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Distortion/too much bass from turntable

Hi I recently acquired a Sony PS-LX7 turntable and everything appears to work fine except I'm getting some distortion. It sounds like it's either too much bass or the sound is too loud and thus distorting.

I'm using a Sony Moving Magnet XL-200 cartridge and a Sony ND-200 stylus. I have it hooked up to a Sony TA-F45 amplifier and have the ground and RCA connections in place correctly. The Cartridge Load switch is set to MM at 180pF.

Incidentally I tried hooking it up to a USB sound card that has specific ground and phono amp specifications and the same thing happens, so I'm assuming the distortion is coming from the turntable itself.

Any suggestions on how to get a clean sound? I have also tried isolating the power plug to reduce/eliminate electrical interference but it doesn't seem to make a difference.

Thanks.
garfycat
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
garfycat,
Your table has a built-in phono stage. If connected to the phono input of your amp then the turntable must be set to PHONO. https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/audio-components-turntables/ps-lx7/articles/00032249 Otherwise, if the turntable is set to LINE then the signal is going through RIAA equalization and preamplification twice. The result will be way too much bass, and probably distortion too, since the level will be way too high for the phono stage.
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,851 posts
 
A few other thought to those above. Tracking weight too high? VTF. Arm parallel with record? The lid could also be causing acoustic feedback.


oldhvymec
5,101 posts
 
It's old, it's broke, oh my. 

Eeyore
lewm
13,142 posts
 
Or massive amounts of rumble?
garfycat OP
3 posts
 
@noromance Thanks, this has fixed it. I thought it was balanced correctly but some further adjustments cleaned it right up.

@oldhvymec it's old yes but it's not broken. 
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