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Are some tracks impossible to track?

I had been having a problem with a few lps, that I thought were completely solved...distortion on highly modulated tracks in 1 channel due to not enough anti-skate. For the most part its gone.

But I just got a 45 rpm recording (Maria Muldaur...Richland Woman Blues) whose 1st track still distorts, a little on both channels. So I increased the VTF to 3 grams and got rid of the problem. BUT...the recommended VTF is 1.8-2.2 g. Am I screwing up my other 99% of lps by tracking at 3g. I do not notice any negative effects when I play other lps at 3g.

Now even at 3g, when I play Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata (Pollini/DG) there is still very slight distortion, when he "hammers" at the piano.

Rig: Scoutmaster/Sumiko Blackbird

So are some tracks simply untrackable or should a properly matched arm/cart, properly set up track anything? VPI swears the Blackbird is a good match for the JMW 9. I have triple checked everything re: setup, but I am new to analog.
dolifant
qdrone
1,039 posts
 
Does your TT have an anti skating control? If you have high end distortion from just ONE channel then its not dailed in.
Get a three sided record (2nd Winter, Ryco remastered Bowie) and put the blank record on your platter. The arm should stay in one spot when placed down on rotating disc in the middle of the record. More often then not it is the pressing.
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Qdrone...Antiskating force is caused by drag of the stylus and the geometry of the arm. The drag varies with groove modulation, and is always more than what occurs with a blank disc. A test record with a heavily modulated pure tone (so that you can hear any mistracking) and an arm that allows you to vary VTF and antiskating force while playing is the best method. Actually, I long ago gave up on pivoting arms because of all the critical adjustments, and use a linear tracker.
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
Eldartford,

If I read one more post suggesting that antiskate can be adjusted by scaping a blank surface with the point of a stylus I'll..., I'll...

... I'll start believing that Saddam really did have WMD's!

Where do these ideas come from? Why are they propagated despite the clear evidence against them?

There must be a hidden agenda. I think there's a secret cabal of people who own vinyl record pressing equipment but no cutting lathes. They're trying to build up a market for ungrooved LP's and make their fortunes. Of course now that we've outed them, they'll have to kill us!
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Dougdeacon...Just to be fair, a blank disc is good for demonstrating that a significant skating force exists. It is no good for setting accurate antiskating compensation.
biomimetic
252 posts
 
Actually I've heard the blank surface thing - and I think as a rough guesstimate of where your antiskate is set, it should work, if you have it set way too high or about right, but tone disks are always best. Most of my post concerns not having one, but in the original post he sites high frequency wobble or tizzyness, which is usually symptomatic of not having enough weight set on the cart, however I think the blackbid exhibits some of this anyway, and the rest of the set up may just be that good, that it's getting picked up overall.
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