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Help, I'm going crazy with vinyl noise

I recently changed from an Aesthitix IO phono stage thru a Placette passive to an Ortofon MC step up transformer through a VTL Deluxe MM preamp (financial resons) and a Wilson Benesch Analog rig. Sounds good except every time the cartridge goes over a warp, and I mean even a teeny tiny warp, I get a scratching sound from one channel. It is loud enough to be heard when music is playing and IT IS DRIVING ME CRAZY!

This new set up has more energy at higher frequencies, cymbals and bells are louder but they sound natural and in balance with the rest of the music. The scratching may have been there before and the former set up masked it, or maybe it is just coincidence but I suspect it is just being revealed by this new set up.

I have adjusted antiskating, tracking force, and azimuth from one extreme to the other but it has no effect. Lowering VTA has a slight effect but with the back all the way down it is still very noticeable. I know it is the trurntable because switching the leads into the transformer switches the noise.

I don't have another cartridge to try and this one cost around $3000 so I can't afford to just get another one unless I'm sure this one is bad. I had it rebuilt by Wilson Benesch a while back and it seemed to be fine until now.

Sorry for the length but I thought too much detail was better than not enough. Any thoughts? I considered bad bearings in the arm hanging up when it goes vertical but it is a uni pivot variation that they claim will last forever. My best guess is that something is rubbing in the cartridge when it makes a vertical excursion.
herman
pbb
1,140 posts
 
Herman, you have managed to by-pass CDs completely? Amazing, they have been around for more than twenty years.
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
try to connect directly with no step-up transformer.
i know that you'll have large issues with gain but at least(just for test) you're going to hear something and it'll tell you if the noise is comming from the cartridge or from transformer...
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
I'm not sure I understand what happened when you "switched the leads to the transformer" but I would have switched speakers to see if the sound moved or stayed with the speaker. The general description of your problem sounds like a speaker voice coil rubbing when the ultra low frequency modulation due to the record warp drives the cone to its maximum travel.

By the way, all records are warped, but some are more warped than others. Because of the limited music catalog for the new media discs, it is important to get a player which handles both DVD-A and SACD. I have found a fair number of discs to buy. And there's nothing wrong with buying a DVD-A or SACD remastering of an old recording. They are some of the best, and you can compare your old vinyl with the disc and come to realize that fundamentally better technology, even if imperfect, has overtaken excellent implementation of the old technology.
herman OP
2,259 posts
 
Thanks so far the suggestions.

Marakanetz, I have tried another transformer so that eliminates it as the culprit. I built a simple high pass filter to eliminate subsonic frequencies, no help. I am now pretty well convinced that something is wrong with the cartridge. DRAT!

Pbb, I was pulling your chain a bit, I do have quite a few Cds that I listen to and enjoy. Probably a thousand or so that are not available on vinyl. There is too much good music that is available on digital only and I am unwilling to limit my listening to music issued only on vinyl. Besides, it is really hard to play a record in my car.

Eldartford, I switched the leads out of the turntable into the transformer. So if the scratching stayed on the same side it had to be after the turntable. Since it moved it means it was coming from the turntable. I agree that a multi format player is probably the wisest choice for digital. However, that still does not get past the problem of limited software. Most of what I would want that has been reissued I have on vinyl. It may be interesting to compare the 2 formats but I would rather spend my money on something new to me than another reissue of an old classic.
zaikesman
3,017 posts
 
Herman, assuming you've reversed or swapped-out all the connectors (including headshell leads) as a diagnostic precaution, I would have to guess that since what you changed was the pre-preamplifier/preamplifier chain, you might have engendered a slight overload problem somewhere in the gain structure. Infrasonic info could then result in clipping distortion products yielding the 'scratching' sound you actually hear. Why this would manifest itself in only one channel is hard to say, but since you report that reversing the TT leads reverses the symptom, there could be a response imbalance within your cartridge which could be innocuous under other circumstances (such as with your gear before). I assume your subsonic filter was inserted after the VTL - if so, try inserting it after the step-up and see what happens (just keep your volume control turned down at first, as putting the filter before the preamplifier could add a lot of other noise).

Either that, or as you say, your cartridge is screwed up...Best of luck! :-)
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