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A pitch too High!

Recently, I damaged the V2 MM cartridge of Clearaudio Concept Wood turntable, so had it changed with a Grado Prestige Blue. The VTF for V2 is 2.2g while Grado blue stands at 1.5g. I took someone’s help to fix this. He even made azimuth adjustments and it sounded fine. But I soon realised that the sound had become thinner, voice being the primary indicator and just before the stylus landed on the record, it skipped back a bit then hit the record. Sometimes the tonearm would skip all the way out of the record, backwards. I called the guy back, and he felt the VTF should be fixed to around 2g to avoid the backward skip. He did so and that problem was licked and it seemed the voice thinning issue had also vanished. But last night, I put on the first pressing of Aretha Franklin Amazing Grace, and all along I found her pitch way higher, it was all too high pitched and uncomfortable. Seemed the bass had gone missing a little. On my Boulder 866, I could immediately hear the difference when the track was played through Roon. It was not as high pitched, thin as it sounded on analogue. I intend to call the guy again but wanted to know from experts here as to what the issue could be.
128x128terrible
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
The reason I am thinking of another cartridge like Nagaoka MP200 is because @mijostyn suggested maybe I should get something with 2g VTF. This could be the alternative to decreasing anti-skate.


Tracking force DOESN’T MATTER at all.
1.5 or 2g is absolutely irrelevant, every cartridge has a range of tracking force to work with. You can’t damage Grado cart with its aluminum cantilever if your tracking force is slightly higher. Increasing tracking force to the maximum (within manufacturer recommended range) is normal for a new cartridge during suspension warm-up period (20-50 hrs).

You need a digital scale to verify tracking force.

As I told you before you can change just the stylus on your Grado, there are compatible styli to work with higher tracking force (if needed).

But first of all: set your anti-skating to ZERO if your cartridge skip backwards, because this is the anti-skating force. And LEVEL your turntable platter.

ALSO: You might have some dirt on your stylus tip and it can be a reason for skipping and bad sound, clean your stylus tip with stylus cleaning brush (dry) and use carbon-fiber brush to clean your records.

Very low tracking force, too much anti-skating and dirty stylus can can your vinyl playback simply impossible. If your stylus is damaged buy another Grado stylus (it’s cheaper than new cartridge).

Ag insider logo xs@2x
rauliruegas
13,060 posts
 
 @terrible : just forgeret about that " loading ". The person/man that posted knows nothing about. He loaded his Grado because the very low quality of the phono stage he used.

Yours is way different.

Btw, you are a beginner and through a thread and with the explanations of some really experts on the subject and wrong explanations fromm non-experts  you will be more confused and probably you can't learn. 

R.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,807 posts
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hq1G4WID-U(PS AUDIO)

https://www.hifisystemcomponents.com/forum/phono-cartridge-loading-for-moving-magnet_topic992.html(Graham Slee)

https://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/load_the_magnets_e.html(TNT Audio)
http://www.hagtech.com/loading.html(Jim Hagerman)

And on and on. Clearly its not just me. FWIW my phono section is spec'ced to the RIAA curve all the way out to 100KHz, despite the RIAA not having a spec past 20KHz.

terrible's avatar
terrible OP
44 posts
 
@sandstone So I managed to fiddle with the RPM adjustments at the back of the turntable. I got it as close as I could to 33.33 and 45. Images below:

https://imgbox.com/opqkwN6Thttp://
https://imgbox.com/xnAeQyBU

This has drastically changed the sound for the better, the base is back in the voices and otherwise. Aretha Franklin does not high pitched at all. The sound to me is swell. Thank you much for the help.

@chakster Should I still be fiddling with Anti-Skid? The cartridge/tonearm is not retracting or moving backwards at all. It seems fine at 2g. Though if I make it 1.5g, I probably will have to mess with the Anti-Skid.

Is there anything more I need to do? I am pretty happy with the sound but then is there something I need to check so my records don’t get damaged?

Also, I am using ST50 to clean the stylus.

@atmasphere The PS Audio link explains it very well especially for the scientifically uninitiated. Thank you for that. However, how does one know this to be the issue and how do I correct it on my phono stage? I don't even know if I have a function like that. There is of course the choice of MM and MC, and I have opted for MM.
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
@chakster , Great explanation above Chak however, the recommended tracking force of the Grado is 1.5 grams. 2 grams is out of range for this cartridge and will change it's vertical compliance and bass performance which could tilt the performance and make the cartridge seem brighter. However, I agree. The speed problem is definitely going to raise the pitch audibly. But, then why did that not happen with the previous cartridge?
The tonearm should still be set up correctly and the pitch corrected with the controls in back. In the mean while terrible will learn all about turntables and will fly through the next cartridge set up which should be soon as this cartridge is not compatible with the performance of this system. He should have one of the better moving magnet cartridges in the $500 to $1000 range. 
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