Build
Contents
The Yamaha Vinyl 500 is an excellently built turntable with a premium appearance. The turntable, like most modern turntables, is string driven. The cast aluminium turntable is driven by a DC-controlled motor and a flat, wider rubber string. The engine has enough power to keep the plate running, dusting the plate with a microfibre cloth. For the deejays among you: the Vinyl 500 is not a real quick starter, but with a 1/3 rotation the plateau is 100% on speed.
The speed variation during playback of an album is about 2% (wow & flutter: 0.2%). These are fine values and in practice the most disturbing speed variations will be in the vinyl itself rather than in the turntable. The rumble value, the noise of engine resonances and platform bearing added to the sound signal is not specified. It’s worth mentioning that even at a higher volume we can’t detect a hum of the DC motor, as we could clearly hear in the 70’s and 80’s with some string driven turntables.
Yamaha opts for a modern straight tone arm in which the needle pressure and transverse pressure compensation are both infinitely adjustable. The all-aluminium headshell is detachable. Compared to a plastic headshell, an aluminium headshell is less sensitive to absorbing external sound vibrations due to its higher weight and this directly improves the sound quality. The built-in RIAA correction is well implemented and we do not hear any significant 50Hz hum or radiation from external sources in the background.
Element selection
The element used is a Moving Magnet variant from the stable of Audiotechnica. The exact model is not specified, but we suspect that Yamaha has chosen an (element based on the) AT91R Dual Moving Magnet Stereo Phono cartridge. Yamaha has opted very neatly for the price-wise excellent ATN3600L stylus. These may be the instepers of Audio Technica, but is certainly not an Achilles heel. The performance of this element with this Vinyl 500 is excellent.
The frequency range is from 20Hz to 20kHz, the channel separation is 18dB at 1kHz and the (weighted) signal noise distance is 67dBA. Prescribed load impedance and capacity are 47kOhm and 100-200pF respectively. The induction of the cartridge is 400mH at also 1kHz. The needle pressure is relatively high with the prescribed 3.5 grams, but this makes the needle and the element much better suited for the playback of 2nd hand (dusty) vinyl and the records do not need to be washed once in a while. The perfect vinyl turner for the target group.
Installation
The installation of this Vinyl 500 is relatively simple. Everything you need is neatly provided by Yamaha. To start with, we place the flat string around the spindle under the aluminium turntable. You can hold this plateau with the two recesses closest to the hole for the centre pin. The 90 degree shifted outer holes allow you to tension the string with the index finger of the other hand and lift it over the pulley of the motor, making the turntable ready for use.
Then remove the fully assembled headshell with element and needle from the package and carefully connect it to the locking nut on the tone arm. Now it’s a matter of turning the counterweight on the back of the tone arm and lowering the arm lift. Carefully remove the protective cap from the needle and turn the counterweight until the arm starts to float. After this it is a matter of setting the number ring of the counterweight to ‘0’ and turning the needle pressure with the counterweight to 3.5 (grams). Finally, set the transverse pressure compensation (antiskating) to 3.5 and the turntable is perfectly adjusted for playing your vinyl.
Connections and controls
On the back we find from left to right a service port, an RJ45 network connection, on/off the built-in Wi-Fi interface, line out (streaming and RIAA), switch line/phono, a phono off (no RIAA or streaming) and the connection for the AC adapter. On the player itself you will find a number of elements for adjustment and operation. From left to right are a power button, changeover 33/45 rpm, start/stop button turntable and the source button (Phono/Airplay/DLNA/Bluetooth/MusicCast Connect).
To make use of the network functionality, we download the MusicCast Controller and simply follow the steps shown on the phone. With a long push on the source/connect button we connect the Vinyl 500 to the MusicCast network. Now the player is also ready for digital music streams. The functionality of the streaming features is similar to the WXC-50 audio streamer we previously reviewed. If you want to know what this streamer supports, you can read the review here.
