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Save a vinyl newbie, please

I've been stocking up on LP's for the past month and a half, and I finally got a turntable yesterday (a new Music Hall MMF-5). When I picked it up, the guy had it playing and it sounded great! He showed me how to set the tracking force, vertical tracking angle, the cartridge angle (or something like that), and the anti-skating force. He also gave me some suggestions of how to clean the records and the stylus before use. OK, perfect.

I brought it home and tried some of my records on it. It sounded horrible! I get loud pops every second or two. The pops drown out the music. The music sounds muffled, and sometimes it sounds like the ocean from the tweeters (particularly in the right channel). The situation only gets worse with the volume turned up.

I tried it with several of my best-looking LP's last night and still couldn't find one that was even listenable. I have a couple sealed records, so this morning I tried them with the same results. I called the place where I bought it and he said that only about 10% of records that I'll find actually sound good. That sounds like a good incentive to go back to CD's.

I'm using the MMF-5 with a Musical Fidelity A3cr preamp, Audio Valve ppp45 amps, and Audio Physic Tempo speakers. (You can click on my system for more details.)

Please let me know if you have any suggestions!

Michael
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twl
3,251 posts
 
I'd say follow those instructions he gave you about cleaning the records. Especially if you got used ones. If you have noise "like the ocean" coming out of one tweeter, there is likely some wear on one channel of the record groove. When you buy used records, you have no way of knowing what kind of horrible player it was played on before you got it. Sometimes damage is done. It should not sound muffled. There is something wrong if it is sounding muffled. Make sure it is plugged in to the MM input, and there is no MC loading selected.
rcreations
158 posts
 
did the mmf-5 come with a cartridge that was auditioned at 'the place' that it came from, or did you mount a cartridge?
might be the placement in conjunction with the other electronics. i'd take it back to 'the place' and start over with it hooked up with his stuff.
i might pick up on five hun to a thous lp a year with maybe 5% that have wear or undiscovered flaws that surface when played.
10% sounding good is an accurate statement but sounding good and playing nicely are two different things.
sound like the stylus is worn or damaged!! kurt
sufentanil's avatar
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sufentanil OP
782 posts
 
Thanks for the suggestions so far. The MC/MM switch on my preamp is set to MM (popped out the farthest). And yes, I am using the original cartridge, which hasn't changed since I demoed the unit yesterday. I seriously don't think anything is wrong with it, since it is a brand new unit.

Is there anything simple that I'm overlooking?

Michael
bora's avatar
bora
61 posts
 
if your getting pops...that means your stylus is mistracking....set the arm and counter wait to zero again and also the azimuth to o...and now set up tuntable again as the guy showed you at the store...also check the make sure all the connections on the cartridge are not loose....the muffled sound is called wow/flutter...that means your cart is mistracking and most likely needs proper alignment with arm,azimuth ,height. dont give up on lp's just yet....ones you get your tt just right...you will never want to listen to cd's again.
g_m_c
443 posts
 
check to make sure your turntable is dead level.
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