• From: a.l.m.e.r.e
  • Registered: 2008-07-08
  • Posts: 234

Topic: setting up turntables (levelin' them n stuff)

now i've put a bit of effort into the standard stuff like adjusting the tonearm height and the weight (though i turn the weight up a bit more than advised since i hate skipping needles just when i want to 'launch' that beat.. you know what i mean)

but for years i've never looked at "leveling" them. with all the years of exp. of working in english environments i still have no clue what the 1:1 translation for "waterpas" is (so if anyone can help me?) but since i put my sl's down on a bent surface now i started wondering and adjusted the feet so that they are absolutely straight.

does this matter for sl's or any comparable turntables? i've been mixing perfectly well without any of that attention before, though i did think i noticed a slight improvement now. but that could just be my mind *wanting* that improvement because i spent 15 minutes fiddling around.

what do you guys do?

(and i got old banged up sl1200mk2s, 1 from 95, 1 from 1982 and 1 from 93 (in the livingroom)).

hoi!

silver's Website

  • From: a.l.m.e.r.e
  • Registered: 2008-07-08
  • Posts: 234

Re: setting up turntables (levelin' them n stuff)

oh and mixing perfectly well doesnt mean that much with me. i was a good cheap trance dj in the late 90s but playing interesting music is actually a whole other ballpark smile so take that with a grain of salt.

hoi!

silver's Website

  • From: Hellgium
  • Registered: 2009-03-08
  • Posts: 2,093

Re: setting up turntables (levelin' them n stuff)

I'll say it in Dutch: de arm moet gewoon perfect horizontaal zijn wanneer de naald op de plaat ligt, easy go smile

But what seems important too are the cartridges, I used to spin with Groove Masters II during many years. Since last year, it seems that Stanton won't make these anymore so I bought the new ones, Groove Master III (silver color instead of yellow), I'm not very happy with them, they skip a lot, no matter you fix the weight and shit. I've spent 150 euri on these, pffff, I wish they never stopped making the GM II's sad
Sometimes you have records that have weird pressings, f.e. Leo Anibaldi's Void: the best track (a dark ambient track) is just unplayable, with my previous cartridges it shoke a lot but it played perfectly, with these new ones it skips constantly, whatever I try, this sucks!

"A Real Music Hater"

Ray Van Mechelen's Website

  • From: a.l.m.e.r.e
  • Registered: 2008-07-08
  • Posts: 234

Re: setting up turntables (levelin' them n stuff)

I'm forced to go out to dinner now, but when I get back, we'll chat some more on this smile Brb!

hoi!

silver's Website

  • From: Zurich
  • Registered: 2008-07-08
  • Posts: 1,164

Re: setting up turntables (levelin' them n stuff)

the point of getting the arm straight is not to fuck up the records, i.e. being to hard on the groove and having the needle straight

  • From: a.l.m.e.r.e
  • Registered: 2008-07-08
  • Posts: 234

Re: setting up turntables (levelin' them n stuff)

about getting the arm straight: i've done that and with 2 sl's built 10 years apart the height difference that i had to apply to the arm was quite big!

but mainly i wondered if crooked surfaces do anything to the motor stability (which is why i levelled them).

hoi!

silver's Website

  • From: Chicago
  • Registered: 2008-07-07
  • Posts: 1,626

Re: setting up turntables (levelin' them n stuff)

I have put shims under the bases on mine. Goes with the whole warehouse/basement vibe of my studio.

Do it your way, because everyone else is just weird.

Communicator's Website