What goes around, comes around: some sound advice on vinyl

In bygone days our illustrious banks dabbled in interesting sidelines that weren’t necessarily about the bottom line.

The Technics SL-1500C vinyl turntable and C30 speakers.

In bygone days our illustrious banks dabbled in interesting sidelines that weren’t necessarily about the bottom line. For example, the Bank of New South Wales, an antecedent of today’s seriously troubled Westpac, cut a vinyl LP which retold the history of Australia as a musical with narration and archival audio, with guest star Lana Cantrell and talent such as John Meillon.

While the Westpac scandal unfolded, I trotted out this album, entitled “January the twenty sixth”, along with other vinyl LPs to review the SL-1500C, a direct turntable system by Technics, a brand that Panasonic has revived.

I hadn’t played these gems for decades. There was The Best of Peter Dawson, an Australian bass baritone from early last century who reportedly sold 12 million records, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, magnificent music based on tales of lust from medieval times, a five-album box set of hits by The Seekers, albums from 40 years ago by locals Dutch Tilders and Paul Wookey and other box-set masterpieces. I poured a glass or two of shiraz and spent the afternoon in nostalgic bliss.

Rediscovering one’s dormant vinyl collection is a joy. Some of my family were mad World Record Club subscribers so there are some unusual items.

In this review I’m not going to weigh up vinyl versus digital. We’ve written about it umpteen times. This is about enjoying good quality vinyl with the analog gear you have.

Technics turntables aren’t cheap. The SL-1500C is $1999 but relatively inexpensive compared to other Technics offerings that include the Grand Class SL-1200GR costing $6999.

The SL-1500C is a direct drive system that claims to offer great sound, is optimised for smooth turntable performance, has a two-layered platter to dampen vibrations, and uses a quality cartridge. You can buy replacement Ortofon 2M Red cartridges online.

There are two sets of RCA plugs for stereo output: one set is pre-amplified and needs an external amplifier, the other is fully amplified so you can plug the cables directly into a speaker. Technics says the SL-1500C is its only turntable model with a full amplification option.

In the 1960s, the then Bank of New South Wales commissioned an entire musical complete with star singers, songs, narration and archival audio to celebrate its and Australia's first 150 years. It's a local vinyl gem.

There’s no volume, treble or bass controllers or equaliser on the turntable so you need to control sound quality through an amplifier or a smart speaker. Technics has an audio centre app for this.

My unit came with a pair of C30 speakers ($1149 each), which are also sophisticated internet-linked speakers. They can be configured as part of a Google Home network. You run the RCA cable to one of the speakers and use the app to configure a second speaker to play in stereo mode wirelessly. This isn’t intuitive but it works.

The SL-1500C comes in several pieces so you need to assemble it. The installation reminds me of the little tweaks you need to perform with turntables. There’s ensuring the arm is balanced by rotating the counterweight and altering the stylus pressure, the anti-skating control that stops the needle skimming across the grooves, and adjusting the arm height and armlift height. You don’t do any of this with CD players or when streaming of course. But vinyl isn’t about making life easy.

The turntable plays at 33, 45 and 78rpm, which covers virtually all records.

Technics SL-1500C vinyl turntable and C30 speakers. Picture: Supplied.

The SL-1500C has an auto lift-up function which lifts up the arm after the record finishes so that the needle isn’t endlessly on the last groove. While this is good, I remember the players of decades ago would return the arm to its rest and switch off the turntable. The fancier players let you stack records at the top of the spindle and they would drop down one at a time to be played. This turntable isn’t so fancy.

Sound is strong, crisp and clear, with that warmth and rougher tone that vinyl offers. In my mind, vinyl certainly lacks the precision and clarity of digital music, and there’s the annoying hisses and cracks on damaged records, but it has its own authentic, rustic attraction.

There’s more to sound quality than the vinyl medium. There’s the quality of the master recording to start with. Some newer vinyl releases are cut using digital music masters, which defeats the purpose. There’s the speaker and amplification quality, and of course record wear and tear.

Technics SL-1500C vinyl turntable and C30 speakers. Picture: Supplied.

In the end I really enjoyed the analogue experience. I enjoyed going through all those old box sets, with their detailed inserts about performers, the music, and with lots of photos as I listened. It’s something that I miss in the era of streaming, although the same information would be online if I searched.

There is room for modern-era turntables to incorporate some modern tech without dulling the vinyl experience such as wireless connectivity (partly implemented here) and real time filters that deal with the snap, crackle and pop that’s the curse of vinyl. This is especially so if you’re paying considerable cash.

There are cheaper turntables than this, but the SL-1500C does stand on its audio quality, and it’s certainly distinctive. It’s worth sampling if you’re looking at going vinyl. Ask in store to sample the sound. Price: $1999. C30 speakers ($1149 each) or bring your own speakers.