Categories: Uncategorized Tags: automatichow, Belt, Buying, decide, Direct, driveand, manualautomatic, Semi, turntableas
Categories: Uncategorized Tags: automatichow, Belt, Buying, decide, Direct, driveand, manualautomatic, Semi, turntableas
Powered by Yahoo! Answers
What are you planning to use it for? What sort of music do you listen to?
I prefer direct drive because I have had too many belt drives where the belt (a big rubber band) broke and replacement challenges vary by manufacturer.
BUT, the direct drive turntables can be more expensive because there is a lot of design effort that goes into isolating the motor from the rest of the turntable so there is no hum carried to the platter (which can get picked up by the stylus in the cartridge – which might be audible from the speakers)…
As for auto vs semi-auto vs manual… auto means the tone arm and stylus are picked up and dropped at the start of the record and automatically move back to the holder when the side is over. Semi auto gets you to place the tone arm and it automatically moves back to the holder when the side is over. Manual means you have to do all the placing and replacing the tone arm. I like semi-auto or manual.
By automatic, I hope you don’t mean a record changer. Records are no longer being made and changer mechanisms damage the records.
Automatics share a problem with changers in they don’t always set the needle down at the proper position on the rim of the record.
The choice of semi vs manual depends on how you listen to music. If you are a casual listner, one that is apt to walk away to another task or fall asleep while a record is playing, then the semi is a life saver because it will return the tone arm at the end of the record. Unfortunately the return feature means that a semi cannot play transcription records, if you have any, because they start at the inside groove and not at the rim. The semi also controls the motor on/off which is a convenient detail.
If your primary concern is critical listening, precise start cuing (DJ or Radio broadcast), or copying your disc collection to computer or tape then the manual gets the nod.
I have used both belt and direct drive, either works well. If you opt for semi, it should be belt drive. My current player is direct and it also has the pre-amp built-in, so it has line level output.