has largely exceeded these values ​​especially in stereo turntables that have fine tuning and even better in those controlled by quartz where the value has reached 0.1%. Fast speed variations cause a crying-like hearing sensation. Variations up to a 6 Hz rate are classified by whine (wow) and the fastest , from 6 Hz onward, are classified by flutter. Wow is...

When in the 50's of the last century the "High Fidelity" apparatuses appeared successfully, the difficulty arose of comparing apparatus of the same functions but of different manufacturers. Each one specified what he thought fit and in the way that best suited it. To put order to this chaos were elaborated norms on the diverse parameters to measure in the reproducers of sound of high fidelity. Some are only measurement standards,  they only indicate how it should be done and how to express it so that measurements from different...

The arm should be both rigid and light so it must be necessary to carefully choose the materials and shape to meet this condition. The shape that gives greater rigidity with the minimum section of material is the tube shape. Lately there are versions of carbon fiber arms in the form of a tube that allow them to lighten them even more. The arm must be balanced with respect to its horizontal and vertical axis. When it is in equilibrium, its center of gravity must be at the point where the two axes are crossed. In order to achieve this with...

The needle, when traversing the furrow, presents a friction force in the direction of the tangent of the furrow that we can assume is contained in the vertical plane of the pickup cartridge. This centripetal force or lateral thrust is denominated in english language skating. The centripetal force is directly proportional to the working weight of the pickup cartridge and is inversely proportional to the radius of the needle ti...

The displacement of the arm on the plane of the disk, the tip of the needle describes a circumference by rotating about its vertical axis so that the vertical projection on the disk to the axis of the needle forms a certain angle (reading error). This angle is not constant and varies according to the distance of the needle to the center of the disk.   The difference in position between the original recording stylus and the reproductive needle is translated into a distortion directly proportional to the reading error and inversely...