What is the Most Important Component in a Turntable? – Turntable Guide
It must be the cartridge, right? A common first upgrade for turntable owners to improve their turntable’s sound.
However, while an improved cartridge will extract more detail from your vinyl, it will extract more detail of noise created by the turntable motor, highlight weaknesses in the tonearm, and signal altered by outside movements.
Linn - Majik Hi-Fi System
The key principle guiding this hierarchy is to extract as much detail from the vinyl as possible. No component in a hi-fi system can improve the audio signal if it isn’t extracted at its origin.
With that in mind, you might consider maximising the performance of your cartridge before looking elsewhere in your turntable (or the rest of your hi-fi system). This is a widely accepted opinion. We will discuss the other elements of your turntable that will impact the benefits gained from an upgraded cartridge.
Consistent record movement/speed
The turntable itself is the most important since it drives the record, houses the motor, bearing housing, and can affect the suspension and isolation the turntable has from external movements.
Motors create noise
The motor makes the turntable platter move. Its goal is to ensure the platter moves at a consistent speed as the cartridge follows the record grooves.
There are two widely used turntables motors – belt-drive and direct-drive.
Direct drive turntables place the motor directly under the platter with consistent, accurate platter rotation and instantly reach 33 1/3 or 45 RPM. Ideal for professional DJ gear but has drawbacks for hi-fi systems. The motor’s location introduces noise and vibrations as it rotates the platter. Interference is then picked up by your cartridge as it tracks your record.
Belt-driven motors move the motor away from the platter and isolate it from the crucial cartridge. It uses a belt to rotate the platter at a consistent speed. In theory, none or very little motor noise is transmitted to the cartridge. A decent belt will last you a good number of years of regular use. A small concession in ensuring your cartridge is extracting the detail from your record, not noises from the turntable motor.
Linn LP12 - Inner Platter & Karousel Bearing Housing
Bearing housing
The bearing housing is a regularly overlooked component in a turntable, and we’d like to introduce its importance even if it may not be a deciding factor in your turntable choice. Linn’s Sondek LP12 has always placed great importance on bearing housing. Over the years, innovated on the single point bearing to ensure smooth rotation and rigidity where the bearing and sub-chassis meet.
Turntable isolation
Everything moves while you play music. The speaker drivers are moving to create music, walking near your turntable will cause your floor to move, and your cartridge is trying to extract information as it moves along the record grooves.
A turntable with a suspended platter can mitigate external distortions picked up by your cartridge. The turntable can be further isolated from movement on your floors by using a wall bracket/mount or a simple light and rigid table (even a coffee table can suffice).
Will you be able to hear the difference? Probably. Doing this will mean your cartridge is more isolated from you walking past the turntable and any other vibration inducing movements.
Tonearm’s tracking ability
Linn - Adkit Cartridge
The tonearm holds the cartridge enabling it to follow the record grooves. The tonearm’s role is not as simple as moving in a straight line across the record with good horizontal tracking. It also needs to follow the vertical movements caused by the record grooves.
The tonearm needs to maintain a very precise relationship between the cartridge and record. Providing secure fastening to the attached cartridge, and rigidity and precision so that the cartridge can follow the same movements.
It is possible to upgrade your tonearm in certain turntables to improve its ability to follow the record grooves. Ensure it is set up according to the manufacturer’s specifications and your cartridge.
Extracting the detail
Before going over the details of the other turntable components’ impact on the cartridge’s performance and music output, let’s describe the basic characteristics of two types of cartridges – moving magnet and moving coil, abbreviated to MM and MC respectively.
Types of cartridges
As the name suggests, moving magnet cartridges uses magnets to move the coils. As the stylus follows the record grooves, the cantilever moves causing the magnets to move the coils to send the signal to your phono stage.
Linn - Krystal MC (left); Adikt MM (right)
Moving coil cartridges are more expensive than MM cartridges, and their stylus cannot be replaced. Instead of using magnets to move the coils, the coils are wrapped around the cantilever picking up every movement as the stylus moves along the record. The cartridge is even more sensitive to movements and results in more accurate and detailed outputs.
Despite the more technical differences between MM and MC cartridges, they hold the final position in the turntable hierarchy, extracting the detail off the record.
Other components’ effect on the cartridge
As the cartridge reads the information off the record groove, all the factors that impact the rest of your turntable will be picked up as well.
Linn, makers of the Sondek LP12 turntable in the 1970s, challenged the audiophiles of the time by demonstrating that a good turntable and tonearm with a decent cartridge will sound significantly better than a budget turntable and tonearm with an expensive cartridge.
If your turntable is not adequately isolated from internal and external movements, it can be transferred through the turntable to the platter and picked up by your cartridge. The tonearm’s ability to enable the cartridge to follow the groove in all vertical and horizontal movements is of greater significance than the cartridge itself.
Getting the best cartridge within your budget and overlooking other possible upgrades can result in the weaknesses of the rest of a turntable’s components being amplified.
Summary
Turntables do not have a must-follow upgrade path, however, there are certain areas that you can focus your attention on when deciding the next step for your hi-fi system.
We suggest following this upgrade path:
Turntable
Tonearm
Cartridge
The cartridge will pick up the weaknesses of the turntable and tonearm. Upgrading or maximising the quality of your turntable, the motor, and tonearm can ensure adequate isolation between the components and external vibrations and where the cartridge meets the record.
A tonearm needs to allow the cartridge to follow the record grooves. It needs to maintain the relationship between the cartridge and the groove, meeting the ups and downs as the cartridge retrieves the audio signal.
The final component in the turntable hierarchy, the cartridge retrieves the signal from your vinyl. Signal that can be distorted by motor noises, inaccurate tracking and vibrations caused by the rest of your turntable.
Conclusion
The other components of your turntable play an essential role in extracting detail from your records. The turntable, motor, and tonearm will alter the sound that is brought out by your cartridge.
Consider the other components in your turntable when you decide to upgrade. A decent cartridge can sound even better when on a turntable that follows the suggested hierarchy. Turntable, tonearm, cartridge.
We recommend visiting your local hi-fi specialist to listen to the turntable and discuss the options available.