How to set up a turntable and get the best sound

Make the most of your shiny new record player

Record players are arguably the most temperamental of hi-fi components. Even the best are easily upset by poor positioning, sloppy adjustment or inadequate support. Get everything right, though, and they can shine in a way that will make you wonder why we ever bothered with digital.

Most budget turntables are sold pre-assembled and require little more than plugging into the wall socket. That is because they almost always come with the arm and cartridge attached and adjusted. If your turntable is Bluetooth-equipped, it will simply need to be paired to your Bluetooth headphones. Either way, you should be good to go in just a few minutes.

As you move up in price it becomes more common that a certain amount of assembly is involved. You can get the supplying dealer to do this, but if you fancy doing the set-up yourself, it isn’t too difficult.

For those keen to have a go, a decent tool kit is a must. The minimum is a good set of small Allen keys, a set of precision screwdrivers, a pair of long-nose pliers and an accurate spirit level. With these, you can set up most decks, including fitting and adjusting the tonearm and cartridge.

POSITIONING AND SUPPORT

The first thing to get right is not the turntable, but the support it sits on. The ideal support is perfectly level, low resonance and positioned as far away from sources of vibration as possible. And that includes your speakers.

When you realise that the tiny diamond tip of the cartridge is trying to trace bumps as small as a micron (1000th of a millimetre), you will get an idea of just how difficult the task is. Any external vibration will degrade the cartridge’s ability to track the groove accurately.