Sibilance issues with vinyl rig


howdy
I've recently gotten into vinyl, investing quite heavily, and coming away unimpressed and frustrated.
the problem is sibilance...I find some albums almost unbearable, and if not unbearable, not terribly pleasant to listen to. On other albums, there is a sibilant 'cast' - even surface noise, and tick and pops have a hollow, pitched up characteristic to them that is unlike I've experienced listening to other systems. When people say 'vinyl sounds way better than cd's', I wonder what the hell they're talking about, or what it is that I'm doing wrong.
I should list out my system quickly just in case there's some familiarity within the membership and perhaps a quick fix, and also to see where I'm at in this hobby:
Rega Saturn cd player
Modwright swl9.0se pre amp
Cary audio slm 70 mono blocks
Totem model 1's
totem thunder sub
running springs haley power conditioning
harmonic tech cabling throughout
vinyl rig:
vpi scoutmaster with jmw-9 signature tonearm and single flywheel motor upgrade and vpi sds
benz micro ace low output mc cartridge
sim audio lp5.3 phono stage
harmonic tech magic cables (used) between turntable and phono stage, and between the phono stage and Modwright pre (new)...I've noted this as the magic cables are newer than what's in the rest of the system.
The lp5.3 phono stage is used, I'm the third owner
The cartridge was new....the turntable, cartridge and magic cables to the phono stage have about 100-150 hours on them now.
I'm quite happy with the cd playback...the saturn was the best under $5000 player I'd auditioned, save for one, and that is in the company of krell, copland, meridian, etc...so in general the system as a whole performs rather well...and no sibilance issues with cd playback.
I set up the turntable myself, following Michael Fremer's dvd in which he demo'd the setup of a scoutmaster. I do have a nice digital stylus gauge, and have purchased the soundsmith counterintuitive to assist with the difficulty of setting the tracking force/azimuth on this tonearm. I can't say I'm an expert at setup, but in listening there are no other issues (left/right balance, tracking erors, etc), so I figure I'm 90% there.
I've tried every resistive setting on the lp5.3. I've tried lowering the output, but I already need to set the volume at 4-5 out of 10 to get where the volume is equal to what 3 out of 10 provides using cd playback, and it didn't solve my problem anyway (thought the sibilance might be caused overloading the rest of the signal path..btw, the benz has an output of .4mv). I fiddled with vta, and found little if any difference. I meticulously clean my records (most of which are brand new) before playing, put them in rice paper sleeves, and use the requisite record and stylus cleaning brushes...in other words, I'm meticulous and thorough. I listen to a huge variety of music, and have extreme familiarity with some (admittedly not all) of the albums - I know how they should sound...ironically, it's the ones I'm familiar with that bother me the most. I do assume the new components should be broken in by now, and either way, there has been little or no change since the initial setting up.
I've invested a chunk of money time and effort, and expected the vinyl rig to sound at least as good as the cd, but I'm disappointed....would really appreciate any input...help!
josephwol
Jose, I looked back, and didn't see any mention of what your vertical tracking force was? What is it? And how old is the Cartridge?

Generally, the Benz Cartridges are very versatile, superb trackers. I've never owned the new ones with the new micro line stylus, but I suspect Benz Micro didn't take a step backward. Mark
Joseph - I've been through this exact same scenario, same table, same problem.

Your problem is not setup related. No matter how much fussing you do with VTA, VTF, alignment, anti-skate, etc. you are not going to fix the mistracking and the sibilance.

Your problem, without any doubt, is you are hitting the limits of the tonearm and cartridge combination's tracking ability. Any form of the JMW-9 arm is going to mistrack with the vast majority of moving coil cartridges.

You can try adding weight to the headshell as Rob has mentioned, but it won't fix things. It might help a bit, but I'm guessing that you actually want to really address the problem.

The best tracking moving coil cartridge that I've found is the Audio Technica AT33PTG. When I tried this cartridge while I still had my Scoutmaster/JMW9sig it about cut the sibilance distortion that I was hearing in half.

If you want to keep your tonearm, you're definitely going to need a different cartridge, and it's probably going to need to be a moving magnet cartridge. Alternatively, take a look at the Soundsmith cartridges. They are supposed to be really good at tracking, and there is one that is special made for VPI tonearms. I haven't tried it myself, but I think you've got a really good shot at clean tracking with this cartridge:

Soundsmith/VPI Zephyr
http://www.musicdirect.com/product/89170

If you want to keep your Benz cartridge (which is a nice cart btw) and have the ability to use other moving coils without tracking error, then you need a new tonearm. The VPI tables are not particular friendly to other tonearms. You would likely need to have it drilled to use another arm, but I do believe that the older style Rega arms are pretty much plug and play. If I were getting a Rega arm however, I would want their newer 3-point mount, which would require drilling.

Switching the table/arm setup entirely is another option. I switched to the Michell Orbe with a Tecnoarm, running with the Audio Technica AT33PTG, and tracking the sibilants nice and cleanly now, even the inner grooves.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

"Soundsmith/VPI Zephyr"

Goatwuss speak wisely.

Notice the over 10 gram weight of the Zephyr. Few, if any, moving coils are that heavy. In fact, almost no other cartridge is that heavy. Unacceptable design flaw on HW's part IMHO. And something we should have been told about. As I mentioned in my Kleos Sibilance thread, I had a VPI tech tell me they like carts that are 11 grams!!

I was tempted to try the upgrade to the 10.5 arm which probably does work better with modern carts. Supposed the Classic can handle modern carts and it has a version of the 10.5.

Good luck,
Robert
>>02-06-11: Robob
Notice the over 10 gram weight of the Zephyr. Few, if any, moving coils are that heavy<<

That's baloney.

There are 8 Koetsus and 3 Dynavectors that weigh 11 grams or more.

The Zu/Denon weighs 14 grams.

I'm sure there are more.
Joseph, I have the Scoutmaster and JMW 9 Sig., and it is simply splendid. It smokes digital, good digital. What you have is either a arm-cartridge mismatch or phono preamp mismatch to the cartridge. One possibility is the table setup. This table has to be extremely level, and on a high mass stand. You need a very stable turntable stand that has a lot of mass plus spikes. The table is prone to feedback if it is on a flimsy stand. My stand is about 200 lbs. loaded with weight. I can set a marble in the center and it doesn't move at all. I can jump up and down by the table and no change in sound....a cement floor, not wood. A wood floor is another animal entirely. It is very liquid, dynamic, open, detailed, and I have had the VPI Aries, 10.5, HW19 MK IV, MKIII, MKII, Linn LP12, AR, and this is by far the best. The cartridge I use is the Audio Technica AT 150MLX, and it is a great match for the arm and table. I use MM preamp phono from Quicksilver. Don't give up on this table arm. It is a good combo. If you are in the BAY area of CA, I can help on an afternoon for a fee of some cold dark beer. Enjoy, Jallen