Killing sibilance distortion - VPI & Jubilee

Search for stylus types on www.cartridgedb.com. There are many cartridges to choose from.

You probably appreciate this already, but clearly there's no such thing as a "hot" stylus, at least if that's meant to imply "too hot". That's a logical impossibility.

EVERY playback stylus is less "hot" (sharp) than ANY cutting stylus. If reproducing the path of the sharper cutting stylus is the goal then every playback stylus is too dull by definition. The cartridge, setup and/or other components may be too hot, but never the stylus.

In addition to shimming to achieve more normal VTA/SRA, try increasing VTF a tad. That can sometimes tame a "hot" sounding setup.

I just opened this thread..late. I listened to the very song on my VPI rim drive/10.5 with my Benz LP, and have no sibilant problem at all. I agree with Doug that a touch of damping fluid at the pivot might help. I set up my arm very carefully with the VPI and then the MINT protractors and found the MINT gave me better sound. I suspect it is because of the MINT's greater accuracy.

Hello,

I apologize for my delay in responding. I have made significant progress towards understanding and solving this problem.

Support from Mike at VPI was excellent, and he re-setup the arm, opting for the Benz L2 instead of the Jubilee. He also installed the 3g weight on the arm.

There is certainly less sibilance from the Benz than from the Jubilee, which you can hear in the above recordings, but unfortunately it still wasn't sounding much cleaner than my prior attempts at setting up the cartridge. Mike suggested that if I am still hearing sibilance, then it is due to the cartridge's limits. (my interpretation is the cartridge's limits in this particular tonearm).

Around this time I was also getting a suggestion via email from a member to try the Audio Technica AT33PTG, with its "micro linear needle" stylus. I picked one up, roughly dialed it in, and gave the track a play to find - it was by far the least amount of sibilance I've heard in this track.

Here is a link to it (compare to the Jubilee and the Benz links above):

Audio Technica AT33PTG playing the track

Still not perfect, but a lot better for sure. This $400 cart sounds to me as good in general as the other much more expensive ones as well. Do you hear any flaws with it? It seems that at least with this arm, price does not correspond with sibilance performance.

What I am now wondering is if a better tracking tonearm is out there, and if so, whether or not it would further get rid of the remaining sibilance distortion.

I started reading through your thread and this last post prompted me to reply. I also own and use a 33PTG cartridge and I've found it to be an amazing tracker. It may not have quite the treble response and clarity or the better tonal balance and bass "slam" of the other cartridge I have setup, a Dynavector DV20XL, but the 33PTG almost never reveals sibilance distortion (if I'm using that term correctly) that I occassionally hear with the 20XL. I actually use the 33PTG to verify whether the distortion I hear from the 20XL is caused by a damaged used LP or is an alignment or tracking problem. (I have identical turntables setup so can easily compare specific components such as cartridges, phono stages, cables, etc.)

I'll be setting up a new turntable and tone arm sometime in the near future (when they arrive) and so will have an opportunity to see if a tone arm upgrade minimizes or eliminates the occassional sibilance distortion I find with the 20XL. I'll try and remember to post my findings.

Tom

Tketcham - That is great that you've also had good results with the AT 33PTG. I would encourage everybody who is encountering sibilance to give this cartridge a try.

The main realization for me is that you can't assume that any given cartridge in any given arm will track cleanly, no matter how precise the setup is.

What turntable and arm are you using?