Vinyl question...

[Bob Romano]

As I am getting to play many of the LP's I have purchased off of Ebay one thing keeps popping up.

On many of the titles I get a very light vinyl sound. It is a "sssssst........ sssssst" sound that you get as the record revolves. I have tried to realign the cartridge with a template that i found for aligining needles and cartridge and it still remains. The separation is great and there is no distortion in the music but that sound still remains. Any suggestions.

By the way, most of the vinyl is almost scratch free with no major clicks or pops.

Thanks friends.

 

[Frantic]

I have found that same sound when my anti-skate control was askew.

A very slight adjustment there cured the unwanted sound.

 

[Old Quad Guy]

I have also run into the same sound problem with a record that happens at the beginning for about a minute on both sides of record. It only happens with this one record.

 

[aquadad]

I have found that same sound when my anti-skate control was askew.

A very slight adjustment there cured the unwanted sound.

Hello Bob,

I agree with Frantic, on a lot of turntables the anti-skate is a very crude mechanism that goes out of adjustment on its own and the dial settings can usually not be trusted.

quadanasaziland (Dave, where are you these days?) sent me a copy of "An Audio Obstacle Course" a year ago and it has a blank band for anti-skating adjustment on it. Everytime the problem, that it sounds like you are describing, pops up I use this tool to adjust the anti-skate and it's gone.

 

[vinylguy4]

Not sure about what is causing the noise.
I do have records that had heat damage, got that shhhhhht shhhht sound from that.

But I'll chime in on my favorite anti-skate record.
Johnny Winter - Second Winter.
Entire "4th" side is blank and smooth.
Can dial the anti-skate to cause stylus to gravitate to anyplace on
the record.

Another way, set stylus down in runout area but not in groove, arm should not drift and eventually the groove will find the stylus.

vinylguy4

 

[Bob Romano]

Hello Bob,

I agree with Frantic, on a lot of turntables the anti-skate is a very crude mechanism that goes out of adjustment on its own and the dial settings can usually not be trusted.

quadanasaziland (Dave, where are you these days?) sent me a copy of "An Audio Obstacle Course" a year ago and it has a blank band for anti-skating adjustment on it. Everytime the problem, that it sounds like you are describing, pops up I use this tool to adjust the anti-skate and it's gone.

I have that same record and it works like a charm. The arm stays in the same place as the record rotates. I have my AT cartridge set at between 1.5 and 2grams. I also use a blank 12" Casablanca disco record and get the same results as the Audio Obstacle Course.

Perhaps it's the way the original owner played the record and that's just the way it is.... .

Thanks for the tips guys!!

 

[Frantic]

Bob,

I never thought of that!!!
When you mentioned a previous owner of a record, that made sense. That previous owner could have ground some nasty grooves into the vinyl and now your high end stylus falls into the ugly groove.

Good luck.

 

[jdmack]

I also use a blank 12" Casablanca disco record and get the same results as the Audio Obstacle Course.

Ha! I use the same thing! I saw one that was tacked to the wall in a used record store as a decoration. The clerk was very puzzled when I insisted that he sell it to me.

J. D.

 

[Lucanu]

Maybe that record is just dirty inside the grooves.
Just my 2 cents.

 

[aquadad]

Perhaps it's the way the original owner played the record and that's just the way it is.... .

Darn those ceramic cartridge owners with the coins taped to the headshell!!!:howl

 

[Lucanu]

ditto!

 

[Frantic]

Darn those ceramic cartridge owners with the coins taped to the headshell!!!:howl

I almost fell off of my chair!!!!!

I remember my uncle doing that with an old console stereo.

Thanks for the laugh!

 

[vinylguy4]

One more guess from my past experience.
When I used a dry record brush to try and clean dust from vinyl, actually it would just pile up the dust to where I lifted the brush. Was left with dust in the grooves and could hear it on every revolution.

VPI 16.5 record cleaning machine was the answer for me.

Vinylguy4

 

[Bob Romano]

I think I am going to look into some sort of better cleaning system. I am sure that would help greatly.

 

[jaybird100]

I almost fell off of my chair!!!!!

I remember my uncle doing that with an old console stereo.

Thanks for the laugh!

I remember doing that as a kid when I had a record that didn't play well. But I also thought it looked cool. Now, if I had only known then what I do now...