A pitch too High!


Recently, I damaged the V2 MM cartridge of Clearaudio Concept Wood turntable, so had it changed with a Grado Prestige Blue. The VTF for V2 is 2.2g while Grado blue stands at 1.5g. I took someone’s help to fix this. He even made azimuth adjustments and it sounded fine. But I soon realised that the sound had become thinner, voice being the primary indicator and just before the stylus landed on the record, it skipped back a bit then hit the record. Sometimes the tonearm would skip all the way out of the record, backwards. I called the guy back, and he felt the VTF should be fixed to around 2g to avoid the backward skip. He did so and that problem was licked and it seemed the voice thinning issue had also vanished. But last night, I put on the first pressing of Aretha Franklin Amazing Grace, and all along I found her pitch way higher, it was all too high pitched and uncomfortable. Seemed the bass had gone missing a little. On my Boulder 866, I could immediately hear the difference when the track was played through Roon. It was not as high pitched, thin as it sounded on analogue. I intend to call the guy again but wanted to know from experts here as to what the issue could be.
128x128terrible

Showing 7 responses by sandstone

OP,
Kudos for not letting anyone denigrate your system or level of understanding, especially when they offer no constructive advice in return.  For the record, the $2000 Clearaudio Satisfy tonearm is continuously wired, well designed, highly resolving and far from just an entry level tonearm.

- There are some great suggestions above on how to proceed, esp. on returning to first principles with vtf , etc. 

- If you are at all still concerned about actual pitch, your turntable speed can be easily verified with a free phone app, RPM, and adjusted if needed.

- It seems you were pleased with your previous setup before cartridge problem.  If all else fails, you may need to examine whether this Grado is actually a good fit, or maybe not? 

- If you get to that point, you are probably at the right place for a wealth (flood?) of cartridge upgrade recommendations.


@terrible,  It sounds like your tonearm may be an older version of Satisfy.  Otherwise, there actually is an anti-skate knob lateral to the pivot for easy adjustment on the fly.  
+1 @mijostyn
"What do you mean by that? You mean options of 33, 45 and 78? My turntable has that too. How do I correct the RPM?"

@terrible,  On the rear of your Concept turntable you will find three rpm adjustment screws, one for each speed setting.  Select the one for 33 and set it as close to 33.33 as you can achieve.  It will take some patience but by using the RPM app for feedback you should be able to get quite close.  This will very likely improve the "pitch" issue you mentioned.
@terrible,
- I just wanted to emphasize that your turntable speed is fully adjustable via the three set screws on the rear, one for each of 33, 45, and 78.  You measured a speed that is 10% over spec.  No cartridge selection or other adjustment can compensate for this effect on pitch, so use your RPM app to reset it and go from there.

- On these turntables, your phono cable is actually a continuous extension of your tonearm wiring, through to the RCA connectors and is entirely suitable.
@terrible,  From your pics, I'm reasonably certain that you have a Verify tonearm instead of a Satisfy tonearm.   Check out instructions here in section  2.5.6  that may have what you are seeking re: antiskate.

https://clearaudio.de/_assets/_pdf/manuals/tonearms/CA_Verify_E+D.pdf

- My last thought:  You've gotten  plenty of guidance now on how to zero out and reset antiskate, and how to visually and then even electronically verify.  
But as you're still working thru all that, try something simpler. Set your VTF at 1.7g. That is within spec tolerance range for your existing cartridge  See how it behaves and sounds.  With your turntable speed no longer 11% out of compliance, and with everything else that you have improved with others help here, maybe you no longer have tracking/skipping/pitch issues and you can enjoy your system while refining your setup and contemplating needed cartridge upgrades.  You've rec'd some very good info from others here and should be well on your way to managing your tt and system setup on your own.  good listening!