I am suffering déjà vu!
Many years ago, in the late 70s/early 80s there was a major re-think on record playing which was led by the supporters of the Linn Sondek. They argued that the principal determinant of the quality of the reproduction of a record was not the cartridge or the pickup arm but the turntable itself. This view gained huge credibility and was one aspect of what was termed generically as the 'subjectivity' debate. Scientific and objective measurement of technical and electronic performance meant little - it was the ears that mattered most. A whole new dictionary of terms, most of which were pretty meaningless, came into use to describe the sound quality of particular pieces of equipment.
Just before this debate really started I had a Beogram 4000 with the original SP15. This cartridge was highly regarded by the saner elements of the HiFi press and was often used in an SME 3009 arm, considered at the time to be probably the best pick up arm in the world. I arranged with a local dealer for a direct comparison between my Beogram and a Thorens 125 fitted with an SME arm and SP15. I appreciate this wasn't a blind test but I was listening without any preconceived ideas as to which would sound better.
I listened for over two hours to a selection of music I knew well through some decent amplification and a pair of very revealing hybrid electrostatic speakers (B&W DM70s).
I remember the Thorens SME combination as being 'better' but not to the point where I wanted to ditch the Beogram. Overall the Beogram offered more - out of the box set up, excellent ergonomics and design and very acceptable music reproduction.
Two years later I bought a Linn - but regretted it after 12 months of constantly worrying about whether it was set up properly. Even though it had the classic suspended sub-chassis and belt drive like the Beogram it wasn't as well insulated fro external vibrations and I spent a small fortune on spiked tables and goodness knows what in an effort to isolate it properly
My experience - and it probably says more about me than about turntables - is that the more you worry about this stuff the less you enjoy the music. And that is, after all, what this is about. I enjoy my music more with B&O because I stop worrying about the equipment.
Cleve
