Tracking down cause of distortion on vinyl

You must 1st make sure that the cartridge is properly mounted to the tonearm. If it still sounds off, have the stylus inspected under a microscope to make sure it is in good condition and not dirty.

Finally, *yes* you can damage your records by dragging a poorly aligned stylus thru those grooves. If it's way off, one playing could ruin the record...

-RW-

If the replacement cantilever's compliance is weak/out of spec, causing the relationship between the signal generating components(magnets/coils) of the cartridge to be out of alignment; you will experience the lack of fidelity you describe. Increasing or decreasing tracking force, from that recommended, will have the same effect. Bite the bullet, and buy a new cartridge, or an OEM stylus. KAB warns that the cantilever is especially vunerable to damage on this cart, being, "nude". You may want to factor that into your decision(weigh the risks in your environment). BTW: KAB has a Stanton stylus listed, that was removed from a brand new Groovemaster V3, for $20.00( http://www.kabusa.com/frameset.htm?/stantondj.htm )

A dirty stylus can sound a lot like you described. Before you spend significant money on a fix which might be only guesswork, try properly cleaning your stylus.

The key word in the previous sentence was, "properly". I've saved a dozen "worn out" or "damaged" cartridges (including very expensive LOMC's that cost more than your whole rig) for owners who swore their styli were clean before sending them in for service/replacement.

They were wrong but happy to be proved so, since I saved them thousand$ in unnecessary replacement costs. Here's how: Effective stylus cleaning. Search for "magic eraser" on this forum or Vinyl Asylum for hundreds of user testimonials.

Doug

P.S. Regarding a test LP, you've already used several. The records that your stylus isn't playing/tracking cleanly demonstrate clearly that there's a problem. No test LP will tell you any more. It's excellent that you're using your ears and real music to identify and try and diagnose problems. I own several test LP's and can't remember the last time I actually used one, despite setting up dozens (hundreds?) of cartridges. All my setups, tweaks and diagnoses are done using real music.

P.P.S. Yes, if your stylus is mistracking you may indeed be damaging your vinyl. Such damage is permanent and cannot be repaired. I'd advise against playing any important or valuable LP's before you find and fix the problem.

This is an integrated cart, so there's nothing to adjust relative to the tonearm - if it's misaligned, presumably something is damaged with the cantilever.

I have actually cleaned it with the Magic Eraser since this started (I'm a little scared of that device, so try not to use it much) and use a Zerodust before every LP. (Interestingly, Kevin/KAB is not a believer in either of those accessories.) Of course it's possible I'm not using the Magic Eraser effectively - I'll try again with the audio on so I can hear that it's doing something.

However I have noticed that the new JICO stylus seems more likely to pick up dirt by the end of playing a side than the old stylus did.

Long ago there was a stereo store here in the DC Metro area which would put your cart under a high-powered microscope and check it out for you - too bad they're not around, as I would like to have it inspected.

The guesswork aspect of all this is troublesome, unless I just feel trying another cartridge out for fun.

I will definitely avoid playing favorite vinyl while I work this out. Thanks for the responses!