Killing sibilance distortion - VPI & Jubilee

Goatwuss
one curious thing to note, and it might tie in with that cart question also.

The best this far I got this track playing was with carts that had a much higher compliance i.e. softer ones, and quoted as around 23cu. The Jubilee as we know is 16cu.

In a similar vain, I had issues with the 'La Boheme' SXL when my Dorian came back from a J.Allaerts re-tip. He decided to make it softer also ~ 24cu as I recall, and it improved (but never perfect, note Doug’s mention :-) It got an FGS (Fritz Gyger Special) on boron...

Don't know if that ZYX is of higher cu the 16, if yes, it might help together of course with the stylus profile.

I had a thread a short while ago on "stylus profiles and related distortion" it was pretty much ignored, as there seems this idea: THIS GOT NOTHING TO DO WITH IT... with everyone piling into the last microns of pivot-to-spindle distance until Herr Schroeder added some sanity.
Now I here that Doug found his arm can pass the IGD trick.
Must be Doug's alignment skill, yes :-)

Well, we learn as we go.
Best,
Axel

Have you listened to that same cut on CD? Alison sings with lots of sibilance. It's simply better recorded and clearer on your LP, IMHO.

Dave

Going with Dcstep's suggestion:
what about listening to the Eagles Album: "hell freezes over", side 2, 1st cut, 'tequila sunrise' on Simply Vinyl, S180 VINYL LP.

Might just be we then can talk about OGI (outer groove distortion)also?
I get definitely more sibilants with analogue, when compared to the CD.
(At least you'll get a break from listening to A. Krauss :-)
A.

I am wondering if you know of any surefire path to nail sibilance, IGD and tracking without spending a massive amount of money.

Now I here that Doug found his arm can pass the IGD trick.
Must be Doug's alignment skill, yes :-)

Nope. FWIW, here's my experience...

My Shelter 901 suffered unacceptable IGD and nothing I did helped. Not multiple alignments. Not even changing from an $800 OL Silver to a $4K TriPlanar.

My first change that profoundly reduced IGD was switching to a ZYX Airy 2. The Airy 3 was better, and two higher models (Atmos and UNIverse) produce no IGD that I can hear on nearly any record (assuming the rest of the system is up to snuff).

ZYX's former US distributor, Sorasound, is selling off their remaining stock at deep discounts. An Airy 3 is now just $1895 (I paid $800 more for mine). The Atmos is just $2495, a huge bargain for a cartridge that comes close to the top class. An Airy 3 or (especially) Atmos would address your IGD and sibilance problems (to the extent any cartridge can). They'd also provide a major performance boost vs. your existing cartridges. An Atmos would be a stupendous upgrade, too much cartridge for your rig at the normal price. I only recommend it because of the sale. (A UNIverse would be overkill in your system and irresponsible of me to recommend, even at a discounted price.)

Lest anyone think I'm pandering to ZYX, I'll add that Dynavector XV-1S, Lyra Titan i and Transfiguration Orpheus also have no IGD problems in my system, and they all rival the Atmos in playback quality. But I don't think they're available at Sorasound's fire sale prices. I'm pandering to value.

Upgrading the drive of your TT should also help with HF distortion and will reduce distortion generally. Short wavelengths (high frequencies) are very vulnerable to distortions in the time domain, which is what TT speed control is about. Consider the SDS or some controller if you don't already have.

Hi Doug,
what is interesting here, that those ZYX carts have 15cu quoted, and Micro-ridge styli.
Correct me if this is wrong.

All these carts (Japanese) quote the cu at 100Hz and that means at least x 1.5 for the 10Hz value, to compare it to the rest.
So the ZYX compliance is then: ~ 22.5 at 10Hz. This would make sense as far as my own findings go with sibilants related to compliance.

The Needledoctor quotes the Jubilee spec:
"Compliance, dynamic, lateral 12 µm/mN" ------
My own old manual states 16 µm/mN!
So take your pick, but it aught to be at 10Hz and therefore a big difference to the ZYX's.