I sent an AT-ART9XI to VAS to have its cantilever aligned. When I got the cart back the cantilever was straight but the cart would pop - LOUDLY - about once per side. It was startlingly loud. I initially thought the pops were caused by static but tried everything I could think of to reduce it yet still experienced pops. I eventually sent the cartridge back to Steve at VAS. He opened it up, cleaned it out, and it hasn't popped since.
New Cartridge Causing Intermittent Popping
Vinyl Experts, I need help in diagnosing a problem.
Before this last weekend, I had three (3) cartridges in my stable: Kiseki Purpleheart, Dynavector 20x2; Benz Micro LPS. None of these carts made any significant popping noise. I gave an AudioTechnica ART9 to a good friend last year. That had no such popping noise issue either.
This weekend I installed a brand new Goldring Ethos MC cartridge. It sounds glorious out of the box and is opening up a bit. Very seductive sounding pickup.
But the Ethos is exhibiting intermittent yet consistent popping when playing all sorts of clean, excellent shape vinyl. The popping is as loud as the source material and disruptive. It comes with no notice, stops and starts up with a single pop every so and so. [I haven't timed it]. I can, however, sometimes get through a side with one or no pops. For the most part it is still there.
I setup the cartridge with my Feickert protractor. Pretty easy setup compared to my other carts.
Some aftermarket Jelco headshell leads were a touch a loose where they affix to the arm. I tried crimping them down but to less than perfect status. I've ordered new ones to see if that is the problem.
I've never had any noise issues with my Manley Chinook phono preamp. The lion's share of my collection sounds just great with it until this issue arose. Most of my records that are in excellent shape do not exhibit snap, crackles, or pops unless you crank the volume during a very quiet passage--and even then they are not easily audible.
Goldring says the following:
Load resistance
100 Ω
Load capacitance
100 - 1000 pF
Playing weight
1.5 - 2.0 g (1.75 g)
This cartridge sounds wonderful--especially for the price tag. I really want to fix this small but annoying issue.
Advice?
Setup:
Source - Technics SL1200 GAE
Phono Preamp- Manley Chinook
Integrated Amp - Marantz PM KI Ruby
Thank you folks! Solving this is a priority for me. Your help is greatly appreciated.
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- 32 posts total
Thanks @kfscoll , this makes me feel a bit better as I would hate the issue to be in my system. I really appreciate it. |
Strange stuff all. j have had a variety of tables over the years, and never had this issue. I keep vinyl clean, and clean all new/used ore-flight. I don’t think this is a stylus design issue, but as you will find out, it may be a defective cart. |
@jbhiller , Nothing wrong with your system. It plays the other cartridges fine. It is a defective cartridge. You have coils in there that act as inductors inducing a charge in anything around them. If the cartridge is not grounded internally correctly the charge can build up until it discharges with a loud pop. |
Thank you @mijostyn ! Your view makes a lot of sense. I'm thinking there's something loose internally--maybe the ground connection the green ground post? I really appreciate your wisdom. I really like this cartridge. It started to open up after just 3-5 hours and it was knocking my socks off. |
- 32 posts total