Discrimination Between Phonograph Playback Systems

Digitization of phonograph records is an important step towards the preservation of our cultural history and heritage. The phonograph playback systems (PPS) required for this digitization process are comprised of several components in a variety of price ranges. We report on the results of two listening tests intended to ascertain the extent to which expert listeners can discriminate between PPS of different price ranges. These results are intended to determine the extent to which component selection affects the discrimination between PPS and to provide a set of guidelines for the purchase of PPS components for the digitization of phonograph record collections.