Plug Seven Audio Setup Guide

A very important and often forgotten tool is the record and stylus brush. 

We recommend these for regular use and would like to insist you take the time to run the brush around the surface of the record before each play. Should you not, and in some cases even if you did, you may still need to employ the use of a stylus brush to remove built up dust from the stylus tip, ensuring to brush from back to front carefully (not side to side). A good record brush such as the one linked will not only remove dust, but also static built up by the rotation of the record both against the brush, and often from poly record sleeves, or the needle itself. Dust is the enemy of good quality record reproduction, keep your records clean and in good quality sleeves

Firstly lets outline a setup by referring to the below photo in which you can see the 3 common components of what is often referred to as a cartridge or stylus.

A headshell houses and aligns the cartridge/stylus combo and allows it to lock into the tonearm. It also often provides an arm with which to grasp the combo and lift/lower the stylus onto the record, assuming you don’t suffer from the DT’s, in which case, use the tonearm lift.

The cartridge (cart) dictates which stylus you must use (and replace at intervals) and also the type of preamp you need to employ: Moving Magnet (MM), Moving Coil (MC). Carts are almost always magnetic (see - strain gauge) and are usually made of a plastic/metal body housing some metal coils and magnetic poles. Though I have seen one made of jade and kissed by an emperor in the moonlight.

• Moving Magnet Cartridges: Often abbreviated as MM these are the most common type of cartridge. The stylus moves the cantilever which moves the magnets. The movement of these magnets generates an electrical signal which is sent to the pins on the back of the cartridge, from where it travels down the wires to your preamp.
• Moving Coil Cartridges: Abbreviated as MC, a moving coil cartridge produces a lower output level which requires an additional stage of gain to play at sufficient volume. Higher quality preamplifiers may offer this additional gain by providing a phono section designed specifically for this purpose and if so you will see a separate phono input marked MC for the purpose. An MC carts coils move while the magnets remain steady, and the motion of the coils generates the signal that is sent to the pins. MC carts are a more expensive option and generally only used once you’ve attained nerd level audio status.

The stylus itself is typically a diamond, or a man made version thereof, and is bonded to the metal cantilever arm projecting downwards from the body of the cartridge. They come as either a nude or tipped diamond in spherical or elliptical shape.

• Nude diamond: The stylus is a whole diamond, specially shaped and glued or fastened to the cantilever.
• Tipped diamond: Here, a stylus tip of diamond is mounted on a metal shank.
• Spherical stylus: This is the simplest and cheapest to produce and it is, therefore, the most common. Not to say it is a slouch by any means, but you typically see it on lower priced cartridges.
• Elliptical stylus: An elliptical shaped stylus bears greater resemblance to the triangular shaped cutting stylus that is used when cutting master records. The elliptical stylus is able to follow the groove oscillations more accurately than the spherical type, and its distortion and phase error will, therefore, be less.

A turntable produces a PHONO level signal as opposed to the LINE level signal that units like CD players and cassette decks produce. This has to do with the RIAA equalisation curve introduced to turntables in the 1950s.. Read here https://ledgernote.com/columns/mixing-mastering/riaa-curve/ if you want to know more.

The phono signal needs to be converted to the line level signal to work with audio equipment including amplifiers, powered speakers etc. A phono preamp therefore provides the necessary amplification to convert phono to line level. The quality of phono preamps can vary greatly, from afterthoughts built into integrated amplifiers, to standalone dedicated phono stages where price is the afterthought. The preamp does the very important job of amplifying the signal sent from your cartridge, so if you can afford a standalone preamp for your setup, go for it!

See more about preamplification here:

Typically used to help improve frequencies or reduce warps in records, weights are in our opinion best used in a live setting for DJ purposes, though they can also greatly improve home setups in some cases.

We favour the superb design and build quality of these (link to product) Swiss made weights from Varia Instruments (https://www.varia-instruments.com/) which allow the user to also play 7” records with their retractable adaptor.

A good record weight can help to reduce the intrusion of vibration from airborne frequencies and also tighten the frequency response of the stylus by reducing warps and increasing stability of the record, thus allowing the stylus to track with greater ease. Be aware some cheaper belt drive turntables are not suitable for record weights due to the increased torque necessary to keep the platter at speed with the increased weight.

The larger hole in the centre of a 7” record, also known as the plug hole, requires an adaptor to fit over the turntable centre spindle, allowing the 7” to be correctly positioned for playback.

At Plug Seven we manufacture our own brass 7” adaptors (Link), based on a road tested dome shaped design and heavy weight to help lock the record in place. A good quality adaptor such as this will allow for back cueing of records without slippage, and easy placement of the record over the adaptor and onto the slipmat.

Slipmats come in a wide variety of materials and occasionally shapes and are chosen for different functions ranging from lightweight Dr Suzuki (Link) style mats for DJ purposes to Cork (Link) or Rubber/ Leather mats for home setups. The purpose of a slipmat is to both protect the surface of the record and in some cases provide vibration dampening and tighter frequency responses, particularly in the lower registers.

Sometimes purpose made 7” slipmats (Link) are employed by 45 enthusiasts for turntablism with an otherwise tricky format.
The thickness of your chosen slipmat can also affect your cartridge alignment and you may therefore need to adjust your tonearm base to compensate for an increased / decreased height of the record.

See here (https://www.vinylchapters.com/turntable-platter-mat-guide/) for a little more in depth rundown.

