Killing sibilance distortion - VPI & Jubilee

Hi,

Zhenya, thanks for backing me up on this! Sibilance distortion bloze :-/

To clarify about this particular track, it is a good test for distortion because it has Kraus's sharp S sounds in it, and importantly this particular track is the last on the side in the inner grooves. Tracking records in the inner grooves is MUCH harder than the outer grooves, especially with sibilants.

To clarify about what I heard with the Rega P5/RB700/Benz Ace setup, the sibilance performance was good but still not perfect. I would say it was similar to my results with the jmw9sig arm and the AT33PTG cart. Since my results with a Benz cart better than the Ace were worse than this, maybe I can infer that the RB700 arm tracks better than the JMW9? Or - maybe not, since the brand new Benz carts have a redesigned stylus (Gyger I think), and maybe this accounts for the difference?

Out of several completely different setups that I've heard with this track, I still haven't heard one with no distortion. The main thing that I've learned, and IMO the main take-away of this thread is:

Even if a given table/arm/cartridge is setup perfectly, you cannot assume the sibilance performance will be good. Dial in the setup roughly, double check it, and then listen to sibilant records. If you hear distortion, then it is the limits of the equipment, and no amount of tweaking the setup will fix it.

Tobes, the Jmw9sig has oil damping, and I've tried various levels of oil, from none, to 3/4 full, and I didn't hear any difference.

My challenge to anyone who claims their setup has no sibilance distortion, is to get this record (it's a good record if you like AK), and record and post the track. I would be very interested to hear a recording of this with no sibilance distortion (similar to the digital track that I posted above). To make the recording, all you need to do is plug your turntable into a line-in on your computer, and use the free Audacity software to record.

AK record: http://www.musicdirect.com/product/79215

Goatwuss, which AK? I did we quick look and didn't see the title. Perhaps I missed it. If I have it I will play it and report what I hear.

I doubt that a tonearm's tracking ability has much effect on the distortion levels of sibilants.

Much more important is the way a particular tonearm/cartridge COMBINATION handles stray mechanical energies. (This is what Raul and others mean when they emphazize the importance of arm/cart matching. It's not resonance behavior at 8-11 Hz, it's how the combination handles loose energies at 100, 1,000 or 10KHz, and everywhere in between.)

Every cartridge allows some mix of energies at various frequencies to escape from the generator as mechanical energy, rather than converting them to an electrical signal (which is what it's supposed to do). Those stray energies may reflect off the headshell back into the cartridge, or travel into the headshell and end up lord knows where, maybe reflected back into the cart or elsewhere.

Any stray energies that get back into the cartridge will distort the sound. They're at similar frequencies to the new signal but they're time-delayed, out of phase and probably distorted in waveform shape and amplitude themselves.

At lower frequencies this sounds like mud. At higher frequencies it sounds like fingernails on slate.

***

I don't actually own that AK record, but if someone wanted to mail me one, help me find the software and tell me how to get the signal to a desktop PC that's three rooms away, I'd be happy to post a recording. Might be fun (or embarassing, who knows!).

Narrod - I actually posted the link at Music Direct on my last entry there. It is a double LP set called "So Long So Wrong," and this is the last track on side 2 of the first record called "Find my way back to your heart"

Hello Goatwuss,
I'm glad that you 've come to that conclusion. As with what we corresponded through email, if we have carefully set up the combo (put together with educated guess of which might mate well with what) and it doesn't work after readjusting all the known parameters (VTA, VTF, Anti-skating, Azimuth..etc), time to move on and try different combo. I used to think that with more upscale cartridges, they HAVE TO track and sound much better than the cheaper ones (given that they all are possible good match for the arm). Boy ..was I wrong and the AT33PTG I recommended is a living proof, at least in the tracking part.
If this combo doesnt work out well, dont kill yourself over it with nano adjustment..the issue just wont go away. Try different cartridges or arms. It's all synergy.

Best,
Hoa.

By the way, I dont think you are too sensitive with distorted sibilance. It's unacceptable and it annoys the heck out of me too.