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Talk Me off the Ledge - A cry for help

I got an MMF 2.1 about 3 weeks ago along with some used reggae records in good condition. I cleaned the records and they sounded very good. I bought the Pink Floyd reissue of DSOTM and the vocals sound horrible. Everything else on the record sounds awesome but the vocals are ssssooo sssibilant its hurting my ears. Ive adjusted the tracking weight with a Shure gauge, fixed the azimuth with the included paper graph and played with the VTA to try to make the arm parallel to the record, all with NO SUCCESS. The vocals still sound like crap. My 2.1 came with the Music Hall Tracker/Goldring Elan cartridge and Ive played it close to 40hrs. Could it need more breaking in? Any suggestions on improving the sound? Should I abandon the cartridge and get another one? Thanks for all your help guys!
bundee1

Showing 2 responses by bundee1

bundee1 OP
147 posts
 
Well, Ive started to notice it on some used Doors, and Grateful Dead records but wasnt sure it was because of the condition of the record (good BTW, not great) or the recording. My reggae records (used, but in very good condition) sound very good but they dont have much vocals or they are old recordings. I guess I need to experiment with other new vinyl.

The manual states the TT is set up in the factory for optimum performance. The way it was setup the tracking weight was a bit off, the cartridge headshell wasnt prallel to the little gauge that came with it, and the arm wasnt parallel. Ive corrected the first 2 but the last adjustment is driving me nuts. I wonder if the arm base being up so high was the way it was meant to be? The cartridge was set up at about a 10 degree angle to the arm base.Any other suggestions to help fix the sound?
bundee1 OP
147 posts
 
Thanks for all the suggestions guys.

TWL- thanks SRA is ok checked it out with magnifying glass

Satch- I just listened to a couple of Police LPs and they sound pretty good. Could be the Pink Floyd.

Dekay- My table is level, as I checked it with a bubble level and shimmed it up with some cardboard slices. The VTA is adjustable, as I finally managed to unscrew the crappy screws in the tonearm base.

A couple of other questions guys:

1)Is it worth it to buy another copy of DSOTM just to make sure the one I have isnt defective?

2)Every time I screw in the tonearm base screws after adjusting VTA the arm seems to slightly pitch forward from the screws pushing the base in. Should it do this?

Many thanks for all your quick responses. The Police helped pull me away from the ledge temporarily but Im still on the roof.
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