Vinyl Newbie - So Many Questions!

doodledan

I looked at images of your model TT and the motor mounts are similar to my TT , on mine there are springs that level or keep the motor spinning so that it does float and the belt rides perfectly horizontal on the plater  .  This could be your problem , you'll have to take the motor housing apart to see .

You NEED VTF scale . Your cartridge requires 2.2gms +/- .3 , it also suggested 100pf loading . Your iFi is set at 110pf  so your OK there .

Your experiece with new pressing is very unlucky , I stay away from the EU pressings that do not have the original company label on them / or the ones that don't pay royalties .

Good Luck

P.S.

I don't think that the motor housing should be moving , if you hold the housing can you then move the pulley ?  I beleive that only the pulley should be floating .  The three screws you see on top should be holding the motor housing to the plinth .

I wish there was a simple way to post pictures. The motor literally sits on the shelf, completely independent from the plinth. Since there is already tension on the belt between the motor and the platter, it’s very easy to move the motor and end up with it in contact with the plinth. The only thing holding it in place is a bit of friction from the little feet under the motor and inertia.  
 

I listen to a lot of “independent” type artists who tend to be on small and sometimes even their own record labels. Unfortunately, the production quality is just very poor. Im going to have to rethink my vinyl purchases and stick with stuff that I really want to own that’s either on a larger label or just purchase audiophile pressings. It’s more than a little disappointing that new vinyl seems to be such trash. 
 

In a timely YouTube video posted just yesterday, Paul McGowan talked about that very subject and seems to support what I’m hearing; namely that much of the new vinyl coming out is just a highly compressed digital transfer to vinyl. Much worse than just listening to a CD or highres stream. 

BlueTac under the motor feet to stop it moving?

Phono amp: DECWARE Zen Triode Vacuum Tube Phono Stage ~ model ZP3

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Let’s forget about the quality or lack there of of new vinyl issues for the moment. You actually have a system there that ought to be capable of very nice better than mediocre phono reproduction. So it is worthwhile to analyze that system first before casting aspersions on the LPs themselves. Are you saying that the RCA’s between your IFI phono and the CJ amplifier are something called “monolith”?The capacitance of those cables does not matter much in this instance. The only thing that is important is the capacitance of the cables between tonearm and the phono inputs on your phono stage. The responder who said you’re ok for total capacitance is wrong because we don’t yet know the capacitance added by the ICs between cartridge and phono stage. I’d bet they add at least another 100pF, so your cartridge is likely seeing >200pF when it’s designed for 100pF. It is going to be a bit difficult to rectify this problem, if it is the reason why you are hearing ticks and pops so often. What happens is that the relatively high inductance of a moving magnet cartridge in combination with the load resistance and with the total capacitance results in a high frequency resonance. With MM cartridges you have to be careful to keep that high frequency resonance well above audibility. When you have too much capacitance, that high frequency resonance will move down in frequency into the audible range. This can result in exaggerated perception of ticks and pops.