THE IMPORTANCE OF TELLS

IN POKER, “TELLS” ARE SUBTLE PHYSICAL OR VERBAL ACTIONS THAT GIVE AWAY THE STRENGTH OF PLAYERS’ HANDS.

I am not a poker player, but I am an audiophile, and I use a variety of “tells” as my prime tools in critical listening. You know my worn-out line: “You can’t hear what you’re not listening for.”

I use tells extensively during speaker placement. I use them most extensively, though, when installing and aligning phono cartridges. In that process, tells are a necessity because achieving the best possible sound depends on knowing when I have achieved the best possible sound.

For decades, I’ve known and worked with people who install expensive audio gear for a living. I’ve been one of those people myself. Today, I am fortunate to know a small cadre of highly skilled listeners who work professionally as turntable setter-uppers. Some of them design and manufacture tonearms, turntables, or cartridges. I’ve made it my job to wrangle setup tells out of these high-grade–cartridge whisperers.

More than steady hands, installing and aligning phono cartridges requires a few installation tools,