3 Questions about turntables....

Thoughts_Arrive

1. What is the ideal tracking weight? I hear 2.5, 2.0, 1.5??
2. How can I tell if my stylus is not blunt, hard to see it?
3. Not sure about the anti-skating setting, what is ideal?

Reason I ask is that I do not want to damage my vinyl.
I purchased a used turntable and am not sure on the condition of the stylus and the current weight.
I have it set at 2.5.

Thanks in advance.

sirlou22

i would just get a new stylus and cart, that way you don't need to even worry about that affecting your vinyl. tracking force, i believe, is the actual downward force the stylus applies to the groove. when i bought a new cart, the ideal tracking force was in the instructions as recommended by the manufacturer. once you have the tonearm balanced and the tracking weight set for your particular cartridge, you set the antiskate equal to the tracking force.

i bought a used turntable a few months ago and spent hours reading about all the settings, parts, etc., and this was kind of the universal, general rule-of-thumb for initial set-up. luckily for a vinyl newbie like me, there's tons of info on the internet and you tube.

and once i got everything set up right, i couldn't believe my ears. vinyl is definitely the way to go!!!

Thoughts_Arrive

Thanks
Yeah I've been googling.
I'm actually considering a new cartridge. How do you know it will fit onto your t.table arm???

Thoughts_Arrive

I decided to play around with the tracking weight and now it is completely wrong.
When you drop the arm down it slams into the mat. :x
Can't get it right, I hope I didn't damage the stylus as it keeps dropping down quickly on the mat, sometimes right on the edge of the t'table where the steel part is. :oops:

bazzer

I wouldn't be surprised, doesn't sound good. Sirlou22 gave a pretty good run down. What kind of turntable/cartridge do you have? It's better to have a bit more force than a bit less, i've heard.

Thoughts_Arrive

T'table is American DJ.
Cartridge and stylus is Stanton.
I bet I've now fucked a stylus up that seemed fine dammit grrrr.

JKestle

Here are some decent tutorials:
http://www.audiophilia.com/features/cartridge_setup.htm
http://www.audiojunkies.com/blog/1051/t ... yl-records

When balancing your tonearm to calibrate your "zero weight", don't let the needle fall to the mat, keep your finger just below the lever on the headshell so you can catch it before it touches anything. Never drop the needle on the mat itself, you should use a test record you feel is dispensable.

Regarding your questions,
1) Tracking weight depends on the cartridge type, try to identify it and find an owners manual for it.

2) Not all stylus' are the same. There are spherical stylus and eliptical stylus. Spherical are rounded and eliptical pointy (usually diamond). Identify which one you have and use a magnifying glass to see if there's any crud, gunk, hair, are anything else on there. If there is, a great inexpensive tool to clean it off is is Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. See here: http://www.mintlp.com/wild/cartridge.htm

3) Antiskating can be tricky, see this video and you'll get the idea.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxQkbZmU ... re=related

Welcome to the world of vinyl

benjs

Thoughts_Arrive wrote:

1. What is the ideal tracking weight? I hear 2.5, 2.0, 1.5??
2. How can I tell if my stylus is not blunt, hard to see it?
3. Not sure about the anti-skating setting, what is ideal?

Reason I ask is that I do not want to damage my vinyl.
I purchased a used turntable and am not sure on the condition of the stylus and the current weight.
I have it set at 2.5.

Thanks in advance.

Tracking weight varies depends on your cartridge. There are tutorials available on the internet, but your best bet, if you can find it, is to try and obtain the instruction manual for your turntable. It should provide good set-up instructions, including anti-skate, and tracking weight set-up. I don't know if this corresponds to every turntable, or just Technics, but for mine, the anti-skate is meant to be roughly half the cartridge weight.

bazzer

Here's some manuals for Stanton (http://www.vinylengine.com/library/stanton.shtml). See if your cartridge is there. You can look for your turntable too but I could only find American Audio, don't know either.

Thoughts_Arrive

Thanks so much guys.
I've dropped my arm on the mat numerous times, I think I've fucked it, what do you guys think?
I can't find the manual to my turntable, I got it second hand.
Dammit! :(

Thoughts_Arrive

I just spent 30 minutes trying to get it right and no luck.
The stylus ended up bouncing off the mat yet again! :x

bazzer

Thoughts_Arrive wrote:

I just spent 30 minutes trying to get it right and no luck.
The stylus ended up bouncing off the mat yet again! :x

To be honest, I don't understand why you keep dropping your stylus on the mat? Is it because it moves out as its dropping? You need to adjust the anti-skating.

