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Inner Tracks Sound Raspy

Thought I'd try vinyl again. I have close to 100 old LPs from the 70s and 80s that I purchased when I was first became involved with high-end stereo. Admittedly, some of the old platters are in better shape than the others.

So . . ., to get started again, I wanted to start out slowly. I bought a refurbished Thorens TD 160 w/ stock TP 16 tone arm, which included a Grado Sonata cartridge. My first reaction, quite frankly, was surprise. I hope this is not audiophile heresy, but my old vinyl sounds better than my CDs.

But I do have a problem with the vinyl playback. It seems that the pick-up on the inner record tracks is a little raspy and distorted, especially when playing complex music such as orchestral.

The TT and arm appear to be working just fine. I double checked and reset VTF. VTA looks ok too. I also went on Vinyl Engine and checked cartridge compliance and I think the Sonata is ok with the Thorens tone arm. Finally, I increased anti-skating force and that seemed to help somewhat, but the problem continues to persist.

My question to my fellow A'goners is whether this is normal in the case of vinyl or is something else at play here?

Associated equipment is ARC PH-7 (phono pre); ARC Ref 3 (line stage) and ARC VS 115 (amp).

Thanks for the advice.
bifwynne
bifwynne OP
2,206 posts
 
Audiofeil and Macd: As I mentioned, the tonearm is the original stock TP16, which came with the TT. Audiofeil, when you suggest that there might be an "alignment problem," what are you referring to? The cartridge, azimuth, overhang??

Thanks for the thoughts.
macd
103 posts
 
Would you say that there is equal distortion in both channels?

Make sure your cartridge is lined up with a protractor, if the cart physically looks like its level, I dont think azimuth would be the issue (could be wrong about this). Overhang is related to alignment, a protractor should take care of this.

Until you do this, you will never know. Just search for a free protractor for your arm on google. Expensive protractors are more accurate, but at this time you just want to get it somewhat dialed in so that you can eliminate variables. If all this is correct, I lean to four possibilities:

1)Your cart is not a good match for your arm (checked already)
2)Somehow the arm is not installed correctly (measure this!)
3)table is extremely off level (maybe why the Anti skate affects the issue)
4)software issues (very hard to test this since some records simply track better, even on a poorly set up TT)
bifwynne OP
2,206 posts
 
Thanks Macd. When I called Grado, they said that the Sonata likes a 2 degree VTA, north of 180 degrees - flat. That is, the cantilever/stylus should "rake" a little bit. I'll need a protractor and allen wrenth. I'll report back after I checked VTA and made the necessary adjustment, if needed.
davide256's avatar
davide256
398 posts
 
Im thinking on this one.. its not very typical and when I was in the business I did over 2000 turntable setups. So lets start with what its not

1) stylus problems exhibit throughout the record
2) alignment problems don't manifest this way
3) General arm problems are agnostic to position on the LP

The times I have seen issues with groove position have all been mechanical issues

platter
noise at the juncture between inner and outer platter assemblies. mat design or aging issues where the mat isn't making good contact with the inner grooves

tone arm
binding in the bearings because the platter is tilted relative to the arm. Issues with the antiskating mechanism binding or increasing drag during travel due to corrosion or dust. Counterweight mods touching the gimble at the end of play
davide256's avatar
davide256
398 posts
 
one last thought. Its better to track about 0.25 gram heavier than the nominal/minimum weight recommended. This insures that inner grooves, irregular records maintain good stylus contact. Many myths about lower stylus pressure being better, in point of fact degraded tracking and worn stylii are what damages vinyl. I usually run my Grado Signature at 1.7 gm. This is kind of basic but I shouldn't assume you alredy know.
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