Model
Model of the pickup (cartridge) supplied with the player. The pickup is one of the most important parts of any vinyl player, the quality of the received sound largely depends on its quality. Knowing the name of the model, you can find detailed data on it and determine how satisfied you are with this particular cartridge.
Needle shape
The shape of the needle in the pickup (cartridge) that the player is equipped with.
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Conical. It may also be called spherical. The simplest type of needles for vinyl players. Such needles are inexpensive, but the sound quality when using them is relatively low — due to the fact that the shape of the needle rather weakly matches the shape of the groove on the record.
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Elliptical. Elliptical needles have a narrower shape than conical (spherical) needles, which improves contact and allows, in particular, more accurate reproduction of high frequencies, and also reduces record wear. Due to the good value for money, this option is very popular.
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Linear. The most advanced variety: sharply sharpened needles of complex shape, following the contours of the grooves on the plate as accurately as possible and having the largest contact area among all types. The downside of this is the complexity in production and, accordingly, the high cost.
Output level
The signal level at the output of the pickup supplied with the player is, in fact, the power of the signal coming from the pickup to the phono stage. This parameter is necessary, first of all, in cases where the player is planned to be connected to an external phono stage: such equipment must be designed for the corresponding power of the signal coming from the pickup.
Model
Model of the tonearm — the movable lever on which the pickup is attached — supplied with the turntable. The tone arm is responsible for the correct position of the needle and the accuracy of its movement along the grooves, which is critical for sound quality. Therefore, many music lovers try to clarify not only the general data on the tonearm, but also its specific features in each particular “turntable”; in order to be able to find this information, the name of the tonearm is given in the characteristics.
Frequency range
The range of frequencies that the player is capable of outputting when using a standard pickup.
The wider the frequency range, the more complete the sound picture will be, the less low and/or high frequencies will remain behind the scenes. However, from a practical point of view, it does not make sense to expand the range beyond the values \u200b\u200bof 16 – 22000 Hz — it is within these limits that the human ear hears the sound (and even then not everyone). In high-end audio equipment, including turntables, there are more extensive ranges; however, such characteristics are a kind of “side effect” of high-end technology that manufacturers use for advertising purposes.
In addition, we note that an extensive frequency range is not yet a guarantee of high-quality sound: the sound picture depends on many other parameters, from the amplitude-frequency response to extraneous interference.
Platter weight
The weight of the disk on which the record is mounted. The smoothness of the ride and the ability to compensate for uneven rotation of the engine due to the inertia of the disk directly depend on this indicator. Therefore, among audiophiles, there is a reasonable opinion that the more massive the disc, the better; in top models, its weight can be measured in tens of kilograms. On the other hand, a heavy disk accelerates slowly (in some models it even needs to be pushed by hand at the start), and scratching on such a “turntable” would be very difficult, if not impossible. Therefore, for a DJ player, a large disc weight, on the contrary, will be redundant.
