Turntable Pre-Echo Sound....?

It's in the record grooves, called "pre-echo". Sometimes it's in the tape as well, due to print-through (in analogue tapes). When a record is cut today, the grooves's pitch is controlled by a computer, which is supposed to space teh grooves far enough apart to keep loud passages from bleeding into adjacent 'quiet' grooves. It does not always work. In the past, before about 1973 or so, this was controlled manually by the disc masterer.

04-16-07: Heyitsmedusty

"Wow, I can't believe I actually nailed what the sound is called in my post title. It's literally a pre-echo!

I have never heard of this phenomenon. Do more expensive cartridges make this better, or does their better tracking make it worse?"

Yes, it's "pre-echo". It comes from two sources:

1) Tape print-through. In thin tape, the strong magnetism from a loud passage can affect the adjacent layers of the tape. This is called "print-through". Good studios avoid this by keeping tapes from winding too tight and frequently rewinding them, so they don't sit in the same position for too long. Also, using thicker base helps, because the tape surfaces are farther apart.

2) Adjacent groove modulation. If grooves are too close together, they can be affected by adjacent ones.

There is no remedy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_Records

"In 1961, Mercury enhanced the three-microphone stereo technique by using 35mm magnetic film instead of half-inch tape for recording. The greater thickness and width of 35mm magnetic film prevented tape layer print-through and pre-echo and gained in addition extended frequency range and transient response. The Mercury 'Living Presence' stereo records were mastered directly from the 3-track tapes or films, with a 3-2 mix occurring in the mastering room."

The post-echo and pre-echo occur mostly with loud passages succeeding or preceding quiet ones. When adjacent grooves are about equally modulated, the echo is masked. When levels are moderate, the effect does not occur. Also, good mastering reduces the effect. The idea is to space the grooves wider during loud passages. You can examine a classical LP and see this.