Serious distortion from Rega RP1

Agree with Matt Miller.

Make sure the wiring is securely connected to the cartridge.

Hi all,

Sorry for the delay and thanks for your responses. The catridge connections all appear very solid. Unfortunately I've only got the one phono stage, so I have no way of swapping it out.

Dougdeacon, here's a bit more info: The distortion is definitely in both channels. It's very noticeable, but it does come and go. It seems to appear during the same passages over and over when I play a record multiple times. Normally I would blame this on a damaged record, but this is happening even on new records that are played for the first time.

Thanks for all your help.

One more note: I know it's often the case that distortion is more common in loud passages due to grooved-out records or toward the end of an album due to cartridge misalignment. This distortion isn't related to volume or location of the stylus on the record.

Have you checked your VTF?

For the safety of your vinyl I'd also check VTF first. But if your noise is not correlated with music volume or inner grooves, that may not be the cause.

Sadly, even new records can have flawed vinyl due to errors during the pressing process. Such flaws sound alot like mistracking (FFZZZZT!) but are non-correlated with the music. They can happen anywhere on the record, though in truth they tend to affect the inner side of groovewalls more, which tends to produce L channel noise only.

It's beginning to sound like a loose or dirty connection somewhere. Try removing and cleaning each connection in your phono chain (cartridge clips, tonearm cable, phono stage, tubes, etc.)

If that doesn't help, a bad solder joint might be the culprit.

Lots of trouble shooting in your future... :-(