Analogue anxiety: all hands on decks…

Here's the thing. Having recently rescued my turntable from storage and rediscovered the joy of vinyl as a result, I now find myself hugely frustrated by the quality of playback. It's all down to the distortion I'm getting at the end of most records. I believe this is a result of the set up. But then is it? You see, it doesn't happen with all discs. The Linn pressing of Blue Nile's A Walk Across the Rooftops, for instance, plays perfectly. As does the Queen is Dead (The Smiths on vinyl; just perfect). On the other hand, the final tracks on Echo and the Bunnymen's Porcupine are a complete mess, as are those on the recently purchased Belle and Sebastian LP. I've tried my best with the set up, but reconciling the whole cartridge/arm/suspension relationship seems beyond me (and yes, I have a stylus balance, protractor and so on; perhaps I just haven't allocated the necessary time or patience?). I don't play a lot of vinyl, but it has got to the point where I don't want to play any at all.

My questions are these. What might be the root of this problem? Should I persevere with the set up? I could consider a needle upgrade and rewire the arm, but at around £200 for those I could also go and spend the money on a new Project 1 Xpression, which might serve me just as well and provide a fraction of the aggro. Hell, selling my current set up would probably pay for it. Or is that an insane suggestion? By the way, the set up is a Systemdek IIX/ RB250/ Goldring 1010.

Your thoughts and recommendations are warmly welcomed…

 

sounds like setup

re-check algnment then check tracking force, i think anti skate might be the culprit

 

When mine did this it was a worn stylus, luckily you can fit any Goldring 10 series, Audionote IQ series or indeed a Roksan corus stylus... I'd try a 1042 stylus or an IQ2...

Before all that though try setting the tracking pressure at the top of or even just a tiny bit over the manufacturers maximum and lower or generally fiddle about with, the bias force and see how that sounds..

J

 

Hi Ron - sorry to hear about your problems.

I would say, unfortunately, that it could be a number of things. As penance has already said, it'd be worth checking the usual set up stuff, but it might also be worth thinking about a couple of other things too IMHO.

You listed the cartridge you're using as a Goldring 1010 - I don't know for certain, but is this one of the original 1000 series which would now be equivalent to the 1012GX? If so, I wonder how many hours it's had as there's always the possibility that the stylus is worn in some way and that this could be causing the distortion.

Another thing to bare in mind is that some pressings suffer from quite bad end of side distortion, which could also be the culprit, although I've got the latest Belle & Sebastian lp and haven't noticed the effects you decribe.

I think though, like penance, that if the stylus is good then the most likely cause is set up, and that it will be a case of patiently checking all settings to ensure everythings correct. Without wanting to be condescending, as you may have already read and digested it and installed a 100 cartridges before, it may be worth having a look on www.audiophilia.com and you should find a really useful 'Beginners Guide To Cartridge Installation' document.

Anyway, good luck with it and let us know how you get on.

 

Yep, I know exactly what you mean. No problem with good pressings at all (MoFi, 180-200g etc) but standard pressings can be variable. Some are fine, some really get rough towards the end of the side.

Funny you should say that. I did adjust my antiskate at the weekend and it appears to have cleaned up the deck nicely.

There are other factors to consider - Nasty pressing, Record having been played on a badly setup deck, worn stylus, Record just plain worn out. I have 2 copies of Joni Mitchells Mingus - One plays absolutely fine, the other sounds awful especially towards the EoS.

HTH