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Please help diagnose sudden turntable problem

Hi everyone,

I just encountered a very sudden problem with my turntable. I have a fairly new Marantz TT15s1 that was sounding great until yesterday afternoon. I noticed an unusual amount of static, but I chalked that up to the dry air from running the A/C for a couple of days. I used a zero stat gun, and that seemed to help a bit.

Today, however, the problem got significantly worse within the span of a couple of albums. Now, I have significant static and distortion, sometimes completely obscuring the music. It sounds like an amp being overdriven. I have tried two different phono amps and two different preamps, but in every case I get the same sound.

The Marantz has a captive tonearm cable, so I can even swap that out. It's a Clearaudio Virtuoso cartridge that looks to be in excellent shape. The stylus is not bent or damaged. All the leads are plugged in securely. I'm at a loss.

Any ideas would be welcomed. Thanks!
Scott
smrex13

Showing 6 responses by smrex13

smrex13 OP
645 posts
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. The day after I posted the original question, things got so bad that I thought I had blown my amp. Just crazy distortion and interference/static. I shut everything down, used stylus cleaning fluid (I normally just use Zero Dust before each play), sprayed the table and belt with anti-static spray, washed the record, and used my Zero Stat gun on the record before playing. This made the record listenable, but there was still a lot of background static. I unplugged everything and left it over the weekend while I was traveling. Upon hooking everything back up this morning, it sounds quite good.

Keeping my fingers crossedÂ…

Scott
smrex13 OP
645 posts
 
Well, the static never went completely away and is still causing pretty significant interference with music listening. The turntable and cartridge are only a couple of months old, so it's not a question of the stylus wearing out. And everything sounded great until a few days ago. There is no static with the volume turned down. I have tried the system with and without power conditioning and in two different outlets. There are no new appliances in our apartment, although it's an apartment complex so who knows what my various neighbors are up to.

I'm relatively new to vinyl, and I can certainly see why people shy away from it. I do prefer the sound to digital, but I'm at a loss right now.

Any other ideas would be helpful.

Thanks,
Scott
smrex13 OP
645 posts
 
Al,

Thanks for the response. I actually tried it with three different phono stages: an Audion pre w/phono (tube), a Vincent (SS), and a Jolida (tube), and the result was identical. Perhaps the SS phono stage did a slightly better job of reducing the static, but it was very much present on every record. All three phono stages were set for MM, and they have all worked with my TT in the past.

Yesterday, I took the turntable back to stage 1 - realigned the cartridge, reinstalled the tonearm, measured the tracking force, cleaned the stylus, and added a Herbie's turntable mat. I wiped everything down with anti-static spray, and then hooked it all back up. The static came right back.

Very frustrated,
Scott
smrex13 OP
645 posts
 
Mapman,

It seems like a damaged stylus is the only possibility left, no? Unfortunately, the cartridge costs almost as much as I paid for the table, so I'm not quite ready to spend that much shortly after purchasing it. I suppose I could buy a cheap cartridge to see if the static is still there and then get the more expensive one if it solves the problem.

I've been on a terrible run of bad luck with new gear my last five purchases - turntable, amp, integrated amp, phono amp, and stylus gauge - all were either defective out of the package or broke down within a week. I've spent a fair amount shipping brand new gear to be fixed. This turntable has lasted a couple of months, so that's progress...

Scott
smrex13 OP
645 posts
 
Slaw - I've tried both tubed and SS gear, and I get the same problem. The only interconnect I haven't changes is the captive tonearm cable, and if that's the problem then I'll have to have the tonearm rewired.

The static seems somewhat less problematic when I use SS gear rather than tubes. Other than that, I don't notice any difference regardless of what I do.

I may have the chance to swap in an older cartridge later today, so I'll keep y'all posted.

Thanks, Scott
smrex13 OP
645 posts
 
Thanks to everyone for your insight and suggestions. I was able to install a friend's cartridge as a test, and it cleared the problem right up. My stylus was apparently bent (not totally obvious until I had taken it off) and was not tracking well.

Problem solved!

Thanks again,
Scott
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