Turntable and Vinyl Queries -

[reubensm]

Can do. Nothing I love more than taking equipment apart

Anway I'll have to open is up for having a look at why the auto return Isn't working.

People seem to have tried dynamat and plasticine. Leaning towards dynamat since I can use some for my platter as well.

Any alternatives/Recommendations?

Great, a good starting point could be to try and make solid rubber feet for the cabinet.

 

[sachu888]

Can do. Nothing I love more than taking equipment apart

Anway I'll have to open is up for having a look at why the auto return Isn't working.

People seem to have tried dynamat and plasticine. Leaning towards dynamat since I can use some for my platter as well.

Any alternatives/Recommendations?

Self adhesive Bitumen sheets are cheaper alternative.

Regards,
Sachin

 

[greenhorn]

Great, a good starting point could be to try and make solid rubber feet for the cabinet.

Right now I bought a couple of tennis balls, cut them into halves and are using them (bypassing the existing feet entirely)

 

[gopib]

Many years ago in a plasticky SONY PS something or the other I stuck play-doh liberally in the cavity. (Its the clayey stuff that little kids play with...). Of course there are more professional alternatives...but this worked too...

 

[greenhorn]

Played Boney M's boonoonoonoos at full volume levels today morning. No feedback. Slight hum - but that's a system Issue I need to take care of.

It's strange - the color of bass from vinyl is so different. It's not that It can't be created by digital sources. I have a couple of mp3's I downloaded and some CrO2 Tapes recorded from vinyl which sound very similar. but It's not the same as an original mp3 or even CD - and I have an okayish entry level DAC .Maybe it's the mastering, it may not be authentic, but I'm loving it.

Still planning to damp it. Will update this thread

 

[Saket]

If the internal space permits, you can stuff in modelling clay, esp. in the base. This will be good especially if the base is made of plastic as the salt in the clay might corrode the metal over a period of time.

You may also notice some improvement in the playback quality too.

I too plan to re-condition my Technics SL-Q33 some time in near future which will include a complete dismantle, repainting & clay modelling in the base.
I am looking for a new dust-cover, original spring feet and an original technics heashell for the job.

Regards,
Saket

 

[kuruvilajacob]

I think it is magnetic feedback. The solution is placement change of your speakers . keep them as far as you can and see if you are still gettting the feedback. But you must also check Styus pressure, anti-skating, tone arm alignment. If you are still getting it, check grounding. It can also happen if the cartridge has any loose contact or other problems. If you have any other cart, you can check that too if it cart problem. Any way, it's not a major issue I think

 

[greenhorn]

I think it is magnetic feedback. The solution is placement change of your speakers . keep them as far as you can and see if you are still gettting the feedback.

Sir, You and Reuben got it right - this seems to have been the cause. Moving the sub appears to have fixed it for now.

But you must also check Styus pressure, anti-skating, tone arm alignment.

This is such a low end turntable that none of these settings are there

 

[greenhorn]

Now that the feedback issue appears to be sorted, another problem -

At the peaks, the sound seems to distort - it seems rather rough
and this gets worse as you get towards the inner tracks.

Google tells me that This is an alignment/tracking problem, but mine is a P mount cartridge, and there is no way to adjust the pressure, alignment etc for this turntable.
Is there some workaround?

Currently I'm using the conical stylus that came with this turntable (the previous owner said it had never been replaced). Will upgrading to an elliptical, or just a new stylus take care of this?

 

[reubensm]

Now that the feedback issue appears to be sorted, another problem -

At the peaks, the sound seems to distort - it seems rather rough
and this gets worse as you get towards the inner tracks.

Google tells me that This is an alignment/tracking problem, but mine is a P mount cartridge, and there is no way to adjust the pressure, alignment etc for this turntable.
Is there some workaround?

Currently I'm using the conical stylus that came with this turntable (the previous owner said it had never been replaced). Will upgrading to an elliptical, or just a new stylus take care of this?

This is a classic issue:

The probable causes:

Vinyl with damaged grooves or errors in position of centre hole on your record(you can check whether you notice this on all vinyl played or just particular records)
Dusty vinyl (the stylus gathers dust by the time it reaches the end tracks)
Clogged Stylus, Worn Stylus or Damaged Stylus
Wrong tonearm calibration, especially with antiskate
Tone arm tracking error due to cartridge alignment, stylus alignment, cartridge overhang, cartridge angle, etc
Faulty tone-arm pivot
Using the wrong type of headshell (which is not applicable in your case)

In my personal experience (many may disagree but this is my opinion), the straight arms of shorter lengths are heavily prone to this issue. The same is generally not the case with longer straight arms and s-shaped arms as the tracking arc is much shallower.

Hope your p-mount cart is screwed to the tone arm assembly and not just plugged in. The fitment should be tight and complete. A shaky cartridge can cause this issue.

 

[jls001]

At the peaks, the sound seems to distort - it seems rather rough
and this gets worse as you get towards the inner tracks.

Sound distorting at peaks indicate that the combination of the tonearm and cartridge is hitting its outer limit of trackability. Usually, the high compliance cartridges mounted on low mass arms (assuming it doesn't have sticky bearings) are the best trackers.

Another possible source of the distortion is worn stylus. Or even misaligned cartridge.

The thing getting worse in the inner tracks is more likely to be inner groove distortion. All shorter tonearms (meaning ~9 inches) suffer from this ailment to some degree or the other. The solution to this is to use a stupid protractor to carefully align the cartridge to the two null points. But never having used a P-mount, I wouldn't know if null point adjustment is possible in your case.

 

[greenhorn]

just for some closure for this - seems this was a record specific issue. a lot of other records don't have this, so guess the records i got must have been damaged with use on some cheaper TT

 

[reubensm]

just for some closure for this - seems this was a record specific issue. a lot of other records don't have this, so guess the records i got must have been damaged with use on some cheaper TT

well. to add to what joshua said, distortioin can have dependencies but trackablitiy also varies from pressing to pressing (and can be record specific). Center hold position and record-warp also influence this. Groove types are also key, for example you'd need better tracking to play at 24-track super disco buster record with fine microgrooves, when compared to a 1950s mono record with broader grooves.

 

[greenhorn]

Just some closure to this - Managed to kill off the last bit of hum today when I tried connecting the earth of the amp to the turntable.