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Turntable Troubleshooting


bouche

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I noticed last weekend that a record sounded funny. So I put on another record that I knew was fine and it has the same problems.

The record has no visible marks. No scratches, or dust. But, when I play it, it's got random static noise and it skips around. The audio is terrible.

I took the platter off and reinstalled it thinking the belt was off a bit or something, but that didn't seem to do anything.

Cables are all connected properly. Could the needle have a problem? The platter seems to have a slight wobble to it, but very slight. I need this working perfectly ASAP.

Your help in this matter is appreciated.

It's an audio technica ap-lp2d

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Could also be an arm balance issue if it's skipping around. Try taping a quarter to the top of the cartridge and see if that works - not a permanent solution but if it works you know you need to adjust your balance.

This is really a question for kookycanooky. Somebody send out the bat signal.

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Needle/stylus issue by the sounds of your description. That's my thoughts anyway.

I could try and find a new one in Ottawa. They're $29.99, but it seems I'd have to order one.

As for taping a quarter down, it's worth a shot. How the hell would it go off that much?

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Needle/stylus issue by the sounds of your description. That's my thoughts anyway.

oh yeah, one other thing I should mention is this is only 2 years old and doesn't get heavy use. I don't know how a needle could die that quickly. aren't they made of diamonds for crissake?

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I agree, only went from your original post. I think TheGoodRev makes a good point though, in fact, that sounds even more plausible.

Wish I could be of more help, mine is about 30 years old and I've had to replace needles/stylus and belts over the years, but can't say I've experienced what your describing.

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If the arm is bouncing around then likely 1 of 2 things is afoot:

1-the arm is out of balance, too little weight

2- the stylus(diamond tip) has gone bye bye.

It could well be gunked up--there are several methods for cleaning, a proper carbon brush would work best but there is a magic eraser and also a sandpaper method that can be effective as well but you have to be careful. Planet of sound or similar would likely have a brush but it might be as much as the 30 buck replacement that you mentioned.

Anyways, check the arm balance first and if that is as it should be have a close look to see if the stylus is still attached or not and if so then a cleaning is likely in order.

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i say most definatly it is the needle. i had the same thing happen to my old player. i switched the weights then it would work for a while. then would continue doing the same thing. Finally i established it was the needle. Went to the record centre on wellington. Working man john carries all kinds of needles. he had the exact needle i needed for my 1967 grundig, then it worked like a charm.

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so it's either balance or the diamond encrusted pickup the tracks the grooves.

From the suggestions, I'll test with the .25 solution and see if the does anything. If not, i will want to get a new... what? cartridge? If this died in 2 years, should I upgrade my.... cartridge...needle?...diamond?

I don't want to have to replace a cheap pickup every 2 years for life.

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it's unlikely you need to tape pennies to the headshell. you should be able to set the tracking weight (balance) by adjusting the counter-weight on the other end of the tone arm.

i would clean the stylus before replacing it. however, if its damaged, you only need to replace the stylus, not the entire cartridge... unless you're looking to upgrade the cartridge/stylus combo.

you can take the stylus off the cartridge, take it to the store for inspection, cleaning and a possible replacement. it should slide off with ease.

the turntable guy i spoke to suggested cleaning the stylus after every 4 or 5 albums, or if albums are brand new, after each album - since new records have a factory residue that is picked up by the needle. i clean it once a month or so.

I'm sure there are varying opinions about what to clean and how often.. i rarely clean/brush my records anymore, and just let the needle sweep dust out of the way.

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From the suggestions, I'll test with the .25 solution and see if the does anything. If not, i will want to get a new... what? cartridge? If this died in 2 years, should I upgrade my.... cartridge...needle?...diamond?

[color:purple]they have these new things called CDs. fucking hippies.

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I don't know, i try to take those big black round things to play in my car stereo. Do you think i should get a new stylus for my pioneer? And seriously how do you get those things through that tiny little slot?

Seriously though, if you're playing your records through a 30 dollar cartridge, you should probably upgrade. You can hear huge a difference between a 30 dollar cartridge and a 100 dollar cartridge, and even better, like all things, if you spend even more. There's some people that claim you should spend just as much on your cartridge as you do on the turntable. So $3000 turntable, $3000 cartridge. I think that's a bit extreme. There's even lots of people who keep seperate arms set up that they can interchange depending on what music you're listening to. A little extreme for me but I can definitely see why people do it.

I can probably get you a good deal on a cartridge if you are interested.

and one more thing, I just got the GD box set from Star records in Oshawa. If anybody ever gets a chance to check that record store out, you should. It's a good one. They have a 180g pressing of Bitch's Brew that I want to get so bad. Maybe next week.

and just one more little thing, if my name was singled out in a sarcastic way for any sort of reason like it feels like it was....suck it baby I don't give a fuck. If it wasn't meant as sarcasm, just don't read the rest of this paragraph, cuz I'm getting my rant on. I've got my shit together. I've got the fucking Tiger blood in me, a fucking warlock and if my MIND desires it, I can wipe you little trolls completeley off of this planet. Kick your little heads to another dimension where the smell of dogshit constantly fills your nose and the garbage and maggots fester everywhere around you, and I don't even do cocaine. No time for that bullshit antisocial white crap that is probably the biggest waste of money and energy on this planet. And if you don't like me saying that cuz I might offend a user, I really don't give a fat fuck you anti-social fucking 'tard. If I appear insane, it's probably just because I am all on my own, i don't need to go on a "journey of epic proportions", to figure that one out. I've known since I was 15 years old, when i was shoplifting ACDC cds from wal-mart. Collecting records is something relatively new to me (again), been at it for a around a year and I got probably 100 records or so, that I really like. Ain't no shit in there, I don't buy a box of records to get 95 records I won't listen to for the 5 I want. I just get the 5 I want.

The combination of my brother owning a hi-fi business and me finally getting into a point in life, settling down to one place to live has allowed me the time and space to do it, without having to worry about moving my shit every few months or year or two from one god-forsaken hole to the next. Now I just get hotel rooms or couch surf when I'm in whatever shit hole I go to and leave all my good shit home. It has nothing to do with jumping on any bandwagon just to be cool. But I will tell you this, IT IS COOL AS FUCK and if I like you, which I probably don't (mainly cuz I'm kinda pissed and haven't seen my family in almost three weeks so I'm grumpy as fuck), I may even invite some of you fuckers over some time to listen to it with me but I doubt that will ever happen cause a journey into the peace and quiet of cottage country is something most of you only do on summer weekends, instead you stay in whatever shit hole you live in, where the sound of cars passing never goes a way. Silence would be too much for most of you to handle. You'd probably go insane.

And if anybody has any sort of problem with me, maybe it should be dealt with in private in the future cuz if I feel scorned or threatened, in public, I will toss my normally very easy going nature to the side and fucking destroy you. I don't care who you are or who you think you are. And if happens again on this board, I probably just won't come back. You think I have time to type this shit out? aahhhh, no. I should be on the road right now getting back to the peace and sanity that is my home, with my family.

I love you all like you are my very own blood brothers and sisters. Now, go fuck yo-selves.

(that felt good, a little technique my good friend, so good a friend in fact that he can over anytime to listen to records without even giving me prior notice, vanagon scott)

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