Woofer pumping - what gives?


Some years ago I noticed that regardless of the speakers, cartridge or preamp in the circuit my woofers pump wildly out of control the more I advance the volume while playing an LP. They don't seem to be responding to the musical signal but something else. The sound is fine. My humble rig is a Dual 1219 with a NOS Shure M91ED cartridge. Tapes made from the same LP's do not exhibit this odd behavior. Who knows why woofers look like they're going nuts while playing an LP?
rockvirgo
Skn77a, I have the same situation but to a lesser degree. Please explain what you mean by the effective mass of the arm is too high for the compliance of the cartridge. I would like to eliminate this woofer excursion.
Thanks,
Ditto Sean. This is why some (esp. older) integrateds/pre's have a "low freq filter" or something similar (they all are hi-pass filters attenuating the signal from ~ 20 Hz and below). If you're sure your cartridge is OK, maybe your rig has this feature - use it. If not, you may want to add such a filter, although its proper implementation is yet another entire story.
Could it also be low frequency feedback from the speakers to the turntable ? If your turntable is not well isolated from the speakers you'll get this problem (I did a few years back). If your speakers are spiked into a wooden floor (either directly or through a stand) and if your turntable is on a rack or piece of furniture that is also sat on the same wooden floor then I bet you've got feedback.
I solved it two ways : either wall mount the turntable, or place the turntable on an isolation platform. I made my own isolation platform from a concrete slab and a thick wedge of foam. In either case the "wobbling woofers" were completely cured.
The above answers are also good reasons for your situation, but if your setup fits my description then try a simple isolation platform to see if it makes a difference.
If your turntable has a dustcover, I'd suggest removing it–that could exacerbate low-frequency "feedback" from your speakers.
Do the woofers "wobble" when playing stuff that has no low bass? If so its not feedback. Im guessing Sktn77a has got it right.