David Goodwin wrote:


Lemme preface this: I am a bonehead when it comes to hardware, and
almost a total idiot when it comes to turntables. The sheer amount of
variables (tracking force, alignment, etc.) intimidate me to no end,
so please go easy on me...I simply won't understand unless it's put in
very newbie language.

That said:

I recently replaced my cartridge (P-mount) with an Audio Technica
cartridge. My old one was damaged, and on a friend's advice I got the
AT as a replacement.

Now:

I'm getting some *major* sibilance/high-frequency problems on some
albums, the problem being that I have no idea if they've always been
there or if it's this cartridge that's introducing them. The problem
shows up most frequently as a kind of sibilance...it isn't, however,
just that the "S"es are particularly harsh, but that some instances
introduce tons of noise into the signal. The sibilance is very
"dirty," in other words, with a burst of distortion often accompanying
it.

Additionally, certain periods of high-frequency activity often
introduce a lot of noise into the signal.

Could this problem be cartridge related? Is it fixable? Might my
records just be kinda trashed?:-(

Thanks,

-D








If you are only noticing this type of noise/distortion on certain records in
your collection but not with others having somewhat the same type of content,
I'd recommend you first consider plain old record dirt as one possible culprit.
How have you been cleaning your records, assuming you have? If you've been
using only something like a Discwasher system or carbon-fibre brush to clear
away surface dust, chances are your records still have enough embedded dirt
which can't be seen, but can definitely be heard!

I'd suggest you try and find somebody (even a dealer) who has either a record
cleaning machine using a liquiid cleaner/vacuum dry combination (e.g. a VPI or
Nitty Gritty RCM) or somebody that has access to the Disc Doctor cleaning kit,
which includes both brushes and a specially formulated, non-alcohol-based
cleaning solution. You can read about the Disc Doctor system at
www.discdoc.com, where instructions, prices, etc. are given. If you have a
significant number of records, you might want to invest in a kit. The nice
thing about this product is that for most records, you only have to clean them
once to get maximum benefits. I can tell you from personal experience that the
differences in S/N ratio for records cleaned with this product is quite
striking in many cases.

If cleaning your records doesn't seem to make a difference, I'd then suggest
that you take your turntable in to a reputable dealer experienced in
turntable/tonearm/cartridge setup and have him check everything out.



Bruce J. Richman