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Vinyl headache from hell!!!

I’ve been a vinyl user for around ten years and for the past month I’ve been dealing with various issues on all three of my turntable setup that have got me so frustrated to the point of hindering my ability to troubleshoot these issues. So I’m deciding to focus on one turntable setup at a time and turn to the many experts on this forum for opinions, tips, and ideas.

Turntable one is a TW Acustic belt drive with Morch tonearm and Benz Wood cartridge: the problem is if I play a record from the beginning and playing through the lead in grooves there is static like noise on the L channel for around thirty seconds and eventually goes away. This happens on MANY records I play. If I play the record at middle of the song, chances are it will play fine without the static like noises. Your thoughts?



scar972
jrussell88
15 posts
 
If the problem relates consistently to arm position, I would check the arm wiring. 

Sometimes tapping cables or plugs with a lightweight screwdriver, allen key or similar whilst the amps are on can reveal faulty connections. Try with the arm in the area where the problems appear.
gareents
62 posts
 
I also had this EXACT problem. Reset my overhang (which was off) and anti-skate, as well as increasing VTF to high side of range. Problem went away!
scar972 OP
217 posts
 
I really appreciate everyone who has commented and it has given me some ideas and most of all the energy to try to get to the bottom of this. As shared in my original post, I've been frustrated to the point where it has affected my ability to troubleshoot. The problems started with my Garrard 301 and 401 and when the TW Acustic issue arose, add in a hectic work schedule, I was gassed out and didn't want to deal with it anymore.
This morning I rechecked all my settings and continue the troubleshooting, what I found is the cartridge loading selector knob on my Jasmine phono stage would intermittently cause static-like noises.
At the same time, the four records (totaling 8 sides) that I've been using to test were new from my latest order. 5 out of the 8 sides had the same static at the beginning of it. Yes, embarrassing but unbelievable that 5 out of the eight sides had static-like noises at the beginning. I drove over to a friend's house to confirm the static on my new vinyl on his system. We both couldn't believe it. The Jasmine phono has been dropped off to be looked at by a local technician, hopefully, it's just the selector knob that needs to be replaced. 

lewm
12,448 posts
 
Don’t leave us hanging. Did you hear the same static on the same LPs at your friend’s house, as you were experiencing on your own system?
scar972 OP
217 posts
 
Yes, we both heard the same static on his system, 5 out of the 8 sides all from the same order, I'm hoping to exchange these. The problematic phono is now with a local tech. I do have another phono that should be in perfect working condition, I will do more listening when time permits.
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