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MoFi So Long So Wrong

I gather I may be reigniting a firestorm here, but is there a problem with MoFi's SO LONG SO WRONG or with my system?

The last two tracks on Side 2 are unlistenable.

I thought it was my copy of the record. Those two tracks are noticeably darker (in color) than the other two on that side. A friend bought the same LP, and his copy does the same thing on my table and his--both are Rega P5s with Exact II styli.

Mo Fi, for their part, asserts that there's no problem with the record. It's been a while since I bought it, so i can't return. I'm kind of hot about that, too--if it's a manufacturing defect, they ought to be willing to stand behind their product. And they aren't.

The rest of the record sounds fantastic.

But those two tracks are just awful.

Sibilance, distortion, a kind of cracking sound. As though the master level was messed with during cutting.

I've checked everything I know to check. The table seems to be dialed in pretty well. Anybody brave enough to offer an opinion?

(This may have been discussed before, but all I could find looking were what seemed like references to some OTHER thread.)

Thanks,

Marty
mpriola

Showing 2 responses by goatwuss

goatwuss
877 posts
 
Mpriola - I know exactly what you are talking about.

These 2 tracks are notoriously hard to track cleanly.

MoFi is right - the records are fine. The problem is your setup. By setup, I don't mean your alignment, VTA, VTF or anti-skate. I mean your equipment.

I too had trouble tracking these cuts cleanly. I'm really sensitive to sibilance distortion, and I could hear it on many of my records. I toiled over setup over and over again, had two separate shops setup my deck, and then had VPI themselves set things up.

It never changed.

To track these tracks, and other challenging tracks cleanly, you need an arm/cartridge combination that is up to the task.

In your case, the Exact II is not up to the task of tracking this record cleanly.

You need to ask yourself 2 questions:

1. Is this the only record that you hear sibilance distortion?

2. How much do you care about this?

Based on the answers to the above, should dictate your path going forward. If these is the only record where you hear sibilance distortion, it's probably best just to not worry about it.

Otherwise - You are going to need to spend some money.

The RB700 is a pretty good arm, and I think it can handle the job. If you want to keep the arm, then it's time to start looking into other cartridges.

The tricky thing, is that more $$$ does not equal better tracking. In fact, it's often the complete opposite. I had an Ortofon Jubilee ($2200) and a Benz L2 ($1500) both track like crap. Granted, that was with the VPI JMW9sig arm, which in my experience is prone to sibilance distortion. Maybe in another arm they would have done better?

The best tracking cartridge that I have found so far is the Audio Technica AT33PTG. It tracks the best out of about 10 cartridges that I tried. It is no longer available, but the mark II version is. It's about $550 from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-AT33PTG-Dual-Moving-Cartrige/dp/B00475S0BU

Switching to this cartridge, and to the Michell Technoarm + Orbe table from the VPI ScoutMaster w/ jmwsig arm improved the sibilance distortion on those tracks by about 85% for me. It's still not perfect, but the vast majority of all sibilance that I was hearing on my other records is gone.

Good luck!
goatwuss
877 posts
 
Hi Marty,

The tricky thing is that it's hard to know what's going to work without going and actually trying it. Dynavectors are great sounding cartridges. The original 20X2 is a good sounding cart, but not up there with the very best in tracking in my experience. It may have been improved in the rev 2 version though.
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