I have an unusual problem, it does not matter how much I adjust the anti-skating on my turntable (Oracle delphi V - SME309 and Grado Sonata) I can never get the left channel to sound as detail as the right. I must admit that they are pretty close, (same output levels, same amount of details and depth) but if a play a choral work, (like a Bach's cantatas) I hear the "Shh" from the chorus on the right channel, but very little from the left. Can anyone tell me what's wrong? I checked VTA, Tracking force, Azimuth and the level of the turntable and all are correct.
I would recommend re-checking your cartridge alignment. Make sure it is perfect according to the alignment protractor. If you cannot get it perfect, then you have to re-measure and re-set the spindle to pivot distance correctly.
Try a different cartridge...borrow one if you can. It sounds as if antiskating has no effect (too much or too little) so the conclusion must be that antiskating is not the problem.
Thank you for your help. Based of you feedback, I started to check all settings on my turntable. After checking and adjusting all settings, the problem remained. After many hours of frustration, I gave up and listened to my SACD player which I have not heard in a long time. To my surprise, it happened while listening to the SACD!! It was unreal. So I checked all equipment (using a headset with its mini-amp) from turntable, CD, SACD and preamp, and guess what, the problem was not in each device. Only the amp and speaker was left. I checked these by switching channels (left and right) to see if either the speaker of the Amp had a problem. I even pulled out a pair of old speaker to test the Amp. After all this, I had an epiphany, it’s the room. Something with the room make the “Shhh” sound more from the right side than the left. I have an L shape room with the right speaker having wall 4 feet from one side and the back. The left speaker have the back wall 4 feet away, but no wall to the right of it.
I appreciate your feedback. Tonight I will do as you suggest and check for any sympathetic feedback. I guess I fell into the pitfall. Further testing using a test CD, I also discovered that the left side produce bass distortion, it sounds lagging, like as it’s inside a box. Today, I purchased a copy of “The Complete guide to High-end Audio” by Robert Harley to read about room acoustics. He wrote about “L” shaped rooms and suggests placing a bass trap at the left corner to resolve the bass issue. However, it does not address the detail issue I outlined above.
Once again, I am humbled by Audio. Just when I thought I had it down, it proved me wrong again. But you know what, I love it thought.
BTW, I really dislike Digital on music. Even thought, I had spend a fair amount of $$ purchasing the latest on digital SACD Player, DVD Audio, decoder, etc. still it does not come close to the satisfaction, depth and level of details analog have, but I am sure you know this.
It is likely to be the cartridge. When building a cartridge and the top ones are mostly hand built, extremely fine parameters are in play along with very thin coil wire and a stylus which is difficult to see with the naked eye. There is lots of room for misalignment in manufacture.
I will never state this in public but I always start with the 'blanco' LP or the 'blanco part' on the LP. This way you can see with your own eye what the skating is as well how it works. From there you should reduce the amount involved and observe if there is any 'buzz' coming from the R channel. You can ignore anything comming from the L channel.That is the only simple part in your (re) search. This way you start from somewhere while by any other method you start from nowhere. Regards,
Hi Nandric: My TT is fitted with a Rega RB 301 arm. IMHO, the anti-skating control, to say the least, is surprisingly primitive and cheap for an arm having such a nice reputation. Setting anti-skating is at best hit or miss. Please elaborate on the "blanco LP." What is it?? How does it work? Is there any other way to check and adjust anti-skating with some degree of precision? Thanks
Dear Bifwynee, I deed try to e-mail you my answer but your member name seems to be incorrect. A 'blanco' LP is without grooves (plain) and available on some test records. On some other test records there is only the middle part withouth grooves.You need to adjust the antiskate till the arm comes in 'equillibrium' (does not move towards the spindle nor in the opposite direction). From there you need to gradualy reduce the skate force . Considering the problem in this regard with your Rega you can rechek the reduction of the skate force by looking if the tonearm moves towards the spindle on the test record. By replay you should learn how this work. Regards,
Please check the archives on this topic. I think you'll find much better methods for setting AS. If you can see the effects of AS on your stylus as it settles you probably have way too much AS. IMO, and all that.
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