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Turntable Pre-Echo Sound....?

When I turn my system up fairly high, I can make out a faint "pre-sound" of what is about to play, with the beginning of the songs starting very, very quietly about 3/10 of a second before it actually starts.

At I thought it could be my stabilizer brush fibers accidentally acting as little styli ahead of the needle, but it does this even with the brush locked up.

Equipment:
Linn Basik TT
Linn Basik Plus tonearm
Shure M97xE cart
Pro-Ject Phonobox preamp
Harmon Kardon AV240 receiver
NHT 2.5 speakers
Cheap interconnects

Thanks in advance,
Dusty
128x128heyitsmedusty
uraniumcommittee
60 posts
 
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.
musicslug
430 posts
 
if it's only on your turntable it's probably a kind of bleed-over you get from the adjacent groove on the lp - it's a flaw in the pressing, not a problem with your system
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
Actually, it's a good sign for your system. Most pre-echoes are at pretty low levels. The more resolving the system, the easier and more frequently you'll hear them.
heyitsmedusty's avatar
heyitsmedusty OP
227 posts
 
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?
audiokinesis
2,710 posts
 
I saw a cartoon in Stereo Review years ago wherein a customer asked his dealer about hearing the first few notes softly before hearing them at full volume. The dealer replied,

"yes, that's a common phenomenon... YES, THAT'S A COMMMON PHENOMENON..."

Cheers,

Duke
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