Posted by Wayne Parham [ 66.139.39.113 ] on December 10, 2003 at 14:44:53:

In Reply to: How long has this been goin' on? posted by DRCope on December 10, 2003 at 14:25:03:

I purchased my first high-quality turntable in 1977 or 1978. Before that, I had some average stuff but this had an expensive Audio Technica gold cartridge, which I still have. The turntable itself was a Technics direct drive, which I think probably makes audiophiles today turn their noses up. But I really liked that turntable, and I still think they are good units, especially the heavy models.

Now days - You know what I have 'cause I picked it up from you at MAF last year. It's a Rega P2. I really like that turntable, and I use it often. But I always have to remember to be careful when cleaning records, so that I don't stretch the belt.

With direct-drive turntables, you can spin the platter with your finger and run the cleaner along the record grooves. I was always quite meticulous about record cleaning, and had a ritual that has been etched firmly in my being. If I put a record on a turntable, it becomes like auto-pilot muscle memory to clean and destatic the record, and then lightly clean the needle. But now with a belt-drive unit, I must be careful to assist the motor to spin the platter as I brush the cleaner along the grooves, but not increase or decrease speed which may stretch the belt.

Still, that's not rocket science. It really goes without saying, and it's just a part of the deal. Maybe that's half the fun of it - The ritual of record cleaning. Sometimes, I find myself paying attention to how others do these same things.

I have a pretty large collection of albums, and they have all been cared for very well. None have been played with a cartridge weight of over 1 gram, and the needles used were all premium needles and in good shape. So many of them have no scratches at all, and you cannot hear a single pop or click.

But I was really impressed with the Mark Margiotta's record collection. You know how some guys have shelves full of records and others have rooms full? Margiotta is one of the latter. It's like he is a record distributor or something, he has so many of them. You've gotta meet this guy at one of the anual events, because he is definitely a vinyl aficionado extraordinaire.

Wayne

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