Your vinyl rig likely sounds fantastic—organic, textured, alive. The stylus traces beautifully, instruments have weight. But every so often, piano notes could feel like they swell or sag. Sustained violins may appear to waver, as if the sound breathes in uneven pulses. You’ve probably chalked it up to the pressing. Or stylus wear. Or maybe that fussy cartridge alignment. Still... it keeps happening.
What if the issue isn’t the music—but how your system keeps time?
What to Do
Pull out a strobe disc, or download a smartphone app like RPM Speed & Wow or iRPM. Place the strobe on the platter, shine a synced LED light or use your phone’s camera flash, and watch. If the strobe pattern appears to drift, shimmer, or oscillate, your speed likely isn’t holding steady. If your table has pitch control, now’s the time to dial it in. If it doesn’t, monitor its behavior over time—especially belt drives, which may slow imperceptibly as the belt stretches. Belts fatigue. Idler wheels glaze. Even direct-drive tables can develop servo drift with age.
None of this is failure. It’s timekeeping. And it needs a tune-up now and then.
Here’s Why That Works
Even small deviations in speed—say, 0.2%—can affect how we perceive pitch and flow. Wow, the slow oscillation of speed, tends to tug at sustained notes, making the music feel like it’s leaning or breathing awkwardly. Flutter, the fast version, blurs transients and drains presence from the leading edge of notes. What sounds like tonal instability is often a timing distortion—one that subtly disorganizes harmonic structure and interrupts the phrasing musicians worked to shape.
When speed is true, piano chords don’t just land—they resonate with authority. Sustained strings feel settled, not swirled. You might notice space opening up where tension used to live. That’s not the stylus. That’s the table keeping its promise.
