[bob]

On Oct 4, 11:11=A0pm, Audio Empire wrote:

You certainly have a point there. While there are retailers who know viny=
l
and are qualified to recommend arm/cartridge combinations (and can even
properly install them), my take is that they are few and far between. 'Je=
rry
Raksin's Needle Doctor' has the reputation of doing a good job at this an=
d
will professionally install a cartridge in a turntable package as can 'Th=
e
Audio Advisor', 'Music Direct', and 'The Elusive Disc', et al (at least w=
ith
the packages they sell), but these people are mail-order. From talking to=
the
folks at most =A0local shops, I'm not sure I'd trust most of them to prop=
erly
install a cartridge (or even suggest proper matchings), as I've seen no
evidence that they posses any special competence with record playing
equipment, if they sell it at all. In the SF Bay Area, where I live, ther=
e is
a dealer called the "Analog Room' who know their stuff, but they are abou=
t
the only dealer I know that exhibits any real vinyl expertise.

I'm sure there are dealers who know this stuff. I'm sure there are
others who don't. The question is, how is the consumer to tell,
without developing the very expertise in question? At which point, of
course, you know longer need the dealer's advice.

And given what else they sell and promote--magic cables, magic pens,
magic stones--I'm mystified as to why we should trust any such dealer
to be right about anything related to audio.

I think the average vinyl owner would do a lot better to either buy a com=
pete
manufacturer's ensemble, with cartridge preinstalled, or to learn the bas=
ics
and select and install the cartridge one's self.

Probably good advice, although I'm not sure the issue is as critical
as you've made it out to be. My understanding (open to correction, of
course) is that neither high-compliance carts nor ultra-low-mass arms
are very common these days, market trends having moved in the higher-
mass-lower-compliance direction. So even someone picking components at
random has a decent chance of getting something that'll work.

Still, there is no substitute for actually learning the material and
doing the work. It has always struck me as odd that people would adopt
a technical hobby like audio, then go out and spend substantial sums
of money without learning the technical stuff. But my occasional scans
of audio discussions suggest that an awful lot of people who at least
think of themselves as audiophiles have no real understanding of this
issue.

I blame Atkinson, because there's no point blaming Fremer.

bob