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Make your Record Player Sound Way Better with This Ultimate Guide

Having your favourite album on vinyl is such a rewarding experience. You will get a listening experience unlike any other and you may even find that the quality alone far surpasses anything that you have listened to in the past. If you are new to all of this, then you may be wondering how on earth you manage to get your records sounding so good, but luckily, there are a few things that you can do to make sure that you’re getting everything right.

Buy a Good Record Player and Speaker Set

There will come a point where your cheap equipment just doesn’t cut it. You may feel as though your albums sound better through your friend’s setup and that you just can’t quite get over the quality of sound. If you want to make sure that you are getting the best listening experience possible then try and buy a record player that has been made by a leader in the industry. Audio Technica are always a good starting point, along with Sony.  When you have a good record player, you can then invest in a Bluetooth speaker until you can get something a little more high-end. By breaking down everything into stages, you can begin to get the best result out of your project.

You should take note that turntables are very sensitive instruments. Your turntable is built to function on a very level surface. The flatter the surface is, the better, so make sure that you invest in some adjustable feet if you can. The great thing about proper placement is that it will help you to avoid feedback. If you put your turntable close to your speakers then you may get some feedback and the same goes for your subwoofers too.  Experimenting with placement is key, so don’t be afraid to play around with your setup until it is perfect.

Your Cartridge

Every tone arm will come with some degree of variance as to where the cartridge mounts. If you buy a different cartridge then you will need to adjust the settings. Your instruction manual will usually tell you the numbers that you need to set up your turntable, so this will help you to find the right spot so you can track the grooves in your vinyl at the right angle. The adjustments for the cartridge are done front to back and then left to right, so you’ll need to make sure that you take this into account if you can.

Tracking Lightly Causes Record Wear

You have to make sure that the stylus is making good contact with the record if you can. It shouldn’t be too heavy, but it shouldn’t be light either. If it’s too light, then the stylus will bounce around in the grooves and this won’t be doing your system any favours. Again, you should be able to see in your setup manual what you need to put the numbers at, so you can get the right tracking weight.

About the author

There’s a lot of music out there - good music. At Essentially Pop our remit is that we cover music that deserves to be heard, with a particular focus on independent artists. That doesn't mean we won't cover your old favourites - rather we hope to give you some new favourites as well.

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