The quality of your tonearm is a critical factor for superior sound reproduction of records. It supports the cartridge, which holds the stylus and therefore its ability to do that with finesse is of utmost importance.

A tonearm has many functions:

• It can be adjusted to a fixed height and angle, to ensure the cartridge is in a correct alignment for the record surface.
• It applies the correct tracking force, to ensure the stylus connects with the record surface at the correct sensitivity. Typically between 1 - 4 grams depending on your cartridge of choice.
• It applies anti-skating force, to counteract the G-force created by the motion of the record platter.
• It internally houses the wiring that carries the signal from the stylus.

Typical setup procedures for a tonearm are easiest to explain visually so please see the following video outlining basic concepts that should help you to setup the vast majority of average to decent quality tonearms.

Turntables (decks) come in a very wide variety of build quality and design. These days we recommend sourcing a well looked after vintage deck such as a Technics 1200 as value for money unless you have the funds to splash quite lot more on a new turntable of equal quality. Manufacturing costs being what they are it’s hard for modern companies to match the build quality of some vintage decks, and in fact early models as far back as the 50’s such as Thorens, Garrard, Commonwealth decks etc are steadily climbing in value due to their robust design.

Turntables are made in 3 varieties but all rely on the quality of motor driving the platter. There are direct drive, belt drive and idler turntables which all have their place depending on the environment.

• Direct Drive: A motor directly under the platter drives the rotation via a magnetic field. This deck is best suited to DJ use as it allows for fast start/stop functionality & back-cueing/ scratching as there is no belt or wheel attached to the platter.
• Belt Drive: These decks have the motor offset from the platter and wrapped around the spindle is a thin belt almost always made from rubber, which encircles the main platter and controls the rotation.
• Idler Wheel: An idler drive uses a rubber wheel to couple an offset motor shaft to the underside of the turntable platter. These decks often date back to the 50’s & were largely displaced by belt and direct drives in later years. Because they have that direct connection to the platter they offer very powerful torque, and the motors of high quality idlers are of such quality that even 60 years later they are highly sought after turntables.

Please see our video here for a little more of a turntable introduction.

The most common items you will need for a turntable setup are:

• Turntable
• RCA & speaker cables
• Phono preamp or integrated amplifier with a phono stage
• Speakers

Note: you can sometimes forgo the need for an amplifier by using a dedicated phono preamp and active speakers. Active speakers have the amplifiers built in and therefore require power but also take up a smaller footprint so are handy for some smaller spaces.

The above picture outlines the correct connections and cables required to get a setup running smoothly.

Some units (including turntables and amplifiers) are made in countries where the voltage the unit requires differs to Australian outlet voltages. In these cases it is imperative to use a high quality dielectrically isolated and fused stepdown transformer(link) to bring the voltages down to 117v & 100v respectively for USA & Japanese gear.

We do not recommend having the units altered by a local technician to run on Australian voltages. Often aftermarket parts used do not match the quality of an original (for example original Technics 1200 parts) and it is to be noted that one more transformer between your unit and the wall will not cause issue, considering there are many more from the street to your wall outlet.

Humming Sound coming from your speakers?

Turntables that do not have a built-in preamp need to be grounded. There will be a thin cable typically with a horseshoe shaped connector that needs to be attached to your preamp / mixer etc. If the deck is not grounded properly will produce an obvious humming sound. Another culprit for humming can be a poorly locked in cartridge, so remove it and re-tighten just in case (see next question)

Missing sound in one or both speakers?

Most commonly this points to your headshell not being properly locked into your tonearm, so remove it and re-tighten.. Do not lick the pins before doing so as this will cause oxidation! Sure, it is great for conductivity, but the better option is to buy a can of electrical contact spray such as Deoxit (https://caig.com/product/deoxit-d5s-6/) and give both sets of pins a good clean. To be clear, the 4 pins on the rear of the headshell need to make connection with the matching 4 inside the tonearm, otherwise humming or loss of one or both channels can occur.

Why are my records are skipping?

This could be due to a number of factors, quality of turntable or tonearm is a big one. If your tonearm is not of a decent quality (think Crosley), then it will jump like the bejeezus if you just look at it funny. Preferably your turntable should be isolated as best as possible, mounted onto a brick wall, or at the very least placed on furniture over a concrete floor. If timber floor is your only option, look at placing sorbothane rubber under the turntable feet & making sure the furniture it’s housed on is very heavy (ideally with a tonne of premium jazz and reggae stocked on the shelves). All of this can help to stop vibrations running through the floor into the turntable and causing your tonearm to skip, or amplify the vibrations into your speakers. On that note, never put your speakers on the same surface as your turntable, the speaker vibrations will travel back into your turntable, through your stylus and back out the same speakers, which can cause all kinds of time travel looping issues. You will end up in Tijuana in 1943 is what we are saying.

All of that said, if your setup is of a decent quality then refer to the tonearm section (link to that please) for information on how to balance your tonearm and reduce the instances of skipping. Don’t be afraid to try a little more downward tracking force by moving the tonearm counterweight forward a gram or two. As long as the cartridge body isn’t smooshed (technical term) into the record you could be forgiven for using this method to quickly check if it’s just too light a tonearm tracking force issue as opposed to a damaged record causing your stylus to skip.

Lastly, make sure your records are clean and dust free, check your stylus for dust build up. We recommend using these(link) brushes frequently, and always cleaning your records, even the new ones, before play.