Albums Vs !2" single sound quality

[Iancass]

I was always led to believe that the 12" single would sound better than an LP release as the grooves are wider and Louder. I have started to listen to vinyl again on a decent quality non Deejaying turntable and I am finding that LPs are sound way better in quality. As I speak I am playing a Three Degrees album from the seventies on the Phiily label of reasonable condition & it sounds great just as good as say Billy Cobham on Blue Note & Abba on Epic & random Rock & Pop Stuff but when I stick on a 12" single from the 70s, 80,s it just doesn't sound as good. Do I need to have a particular type of cartridge for 12" single use only? I have loads of 12 singles so I need to get a solution of some kind. I make sure the records are very clean for a start as I know some records have been mistreated a tiny bit. I am finding the US singles much louder than the UK ones as well. I can understand that the House stuff from the 80s etc is not exactly virgin vinyl and is quiet organic & very low budget, but I would have thought that in the 70's stuff would have been mastered properly & put on vinyl at a decent standard.

[BrunoRepublic]

The problem is that loud-cut 12" singles take vinyl to its absolute limit... and sometimes go past it. You need a cartridge that can track well, something with a micro-line/fineline/hyperelliptical/shibata stylus, and it must be very precisely aligned. Otherwise, 12" singles -- and many albums -- will be full of horrible sibilance and distortion.

If the 12" has been repeated played with a stylus which couldn't track it properly, it's quite possible that the grooves are damaged and there is nothing that can be done.

[Iancass]

I was afraid you was going to say that! So instead of using a Goldring like I am would I be better of using a Shure or Audio T type of cart? How would a MC sound like?

[BrunoRepublic]

Shure no longer makes microline carts, so they're out of the race. Ortofon does, as does Audio-Technica. MC vs MM has more to do with tonality than tracking ability, so you don't need to shell out for an MC cart (plus the step-up transformer) unless you really want to.
I use an Audio Technica AT150MLX and it's as good as it gets for tracking, although it's rather bright (about +2dB above 10KHz). I had to go to New York to get it though. I'm told the AT440MLa is almost as good and half the price, but I've yet to try one. Some of the new Ortofons look quite appealing but they're really expensive here. They might be more reasonable where you are (and/or A-T models less so, I don't really know).

[Iancass]

Thanks for that information I also heard these are quiet good especially on my budget. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B00009MK3A

Ortofon do come cheaper here but I am not really a fan of them myself.