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Why are the vocals on some records hidden behind the music on my system?

Help! I am new to this forum, but have been into audio for over 45 years and have never had this problem before. I was lucky enough to come into some money and decided to use some of it to up grade my system for the first time in almost 30 yrs. The system consists of McIntosh MC-402, McIntosh C-100, McIntosh MCD-500, VPI HW19 MKIII, Soundsmith Aida, Furutech Ag-12 phono cable, Furutech silver head shell wires, Furutech interconnects and Furutech speaker cables (yes I like Furutech) and Raidho XT-3 speakers. Now on some albums the vocals are buried behind the music and you have a really hard time hearing the singer? Not all albums are voiced in this manner but enough that it is bothersome. I have a large dedicated man room (24 x 27) with minimum treatment. CDs sound just fine so I feel that it is with the phono preamp in the C-100? I have moved the speakers 100s of times and have them at 5' 8" apart and 8' 1" to the focal point and the soundstage is good and the vocals are better, but you still have to really listen hard to hear certain vocals on some albums. Most of my albums are 30 to 50 years old and have been cleaned with a sonic cleaner (best thing ever imho). Even some of my new heavy vinyl has this problem.
scooby2do
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
As i said this is a first thing to do and if you only can buy this Test Record it will be easy http://www.cardas.com/music_frequency_sweep_lp.php to check In Phase / Out of Phase and Polarity (Both channels in positive polarity)  / Out Of Polarity (Both channels in reversed or negative polarity Spiral). There is also 13 strikes on a high "B-flat" on a piano Note: The last of the 3 strings are brought into zero-beat, dead-on tuning. Listen for the impact of hammer on string, quickly followed by room reflections mingling with one another, followed by a keener sense of the piano sound itself, as the ring-out time of the string exceeds that of the reverb time of the room.   

... and many more features on this test LP 
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Just to clarify, what I’m talking about is the issue usually called Polarity which is when the system is hooked up correctly and all components are in correct polarity (non-inverting). Then, when a recording that is in reverse Polarity is played on the system the resulting sound will be in reverse Polarity. Conversely, if a recording that is in correct polarity is played on a system that for whatever reason is in inverted Polarity the resulting sound will have inverted Polarity. Incorrectly connected cables on one side of the system is a separate issue. 
almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
A possible contributor to the issue which was mentioned by Williewonka and Inna but has not been addressed in the responses by the OP is incorrect anti-skating.

To the OP: When you view the cartridge from the front while it is in the groove of a rotating record, does the cantilever appear to be pointed in the same direction (nominally straight-ahead) as when it is lifted off of the record? Or does it appear to be noticeably deflected to either the left or the right, relative to its position when it is lifted off of the record? If the latter, anti-skating is not set correctly IMO.

I'll mention also that I believe the relatively high compliance of the Aida (in both of its versions) will result in that test being a more sensitive indicator of anti-skating accuracy than in the case of many other cartridges, especially the low compliance low output moving coil cartridges that are used by many of the others participating here.

Good luck. Regards,
-- Al

everstar's avatar
everstar
6 posts
 


I have the Aida. It never sounded this way even when I didn't have good alignment. I use 40db of gain on a musical surroundings nova phonomena. I have it mounted on a stock VPI Prime. 
scooby2do OP
13 posts
 
I just finished a 2 1/2 hr re-alingment of the cart. and did make a few changes to overhang (maybe 1 mm less) addressed azimuth and played with the vta (moving up and down to find the best sound which came when I raised it till the voice of Eric Clapton became sharp then dropped it down till it sounded normal, best I could do?) lewm I switched both speaker cables which tended to muddy up the mids imho. almarg in checking the anti-skate (AQ PT-6) my understanding may be off but I thought you adjusted it to where the tone arm moved backwards then adjusted back toward no forward or backward movement? At present it is set at .5 so that raising and lowering it doesn't move in or out. Now all the adjustments I have made have made a difference in the vocals of most records but some seem beyond help. I feel that room treatments and maybe a different phono stage may improve it more and that will take more time to address than this tread will stand. But I am still open to more input and will happily do what I can to try anything that might help.
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