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Sussurro MkII and surface noise?

I know there are a bunch of folks here using the SoundSmith Susurro MkII. I just finished setting mine up on my VPI Avenger and really the first thing I noticed is how much more surface noise it picks up off my records. I mean, by a lot. My previous go to cart has been a Benz Wood SL, one of the later ones with the MR stylus. I found that to be relatively quiet. The SS uses a O.C. Line Contact type stylus - not quite the same as a MR, but if anything I'd have thought it would be contacting areas of the groove not as heavily traveled as with the MR stylus, thinking it might be either the same or quieter. Not the case by a long shot. Anyone else experience higher surface noise with the Sussurro MkII?
tonyptony
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tonyptony OP
617 posts
 
@folkfreak and @testpilot, what kind of distortion numbers were you getting from the VTA adjustment?
tonyptony OP
617 posts
 
Since the only person that I need to please is myself (from a system perspective), I did not feel the need to remeasure and validate my set up using the software.


Yes. While I can appreciate the logic behind what AM is doing, I think the final judge winds up being your ears.

Point taken @viridian. What threw me is that in past cart setups I hadn't been surprised like this. My Zephyr MkII was/is relatively quieter. I'll give it time after I feel I've gotten it tweaked properly in setup.

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folkfreak's avatar
folkfreak
1,349 posts
 
@tonyptony  I can’t remember the final number re VTA but I was clearly getting results that trended better (that’s until I ran out of room to lower my tonearm further, purely a function of some challenges I have in setup on my table, another 1mm would be ideal)

The AM setup seemed to optimize especially well for clarity and channel separation. Probably not as “organic” and “analog like” as the prior setup, but that’s a trend I see the more I optimize my vinyl rig, it sounds more and more like digital ie flat tonal response, very clear and open, no compression etc
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