Xdevo1973
Active Member
Hi Everyone, I'm trying to figure out what the heck is going on with my CD-4 setup. I'm not sure if it's the demodulator or the phono cartridge/stylus setups. The demodulator is a Marantz CD 400-B with carrier auto detection. I have used two different turntables and two different cartridges. The first cartridge is a used AT12S and the second is a new AT clone from Ed Saunders. I just can't seem to get rid of distortion, especially after the third song on an album, even with brand new sealed albums. The Ed Saunders cartridge is very picky with tracking weight where the inner grooves lose front to back separation at anything over one gram, and it any degree of anti-skate. The AT12S is a lot more amenable to playing weight and retains front to back separation at a more reasonable two to two and a half grams. The sandpaper quad appears mostly in the left channel. Do I have a bad demodulator or two bad cartridges. Should I just assume that the demodulator needs a recap? Should I bite the bullet and get a better cartridge? They are so darn expensive. Should I just ditch the Ed Saunders cartridge and get a new stylus for the AT12S? Any help would be appreciated.