My grandpa's comment about turntable weight finally clicked last weekend

I was visiting my grandpa in Cleveland and he pointed out my record player had the counterweight set way too heavy. Said I was basically grinding my records into dust over time. He showed me his old Shure tracking force gauge and it read over 4 grams when it should be 2. Took me 5 minutes to adjust and now my vinyl sounds cleaner. Anyone else had that moment where an older relative made you realize you've been doing something basic wrong for years?

2 comments

2 Comments

noranguyen20d ago

Ha! Man, that stings a little doesn't it. I had basically the same thing happen with my dad and the bias setting on my tonearm. I thought I had it right for like two years. Turns out I was just making my stylus lean to one side like a car with a flat tire. Old folks and their test equipment, I guess. I don't know why but they always have that one weird little gadget that shows you how wrong you've been living. Your grandpa sounds like he knows his stuff though. Better to learn it from him than from a pile of wrecked vinyl, right?

wyatt_shah8520d ago

@noranguyen "better to learn it from him than from a pile of wrecked vinyl" - yep, my grandpa caught my cartridge alignment off by a mile too.