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Newbie Issues: Grace F9 with Micro Seiki DD-40

Hey all - total newbie here. I’ve only been researching phono setups for a few months. I ran into some serious playback issues after trying to replace my cart. Wondering if anyone can tell me what is causing it?

A friend actually gave me a DD-40 with original MA 505 tonearm (14 g effective mass) and stock headshell. So I have been thrown into this (awesome) world of hifi in an effort to live up to this amazing gift. The DD-40 came with a Stanton 681eee cart and I immediately replaced the broken stylus with an LP Gear replica as a placeholder before upgrading. To my ears it sounds really really good after calibrating it properly (I am an entry level digital audiophile but this is my first analog experience). 

Because my setup is MM for now I have fixated on the Grace F9 series as my first cart upgrade. I bought a used F-9 L on ebay from someone with great reviews and an easy return policy. The problem is the playback is absolutely horrid:

- distorted muffled sound
- incessant skipping
- needle gets stuck between tracks

I have recalibrated and readjusted many many times including starting from scratch and calibrating the entire TT and tonearm setup. Every time it still sounds the same. While doing the same steps but going back to the Stanton cart works just fine. I even replaced headshell wires and have nice cables (Kimber Kable and Van den Hul) and a Furman power conditioner. It’s running through the phono input of a Pioneer SX 838. 

When I increase the tracking force beyond the recommended range for the Grace the skipping issue gets a bit better but not really. And the sound always remains distorted and muffled - that never improves.

Visibly the cart, cantilever and stylus look totally fine meaning not bent or broken. But again I’m just a newbie and have not put anything under a magnifying glass.  

So all that said, with the issues I described above, what do you all think is the problem?

1) Worn out needle?
2) Bad / bent cantilever?
3) Busted cart?
4) Bad newbie calibration?
5) Cartridge / tonearm mismatch?
6) Something else?

Any help would be greatly appreciated - thanks!

YL
hauie88
hauie88 OP
23 posts
 
Hey @chakster thanks for that pic. Here are a few pics of mine:

Cartridge and stylus

Stylus and cantilever

Cartridge connector pins

I know my zoom skills aren't great but seems to me the stylus tip is a lot smaller / flatter on mine?

Thanks!

Yuhau
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
@hauie88

My advice:

Open paypal dispute and return your cartridge for full refund including return shipping. Add pictures to paypal dispute, so the seller can see the stylus is still there. Something wrong with your cartridge or stylus. Return it and forget about it, you will get full refund from paypal anyway. 
lewm
13,228 posts
 
Chak, read the thread. The seller has peacefully agreed to a refund.
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
If refund is accepted that’s fine, buy yourself much better cartridge like Stanton SC-100 WoS, this model is amazing. Or 50% cheaper Pickering XSV/4000. Another killer MM is Pioneer PC-1000 mk2 (similar sound to top Stanton, Pickering). They are all better than Grace F9.
Ag insider logo xs@2x
rauliruegas
13,103 posts
 
Dear @hauie88 : Return that cartridge to the seller for the refund because that cartridge has damaged its suspension.

Now, what you have to do is to buy a new today cartridge that comes with a ! warranty " that will runs with out trouble.

You can look to: Ortofon, Nagaoka, Audio Note, Goldring, Garrot, Clearaudio, Audio Technica and many more and all have very good options at different price levels. Don't buy again vintage cartridges from no one even if the cartridge is in NOS condition. You are lucky here that can recovery your money. Again, several today top cartridge manufacturers that will give you warranty of everything in their products including new/original stylus when your need it in the future.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.

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