• Set the anti-skate to 0.
• Adjust the counter weight (carefully) so that the arm balances just above the playing surface. It could go either way, you just want to get the arm balanced. Don't let it slam down into the mat!
• Now you've got your "0" point, the next bit depends on your turntable/cartridge. Sometimes you can adjust the markings on the counterweight to set it to 0, others you just have to take note of the position.
  Then you need to adjust the tracking force as directed for your cartridge. Mine is 1.5g-2.5g, 1.75g nominal. On my turntable I turn the counter weight 1/2 turn for each 1g of force, so I turn it 7/8 turns for 1.75g. Yours will be different. You need to know your cartridge and how your turntable works.
  Check this link for your stanton cartridge, or do a google search and find out the recommended tracking force, if it's a range probably best to go nearer the upper range to start.
  Check out your counter weight. Does it have a "0" marked on it and a scale for adjustment? If so, great! Your arm is balanced now so there should be a way to get the "0" lined up without adjusting the weight. Once you've done that just turn the whole thing to the required setting (e.g. 2g perhaps). IF you don't have markings then it's harder because no one knows how your turntable works. You could get a special scale that you can use to measure the tracking force, but that's probably overkill, but maybe your only choice. Or just turn the weight a whole turn and see how you go?
• Set the antiskate to the same value as the tracking force. Again, hard if you dont know what setting you've used. Probably just set it so that the arm doesnt move out when lowered?

You should be good to go, let me know how you get on!

PearlJamster

All these tips about set up have worked for me, only problem i have found with my turntable is that as the needle gets to the last song or so, i get the sound become kinda distorted, i have all the settings set to the recommended settings but don't understand why the records sound great till last song or so.

benjs

PearlJamster wrote:

All these tips about set up have worked for me, only problem i have found with my turntable is that as the needle gets to the last song or so, i get the sound become kinda distorted, i have all the settings set to the recommended settings but don't understand why the records sound great till last song or so.

That could be just because of the turntable... I know they all have different ways of making it sound fine near the center of the record... I actually had a turntable where the entire tonearm physically moved (on a track) towards the center of the vinyl record so as to keep the angle between the needle and the groove the same.

bazzer

benjs wrote:

PearlJamster wrote:

All these tips about set up have worked for me, only problem i have found with my turntable is that as the needle gets to the last song or so, i get the sound become kinda distorted, i have all the settings set to the recommended settings but don't understand why the records sound great till last song or so.

That could be just because of the turntable... I know they all have different ways of making it sound fine near the center of the record... I actually had a turntable where the entire tonearm physically moved (on a track) towards the center of the vinyl record so as to keep the angle between the needle and the groove the same.

It's impossible with a pivoting arm to match the movement of the cutting head (which is tangential to the track). Usually the cartridge is aligned such that it is tangential at two places on the record (no error at those points). Maybe check your alignment, it could be out.

It could be any part of your setup really. I'm not an expert, but there'll be heaps of help out there if you search for it. Maybe a vinyl enthusiast forum? I don't know.

Thoughts_Arrive

Thanks heaps Bazzer. Appreciate that post.
Today I ordered a Stanton 505.V3 Cartridge, Spherical (Scratch).
They had none of the other one I want in stock, for an extra $4 I got this, not that I will do scratching.

I kept dropping it on the mat because I didn't know if it was going to stop or not when I lowered the lever.
I thought it was okay but when I lowered the arm down it just dropped on me, few times now.
Most times it dropped on the mat, didn't swing out, once it hit the outside of the mat, on the actual plate.
I guess I just suck at this arrr.

Just a question with the tracking force...
From what I have read online, you turn the back part of the weight until the arm is level and floats just above the mat.
Then you turn the black dial part to 0, then you turn the whole thing including the dial to whatever weight you need? Right?
My arm has the dial and all clearly marked.

bazzer

Thoughts_Arrive wrote:

Thanks heaps Bazzer. Appreciate that post.
Today I ordered a Stanton 505.V3 Cartridge, Spherical (Scratch).
They had none of the other one I want in stock, for an extra $4 I got this, not that I will do scratching.

I kept dropping it on the mat because I didn't know if it was going to stop or not when I lowered the lever.
I thought it was okay but when I lowered the arm down it just dropped on me, few times now.
Most times it dropped on the mat, didn't swing out, once it hit the outside of the mat, on the actual plate.
I guess I just suck at this arrr.

Just a question with the tracking force...
From what I have read online, you turn the back part of the weight until the arm is level and floats just above the mat.
Then you turn the black dial part to 0, then you turn the whole thing including the dial to whatever weight you need? Right?
My arm has the dial and all clearly marked.

That's the idea. When you get your cartridge, you should get some info on recommended tracking force.

If you're not going to be doing any scratching, I think you'll get better performance from a different cartridge than that. DJ cartridges have to make certain compromises in order to handle scratching etc.

JKestle

PearlJamster wrote:

All these tips about set up have worked for me, only problem i have found with my turntable is that as the needle gets to the last song or so, i get the sound become kinda distorted, i have all the settings set to the recommended settings but don't understand why the records sound great till last song or so.

Bazzer is right,

check this out...http://www.enjoythemusic.com/protractor3.pdf

Cartridge alignment is not the easiest thing to acomplish. That being said, with your cartridge mounted the way it is, print out this pdf and put it on your record player by punching a hole at the crosshairs. if the stylus does not pass through the 2 points your cart is out of alignment.

If it does pass though these points, you should look into setting the Azimuth and Zenith. These are very fine adjustments that require some patience and skill. Here's another "how-to".
http://www.gcaudio.com/resources/howtos/cartbasics.html

Thoughts_Arrive

Thanks guys.