Did you buy the cart new or used? I have a cartridge with a well-used elliptical stylus (the Shure is also elliptical) and it doesn't track perfectly and introduces some distortion. Things to check are the cleanliness and undamaged shape of the stylus, the cleanliness of the records, the vertical tracking pressure, cart alignment, and anti-skate. Records can appear to be clean and be really dirty. Similarly, the stylus can be quite dirty without you noticing it as well. My stylus was recently cleaned and that removed a lot of distortion, although I'm planning to get a newer cart with a "line contact" stylus that rides deeper in the groove, because I really don't like distortion.
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I also have the Shure M97xE on my Technics 1200MK2 and I get inner-groove distortion on every album...new, or used. Have aligned it with the Technics protractor, set the vertical tracking pressure and anti-skate to the proper amounts, as well as above and below recommendations and still get the same problem with the last track on all sides of record skipping...all other tracks are fine. I am pretty new to the record stuff, so just not getting it figured out. If anyone in the Portland, Columbia River Gorge area, or Tacoma know anything about this to help me figure it out in person, or can recommend a good place to go to solve this issue would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
I have this cart and have been pretty happy with it. All the standard stuff (check headshell alignment, tracking force, etc.) One thing to is if you have the brush in the down position. (It has a little brush that you can flip down that goes in front of the stylus). If that is down you need to adust the tracking by .50. It's recommended to be at 1.25 with brush UP, and 1.75 with brush down. Anti-skate (in my experience) seems to work well regardless of brush up or down at 1.25, but you may want to play around with that.
Static is tricky as surface noise is a reality of vinyl, especially older vinyl, higher quality cartiridges can sometimes be less forgiving to older or dirty records. I'd try it on some new vinyl and see if the problem is still there.
My guess is that you're tracking too heavy. And this is a pretty darn good cart for the money. If you're hearing it with a new record and after adjusting the tracking weight, then you have a bigger issue.
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Comments
http://gizmodo.com/5216965/how-to-calibrate-your-turntable-for-the-best-possible-sound
Any cracking and popping is most likely being caused by dirty records, not by the stylus/cart itself.
Make sure your discs are nice and clean before you spin em! I clean before very play with a brush and (non-liquid) air blower.
:-bd
If anyone in the Portland, Columbia River Gorge area, or Tacoma know anything about this to help me figure it out in person, or can recommend a good place to go to solve this issue would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Static is tricky as surface noise is a reality of vinyl, especially older vinyl, higher quality cartiridges can sometimes be less forgiving to older or dirty records. I'd try it on some new vinyl and see if the problem is still there.
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