Why does your turntable sound the way it does.

So, fellow Audiogoners, what do you think has the greatest effect on vinyl playback as far as only the turntable itself, and what do you think can be done to ammeliorate those effects.

To answer the first question: a perfectly concocted vodka martini, with good Scotch close second. To answer your second question: another vodka martini, or, in the alternative, more good Scotch.

Just put on some more tunes and forget about such things that will never be adequately answered. People on this forum cannot even agree on the most simple of questions. This one is not worth our brain cells.Too much opinion.

Time for side B of Katy Lied!

Since a phono cartridge is designed to turn very tiny undulations in a record groove into very tiny electrical impulses, that interface can be distorted by very small variations from optimal performance. And so a better platter bearing will generate less vibration that is picked up by the cartridge. A low torque drive system may be affected by stylus drag, which can vary with the pitch of the music being played (since low frequency grooves have large variation than high frequency.

If there is a theoretically perfect turntable, it is one with a perfect connection between platter and cartridge, which allows zero vibration other than what is generated by the record grooves. It would generate zero vibration out of the motor, the platter bearing, the arm bearing, the arm and the cartridge (other than that generated by the record grooves). It would hold perfect speed, no matter what.

As far as mats, platter materials, or plinth materials, they affect the perfect ideal to the extent they affect platter vibration, which can be transmitted to the cartridge.

Since there is no perfection in the real world, we have tradeoffs. Low torque belt drives exist not because low torque is better, but because the designer felt he could isolate motor vibration better by minimizing the interaction between the motor and the platter.

Then finally we have colorations, some of which may be quite pleasant. Because different materials resonate at different frequencies, and since you can't avoid all resonance completely, some folks seek out the more pleasant
coloration. For example many people change the bodies of a DL-103 cartridge from plastic to wood or aluminum, each of which imparts a slightly different sound.

I hope I'm not the only person who attempts to answer the original post. It's a reasonable and interesting question.

I guess this forum has devolved into just posting personal opinions on hardware or stating that questions have been answered before. If there is an answer to my question, I havent found it,and it certainly isnt in one place. Perhaps I should have posted this in a DIY section, because my interest in the answer is due to my turntable building interest.
Jonahsdad,
Looks like your the only one capable of actually thinking an issue through. I can understand if people are not interested, but what is left of this forum is sad.

"Because different materials resonate at different frequencies, and since you can't avoid all resonance completely, some folks seek out the more pleasant."

I couldn't agree more. I attempted to damp down my TT as completely as possible, reducing/removing all resonances that I could. The music became lifeless and uninvolving and dynamically constrained. Removing some/most of that dampening gave the music life and it became immensely enjoyable again.

I, for one, would rather enjoy my music and hear it in a way that makes me smile and tap my foot, rather than sit in front of my system and say "well, it is as neutral sounding as I can make it, but I feel uninvolved".