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More turntable set up problems

I have an older Teres Audio turntable, purchased in 2005. It is a basically a model 160 with some upgrades, such as a birch plywood platter, a Teres VTA adapter and a hardwood reflex clamp. The tonearm is a Moerch DP-6 Precision red dot with a 12"armtube, and the cartridge is a Zyx R100-02H. I had everything set up in 2005 and everything was still working fine when I stopped listening to it a few years ago. Just this month I decided it was time to start listening to my two channel system again - I really do regret having neglected it for so long, but you can't change the past!

The turntable is level, the VTA appears to be correct, I have aligned the cartridge with the use of a Turntable Basics protractor( the only tool I have for this) and the tracking force is set within the range suggested by Zyx. With the rather crude measuring devices I have (rulers/straight edges) the overhang seems about right - it is supposed to be 13.3 mm, but I have nothing that will measure .3 of a millimeter. Anyway, I don't know how accurate my eyes are but I think I have things set up as close to where they should be given my tool and eyesight limitations. But.....

The sound coming out of my speakers is awful.....lots and lots of distortion, sounds like a transistor radio turned all the way up, if you know what I mean (if you are old enough to have been around transistor radios, lol,) hissy and garbled, really rough.

I have tried adjusting the anti-skating on the tonearm. The Moerch DP-6 has a lever for this, not a wheel, so I can't actually dial it in, but moving the lever made no discernable difference, the system still sounded like you-know-what. I also played with the VTA, just in case, but again, this made no difference.

I am probably going to start all over again and recheck every alignment, etc., but if anyone can give me some tips as to what area I should definitely focus upon - azimuth perhaps? - given the distortion problem my system is experiencing, I would much appreciate it.

By the way, I have a DAC and CD-player in my 2-channel system as well; CD's sound wonderful, so that SHOULD eliminate the possibilities that the DAC or tube power amp are causing the problems. Of course, there is a tube phono-stage/step up in the mix as well, but I really don't think that is the source of the problem - I really think I have done something wrong with the cartridge alignment....

Holly
oakiris
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
Holly, while ZYX does make great cartridges, I know, I've owned 3 of them, the Airy 3, UNIverse and 4-D, I would not just abandon analog if your ZYX cartridge has gone to meet it's maker. LOL! There are a few good cartridge options for under $500 brand new. Denon DL-103R, Audio Technica OC-9 mk II, and Ortofon 2M Bronze to name a few. Also, as Michael (Swampwalker) alluded to, Mehran is a good guy. Maybe your ZYX would have some trade in value towards a demo ZYX R50 for relatively little money. Just explain your situation.

Hopefully Mofi can get your rig up and running again with just some minor adjustments though. Good luck, John.
oakiris OP
206 posts
 
lol - I didn't mean to imply that I was going to give up on analog; I just don't have ANY money to spare right now and probably won't for months, so if the cartridge is bad, I have no choice but to temporarily abandon my vinyl rig until I can afford to buy a decent cartridge - I don't imagine that my system would benefit by going from a ZYX to a cartridge of less than $50, even if it would probably sound better than what I am experiencing with the turntable right now.

If Mofimadness does determine that the problem is with the ZYX, I will definitely contact Mehran to find out what my options are. I still remember how nice it was to work with him when I was making up my mind about which ZYX cartridge would be "the one" for my system.

Holly
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
Mofimadness... you da man! What a generous offer. An an in-system evaluation by someone who knows their way around a vinyl rig is more likely to improve things than all our yacking from afar. :-)

That said, try this first... clean that stylus with a Magic Eraser and brush. I can no longer count the number of "damaged" or "worn out" cartridges I've "saved" for people by this simple measure. Judging by a recent post by Michael Fremer, even he has yet to learn how to properly maintain a cartridge.

From Holly's sonic description, inadequate VTF may also be a culprit.

The TurntableBasics protractor is rather hit or miss. Even used to its best capability, it's a pretty coarse instrument. The fact that Holly's trying to direct-measure overhang with a ruler indicates that her tools and methods need improvement. Consider printing out an arc protractor from vinylengine.com to double check overhang and zenith.

P.S. if Holly sends her ZYX to Mehran, he'd probably send it to me for evaluation before undertaking the expense of sending to Japan, so you might be saving Holly and me some time. Thanks! :-)

P.P.S. If Holly can't find the instructions for changing the Teres bearing oil, I have a copy if you need it.
oakiris OP
206 posts
 
Thank you for your response, Dougdeacon, and for your advice. My turntable tools are rather...primitive...I suppose, though the TTB protractor was recommended to me, back in the day, so I bet Mofimadness will be able to help me out there! I am sure I will learn a lot from him, finally find out how to really set up a turntable, as well as finding out what "gotta have" tools I need.

I will wait until Mofimadness gets down here to check the turntable out before messing with the stylus anymore, but I do have a Magic Eraser stylus cleaner (ok, a piece of Magic Eraser attached to a plastic toothpick, lol) but haven't used it this time around, just used the Zerodust cleaner.

If you have instructions for changing out the bearing oil, I would love to have a copy, too. I did find the instructions for removing the platter, which is the first step. The last time I looked into it, which was several years ago, Chris was recommending ATF, but he no longer responds to emails, at least, not to mine. What bearing oil do you recommend using, Doug? I would like to get this done before Mofimadness's visit; as I recall, it takes several days for the bearing to reseat so it needs to be done in advance.

Holly
swordfis
16 posts
 
Try loosening the screw on the top of the anti-skate mechanism. I have a DP8 and had a similar problem, and the problem was that the anti-skate mechanism was binding, even when I thought I had "defeated" it. Loosening the screw and re-adjusting the tension on the anti-skate did the trick for me.
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