VPI Prime Sig/Lyra Delos / Feedback ...help!


Hello all, strange one here...just picked up a VPI Prime Signature Rosewood and a Lyra Delos with about 20-40 hours on it...sounded great at low volume with my sacred Steely Dan - Aja Cisco pressing . Later that night at higher volumes I'm getting a midrange-low feedback . 

Here's my rig : 

VPI Prime Sig with Unipvot / Lyra Delos 0.6m output voltage / 1.75 tracking force

Allnic 1202 Phono Pre (variable DB boost  +22, +24 , +28, +32) 

Manley Snappers / Jumbo Shrimp Pre 

Harbeth 40.3XD 

So I A/B'd w the old turntable VPI Prime Scout / Unipivot / Hana ML 0.4 Output and all was fine 🤔 I then swapped arms moving the Hana to the Prime Sig , no feedback ....🤔

I've tried adjusting the Allnic (all 4 levels mentioned above) and get feedback with the Lyra on every setting...

The hifi business I purchased from said they had tested thoroughly and had 0 problem with it ...so I'm perplexed , this doesn't seem to be any vibration feedback , is the Lyra just not jiving with my Phonostage for some reason? 

Any help appreciated ...

 

128x128tommypenngotti

New theory : 

the Lyra cart doesn’t like my phonostage . Allnic 1202 ohms aren’t jiving and it’s making the Delos work too hard and I get low end rumble at higher volume . The Allnic does have variable gain boost ..I’ve tried them all and same result . 
 

I seriously doubt it’s the position of turntable or the arm because pretty much same arm on same deck with lower gain Hana ML cart works fine . 
 

 

Ralph@atmasphere or someone technical needs to chime on  this one.

Curious to read their take.

I have heard a number of uni-pivot arms, including two that I owned (Graham 2.2t and Basis Vector 3) and none of them suffered from any feedback issues.  These arms were used with Lyra Helikon and Titan cartridges.  If there is a feedback issue (resonance) it is either a very unfortunate combination of all of the mechanical parts of your system--the cartridge, arm, table, table support--or, a defective cartridge.  

What you are calling feedback when playing loud passages might be mis-tracking.  That mis-tracking can be a product of incorrect alignment/setup or, again, a defective cartridge.  

It is almost assuredly not an issue of incompatibility with your phono stage.  The only kind of incompatibility that would remotely sound like feedback would be an overload (too strong a signal being fed into the phono stage), but, that is not the case because you heard the same problem with different gain settings.  

My "bet" would be mis-tracking caused by a defective cartridge.

Yeah, I've fought with that on VPI tables in my "difficult room" office setup. Went though all the usual "maybe it's the cartridge / phono / etc" and tried several combinations of each. I've even used 2 different VPI tables here: Aries 3, Avenger Ref. These VPI tables and their arms do seem to pick up frequencies around 100 Hz plus/minus. The Clearaudio Innovation Compact I used prior to these didn't have any problem in these frequency ranges, but then was a nightmare in the subsonic frequencies - which are potentially dangerous to your speakers. 

If your rack / shelf / feet aren't isolating enough at these frequencies, you'll have a problem. Feet can help a little - the HW40 feet seem to mitigate it by ~ 6dB? The classic Signature feet were absolutely useless. The shelf you have the table on matters a lot. I have a Critical Mass Platinum on a Sotto Voce (very expensive) that's surprisingly ineffective at these frequencies - in fact I think it's contributing to the problem (I place more blame on the rack structure underneath). I've heard from a friend that Symposium Ultra platforms was effective for him. I think a Townshend Seismic platform would probably clean it all up, but they're awkward to use and I sold mine with the Clearaudio. 

The one really surprising finding I've made in all this - the VPI arms with 3D material pick up this feedback a LOT more readily than the older metal arms. Even unipivot vs. gimbal vs dual vs fatboy (they're all 3D material) doesn't affect thing like the actual arm material. The metal wands are simply much quieter in this frequency range! The worst wand I had was an older 3D 10" wand (shiny finish). If you have an arm+cart combo that's quieter, it's probably due to the wand, not the cart. 

One last weird finding - I noticed that even the SUT I choose, and its placement on rack, can have a big impact on feedback. I don't know if that's due to the SUT itself being microphonic, or feedback back into the arm through the cable. The Bob's Devices Sky (lightweight little boxes) gave me the worst feedback problems when positioned on top shelf next to my table, until I moved it to a lower shelf - the it quieted down. The EAR SUT (much more substantial box) has no problems on the top shelf. 

@tablejockey @mulveling @larryi @atmasphere 

so frustrating....thanks for the help ..I wanted to add that the low end rumble is basically like the bottom end is not tight & consistently ringing...even tested with acoustic guitars (no drums) still get the low end rumble..

 

So the latest is the arm was sent back to VPI for repair of the white lead...when it returns I'm going to try some better isolation ...incidentally my room is heavily treated with sound panels ,bass traps, sound absorbing curtains....

I might try the HW40 feet I have , they seem way shorter than the Prime Sig feet so not sure all will line up with motor?