Possible cause of harsh mids?


Once in a while you get that used album that sounds good except for a static like distortion on some more dynamic vocals, horns, guitar.  Just typical for some old albums?  Listening to Corea - The Leprechaun.  It's a very good sounding album, well balanced with great dynamics.  But, that annoying distortion rears its ugly head once in a while.  
pkatsuleas
Thanks.  I hadn’t thought of that.  I’ll give it a try.  I think I may have kicked it up a notch way back when I got the phono preamp (Musical Surroundings NovaPhonomena) to bring the phono volume up to the level of the tuner and CD player.  The phono was quieter when I was using the preamp’s phono stage.
Does this Corea album exhibit the effect every time when played. How do other albums sound, any harshness?

There’s no mistaking sibilance, It’s a narrow frequency range in the upper mids or highs, the sssss sound. It's sounds different than distortion.
Is the loading on your phonostage set correctly for your cart?

MC has listed the most likely causes if this is a persistent problem.


Static like distortion and sibilance are two entirely different things. If the OP had heard this on other records he would have reported it. If his phono stage were overloading it would also do it on other records. I would tend to believe the OP and that it is a unique problem with this record, which means it is a problem with the record. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it is usually a duck. In millercarbon's world it becomes an ostrich.  
I only have sibilance issues on a small handful of records. Sounds like groove damage.
@noromance 
Yes, sibilance on records is atypical. 
I bought some classical records from a private seller online, all had distortion. It sounded like he played them on an old Victrola.