I had a very similar problem before, and it turns out the needle was loose. I still haven't bought a new cartridge...
Save a vinyl newbie, please
I've been stocking up on LP's for the past month and a half, and I finally got a turntable yesterday (a new Music Hall MMF-5). When I picked it up, the guy had it playing and it sounded great! He showed me how to set the tracking force, vertical tracking angle, the cartridge angle (or something like that), and the anti-skating force. He also gave me some suggestions of how to clean the records and the stylus before use. OK, perfect.
I brought it home and tried some of my records on it. It sounded horrible! I get loud pops every second or two. The pops drown out the music. The music sounds muffled, and sometimes it sounds like the ocean from the tweeters (particularly in the right channel). The situation only gets worse with the volume turned up.
I tried it with several of my best-looking LP's last night and still couldn't find one that was even listenable. I have a couple sealed records, so this morning I tried them with the same results. I called the place where I bought it and he said that only about 10% of records that I'll find actually sound good. That sounds like a good incentive to go back to CD's.
I'm using the MMF-5 with a Musical Fidelity A3cr preamp, Audio Valve ppp45 amps, and Audio Physic Tempo speakers. (You can click on my system for more details.)
Please let me know if you have any suggestions!
Michael
I brought it home and tried some of my records on it. It sounded horrible! I get loud pops every second or two. The pops drown out the music. The music sounds muffled, and sometimes it sounds like the ocean from the tweeters (particularly in the right channel). The situation only gets worse with the volume turned up.
I tried it with several of my best-looking LP's last night and still couldn't find one that was even listenable. I have a couple sealed records, so this morning I tried them with the same results. I called the place where I bought it and he said that only about 10% of records that I'll find actually sound good. That sounds like a good incentive to go back to CD's.
I'm using the MMF-5 with a Musical Fidelity A3cr preamp, Audio Valve ppp45 amps, and Audio Physic Tempo speakers. (You can click on my system for more details.)
Please let me know if you have any suggestions!
Michael