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Talk Me off the Ledge - A cry for help

I got an MMF 2.1 about 3 weeks ago along with some used reggae records in good condition. I cleaned the records and they sounded very good. I bought the Pink Floyd reissue of DSOTM and the vocals sound horrible. Everything else on the record sounds awesome but the vocals are ssssooo sssibilant its hurting my ears. Ive adjusted the tracking weight with a Shure gauge, fixed the azimuth with the included paper graph and played with the VTA to try to make the arm parallel to the record, all with NO SUCCESS. The vocals still sound like crap. My 2.1 came with the Music Hall Tracker/Goldring Elan cartridge and Ive played it close to 40hrs. Could it need more breaking in? Any suggestions on improving the sound? Should I abandon the cartridge and get another one? Thanks for all your help guys!
bundee1
twl
3,251 posts
 
Obviously something moved in shipment. There should never be a 10 degree slope on the arm. About 1-2 degrees up or down, from parallel is about it. If it was supposed to be way up there, it would sound boomy as hell down where you are playing it now.

If you want another reference point, use the SRA(stylus rake angle). Put the stylus in the groove of a non-moving record. Look at the stylus from the side, and if your eyes are real good, you can see the little diamond sticking down into the groove under the tip of the cantilever. This tiny diamond stylus shaft should be sticking straight up from the record. If it is tilted noticeably either forward or backward, then you should adjust your VTA so that the SRA is vertical. Then use that as your starting position for listening testing.
satch
329 posts
 
Apart from all the tweaks: ever considered the thought that the vocals on the Pink Floyd record do sound sibilant? If the reggea-records sound good, your set-up shouldn't be to bad. I only own a original copy of DSOTM (not the remastered version), and that souds ok, although a bit processed.
dekay's avatar
dekay
5,715 posts
 
Bundee:

Take one of your thinnest LP's and place it on the bare platter. If you use a mat, place it on top of this LP and then try playing one of the problem LP's. This is a quick/dirty way to change VTA.

Lowering the rear/tail end of the cartridge decreases HF info while increasing bass response and reversing this does the opposite (the trick is find the right balance).

It the arm height adjustable on the 2.1? If not, VTA can be adjusted by either shimming the cartridge or the LP (as mentioned above).

I set the VTA on my TT for thick album stock and use a DIY wool felt mat to adjust for thinner stock (doing so is as easy as placing an LP on the platter). If felt is not a good choice for the MMF, then there are other materials to choose from, like cork, vinyl sheeting, et cetera.

If your cartridge is the same as the one supplied on the MMF-5, then it's on the bright side to start with though it will mellow some with use.

I auditioned the MMF-5 three times (same shop) and when the deck was new it was very bright sounding (like a cheap CD player). The second and third tries were better, after the unit had some playing time on it. I also auditioned a well broken in MMF-5 @ another shop (the crew was playing it quite a bit:-) and it sounded better yet.

Could also be that the LP's which are problematic are not up to snuff in the first place.

It's also imortant to level the platter of the TT. A cheap way to select a round bubble level ($2-$3) @ most hardware stores is to borrow one or two good levels and a plate of sheet glass from stock. Level the glass by shimming it with credit/business cards and use this to test the cheap bubble levels for accuracy. The employee's @ my local store, just laughed and allowed me to do this (out of the sampling that I did more than half were off).
bundee1 OP
147 posts
 
Thanks for all the suggestions guys.

TWL- thanks SRA is ok checked it out with magnifying glass

Satch- I just listened to a couple of Police LPs and they sound pretty good. Could be the Pink Floyd.

Dekay- My table is level, as I checked it with a bubble level and shimmed it up with some cardboard slices. The VTA is adjustable, as I finally managed to unscrew the crappy screws in the tonearm base.

A couple of other questions guys:

1)Is it worth it to buy another copy of DSOTM just to make sure the one I have isnt defective?

2)Every time I screw in the tonearm base screws after adjusting VTA the arm seems to slightly pitch forward from the screws pushing the base in. Should it do this?

Many thanks for all your quick responses. The Police helped pull me away from the ledge temporarily but Im still on the roof.
twl
3,251 posts
 
You just need to "snug" the screw. It doesn't have to be real tight. Just so it stays in place, is all it needs.

It might just be the album. I don't know, I don't have that particular record.
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