All things vinyl

A Practical Guide for Vinyl Collectors

Vinyl records are remarkable things.

A stylus weighing less than a gram traces a microscopic groove, converting tiny physical movements into music. Done well, the result can be breathtaking. Done poorly, it can sound like bacon frying in a thunderstorm.

Dust, fingerprints and static are the enemies of good sound. They settle into the groove where the stylus lives, and once they’re there the cartridge faithfully reproduces every crackle and click.

Cleaning records properly isn’t just about aesthetics. It’s about preserving the groove...

The dustcover of by eBay purchase Thorens TD160 was in very poor condition. It was scratched, marked and in some places had some nasty blotches. In keeping with the ‘use what you have’ ethos of this restoration, I already had a 3M headlight restoration kit that I had used a few years earlier with great success. How different can it be? The kit comprised of a 500, 800 and 3000 grit sanding discs. Basically, you start with the 500 systematically cutting back the surface until it look ‘frosted’. Then repeat with the 800 and again with the 3000. Then...

In the world of high-fidelity vinyl playback, few components are as iconic as the SME 3009 Series II Improved tonearm. Built with exquisite British engineering and used on everything from Linn LP12s to Thorens TD160s, it was long considered the gold standard of tonearms in the 1970s and early 80s.

But as technology and materials have evolved, so too have modern tonearms, many of which now outperform older designs in specific areas — especially when paired with modern moving coil (MC) cartridges. So how do you keep the classic lines of an SME and upgrade the listening experience to todays...

If you've discovered the joys of analogue vinyl, chances are you're exploring how to get the best sound from your setup. Maybe you've swapped your stylus, upgraded your turntable mat, or even eyed a new cartridge. But there’s one invisible factor that affects every record you play — even if you’ve never heard of it: resonance.

More specifically, we're talking about the resonant frequency of your tonearm and cartridge. It’s a bit of science, a bit of engineering, and it can make the difference between your system sounding “muddy” or magical.

Okay all that’s left is to reassemble the plinth, chassis and faceplate. Oh, and yes, fit the mounting plate and the SME 3009 Series 2 improved tonearm. Lots of very knowledgeable people know much more about setting up a tonearm than I do so I don’t plan to cover this. With all due respect to Stevenson and LofgrenB, I prefer Bayerwald tracking for the SME. It just sounds more pleasing to my ear. The other options are equally valid.

Below is the oil damping device attached to the SME. It is...