Excellent advice from Dougdeacon.
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Tracking Troubles--Upgrade or Setup?
Lately I've been bothered by what I think is poor tracking in my low-budget vinyl setup, and I'm concerned that I'm doing damage to my records. The problem is distortion at dynamic peaks. There was a thread on this a while ago, to which I contributed, because a lot of my used vinyl seems to be just plain worn and distorts at peaks because of (I presume) years of playing on somebody else's setup. My copy of Kenny Burrell's Midnight Blue is particularly bad, and it kills me!
What I've noticed lately is that I'm getting faint distortion on new records, again at the peaks, and particularly as the cartridge tracks closer to the center. Really, I think this problem has always been there but I've listened past it--blessing and a curse, I'm listening more closely now.
My setup is a Technics SL-D2 with a Shure M97xE into a Cambridge 540P. The Shure's known for tracking well, has a new stylus, and I have paid a lot of attention to setup (level, protractor, tracking force gauge, test record), but I'm also a relative vinyl newbie and have had to learn all of it on my own--possibly something's off, and I don't know it. I want to enjoy my records for a long time, particularly those I'm shelling out new-vinyl prices for. Should I: setup from scratch; look into a new table/arm (used Rega P3 or Technics 1200); look into a new cartridge? How big a factor is the table/arm in tracking? Thanks in advance for all help.
What I've noticed lately is that I'm getting faint distortion on new records, again at the peaks, and particularly as the cartridge tracks closer to the center. Really, I think this problem has always been there but I've listened past it--blessing and a curse, I'm listening more closely now.
My setup is a Technics SL-D2 with a Shure M97xE into a Cambridge 540P. The Shure's known for tracking well, has a new stylus, and I have paid a lot of attention to setup (level, protractor, tracking force gauge, test record), but I'm also a relative vinyl newbie and have had to learn all of it on my own--possibly something's off, and I don't know it. I want to enjoy my records for a long time, particularly those I'm shelling out new-vinyl prices for. Should I: setup from scratch; look into a new table/arm (used Rega P3 or Technics 1200); look into a new cartridge? How big a factor is the table/arm in tracking? Thanks in advance for all help.