Best hidden tracks on albums

[Sebastian Cobb]

does anybody ever think owning and using a turntable is actually a bit of a pain in the arse or have I been taken in by Big Compact Disc Propaganda

Depends on how much audiophile bullshit you buy into really.

A modest deck with a modest cart (e.g. an AT job) will sound fine and will be kind enough to your records.

[dontpaintyourteeth]

Having just had to take apart my CD player to replace the rubber band in it, no. (And the display is starting to dim...)

Point taken though I've defo always found turntables more of a faff than any other component down the years. Okay maybe tape decks are up there too

[buzby]

If you look at the video around 4:26 where they're playing the main lp the tab on the top of the headshell is red, but when he's playing the inner groove at 3:34 the tab is white. I'm not familiar with this exact deck but I suspect this means the needle setup has been changed, a bit like how BSR decks sometimes had a 'flip over' stylus for playing 78's.

The cartridge on the Gray Research 108 arm in the video is either a GE RPX type or a NEAT VCX type (which were clones of the GE). The red triangle is rotated to determine whether the 78 or microgroove stylus tip is in use - the pointy end forward is microgroove, the flat end is 78.

In the video, the triangle never changes position - while playing the label grooves on both sides of the record, the pointy end is still facing forward.

It's also worth noting that the arm is not set up correctly on Mr. White's deck - it's supposed to be fluid-damped and take 2 seconds to fall onto the surface itself, but in the video it is being dropped straight onto the record.

Regarding the tracking force, the issues with those type of Gray tonearms in particular are because the counterbalance weight is fixed (and quite high), and they were originally supplied with a range of headshell weights to set the correct tracking force for various cartridges they were designed to be used with. These weights were generally lost through the years, so they ended up badly set up or used with cartridges they were not designed for. Even with the correct headshell weight fitted, they still had higher than what would now be considered normal tracking force (4-5 grams), so modern high-compliance cartridges are not recommended as the tracking force will destroy them.