2. analog
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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
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 

So everyone knows where we are bands 6 - 9 are bias adjustment tracks +12 to +18 dB in 2 dB steps at 300 hz

@terrible , You are only getting through the 12 dB track without distortion. But the key here is which channel is distorting and how much. The right channel is the groove wall to the outside of the record. The left channel is the groove to the inside. If the right channel is distorting more than the left you need to increase the antiskating force. If the left channel is distorting more you have to decrease it. Many people think this method over predicts antiskating and fall back on the slow drift test. Anyway , because I can't distinguish one channel form the other I can't tell online.

The next tracks are lateral and vertical resonance.  Lateral resonance is at 9 Hz and it is easy to see as the stylus pops right out of the groove. Vertical is at 13 Hz and well dampened. I suspect when you get your antiskating set well it won't pop out of the groove. From a resonance standpoint you are all set! 

Band 4 is tracking ability and you are distorting. Again I suspect because the antiskating is off. Which channel is distorting more will give you an idea whether you should add or subtract antiskating.

terrible's avatar
terrible OP
44 posts
 

@mijostyn Even I cannot tell, as the distortion seems to come from both the speakers. I am finding it hard to tell the difference. By the ‘slow drift test’ you mean the tone arm drifting towards the spindle after the track is over? Well that happens perfectly well currently.

goofyfoot's avatar
goofyfoot
1,370 posts
 

terrible, I would recommend not using the anti skate at all, just to hear what that sounds like. Then, to set the anti skate, I would use a laser disc. 

mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 

@terrible , No! You use your tonearm lift an gently lower the arm in between grooves in the run out section and watch which direction the tonearm drifts. The stylus is not in the groove! It will find a groove in a couple of seconds but that is more than enough time to determine what the arm is going to do. It should drift slowly, very slowly towards the spindle. If you have a record with a blank side like The Lumineers Cleopatra you can use that. This is the method Frank Schroder and Peter Ledermann recommend and it really is quite simple.

terrible's avatar
terrible OP
44 posts
 

@mijostyn I think I understand you. I'll record and put it up here soon.

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