The other day I was listening to some records and noticed they were not sounding like they should. At first, I wasn’t sure why. Then I remembered I had been fiddling around with the feet on my turntable, and afterward, needed to level the table again. So even though I hadn’t touched my Triplanar tonearm, it was possible the changes I’d made to the table might necessitate an adjustment to the arm.
At the time I’d been playing one particular record rather often, an RCA title with Richter performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1, accompanied by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Charles Münch. It’s a record I’d gotten a bit obsessed with. I LOVE the music, but I didn’t love the way it sounded on my system. I was convinced it could sound much better than it did and determined to make that happen, but try as I might, I just couldn’t figure out how.
A couple of weeks earlier I was visiting my friend Bill in Pittsburgh and had the opportunity to hear his White Hot Stamper of this title. On this occasion, Richter’s piano sounded BIG and FULL and PRESENT, but the orchestra behind him sounded blurry and ill-defined, much like I’d heard it on my copy.
Better Records doesn’t sell records that sound this way, let alone grade them “White Hot Stampers.” After hearing Bill’s copy under perform, I knew that the problem I was having playing my copy was likely the same or a similar problem to what Bill was having. When I returned home I immediately played mine, and it did come closer to what I’d call “Hot Stamper” sound, but still fell a little short.
Was it my copy? My system? I was determined to find out. I “Talismaned” my speakers and wires, unplugged my washing machine and my printer, switched off the breakers to some upstairs appliances – literally everything I could do to get the best sound from my system that I possibly could. It all helped, and the record started, reluctantly, to come to life.
Still, there was a lack of precision and clarity to the sound. Instruments at the back of the hall weren’t as well defined as I knew they could and should be. That’s when I remembered the turntable foot-fiddling episode, and when I realized that I might need to re-adjust the azimuth on my tonearm.
I looked closely at my cartridge head-on, and I could see it was tilted ever so slightly toward the outer edge of the record. This gave me a clear direction to go in, so I loosened the setscrews on my Triplanar, rotated the tonearm just a bit toward the spindle, and then retightened the screws. Then I put the record back on. It was clearly better.
I put on my early pressing of Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66. I had been floored by how transparent and “live” sounding the record had been the last time I played it. This time, it just wasn’t quite getting to where I thought it could. I concluded that further adjustment of the azimuth might be needed to hear it sound right.
On the other hand, maybe the azimuth was already where it should be. I wasn’t sure, and I was reluctant to adjust it again and make it worse. In any case, there was only one way to find out. I loosened the set-screws again, and rotated the tonearm the teensiest, tiniest little bit to the left. It was such a small turn I wondered afterwards if I’d actually turned it at all. Had I?
Sergio and company quickly answered that question in no uncertain terms. The instruments SNAPPED into focus, the bass was tighter and went noticeably deeper, and the soundstage was dramatically more transparent. The vocals were clearer, fuller and with greater presence, and I was hearing the entire studio space, along with everything in it.
It’s important to mention here that not every record can show you what your system is doing or not doing as well as every other. One of the amazing things about Hot Stampers, especially White Hot Stampers, is that they can hide many of the flaws your system has. They won’t always, but sometimes they will make your system sound better than it actually does.
This is why, even though our systems may not be great, we can still appreciate how great a Hot Stamper sounds. I’ve had more than one reader defend her or his system (let’s face it, mostly his) by saying it’s good enough to hear how good their Hot Stampers sound. That’s all well and good, but when we actually get our system to sound great? Hallelujah! That’s when we learn what a White Hot Stamper is all about!
Tom Port has written about adjusting azimuth and recommended using classical records, particularly those with “massed strings” to assess the adjustment. I’ve always appreciated this advice and found it somewhat helpful, but this latest experience gave me a much better sense of what he’s been talking about.
I began pulling out every classical record I could think of that hadn’t lived up to my expectations in the past. Most of these were violin or piano concertos on which the soloist sounded good, but the orchestra didn’t, such as the Richter / Beethoven. With this latest azimuth adjustment, many if not most of these records sounded dramatically better than I’d ever heard them. I was finally enjoying the sound of the orchestra playing, and not just relishing the solos and gritting my teeth through the orchestral passages.
Hearing these records sound great when they had not before was eye- and ear- opening to say the least. The smallest turn of the tonearm, a turn that I wasn’t even sure actually was a turn, made the difference between hearing a record sound just okay and hearing the exact same record come to life in a way I’d not expected.
If you’re like me and have wondered if the precise angle at which your stylus sits in the record groove really does make all that much difference, I’m here to tell you, IT DOES! More than you may realize!
So pull out some of those classical records you’ve long since banished from your turntable, review the azimuth adjustment method for your tonearm and get to work on dialing it in. It takes a little bravery, but it’s easier than you think, and it could very well mean the difference between your system sounding just okay and it sounding bloody fantastic!