MetalDaze

Active Member
As the title states this is my current turntable. I really would like to upgrade but that will have to wait until the finances agree. This table has been OK so far save the usual gripes (anti-skate, preamp etc). I’m using a Cambridge phono stage and all my wax sounds pretty good. The table is level as can be, tracking at 2.0g (scale measured) and it’s set to .325g antiskate. I’ve aligned the cart with a Hudson Hifi tool as well as checked the overhang using An arc protractor I printed from another member. The stylus was right on parallel and the overhang was as close as it could be to my eye. There is Relatively new AT95E stylus on it and there’s a cork slip mat as well.
Last night I put on an Aphex Twin LP I picked up not long ago. This is a 12 inch 45 RPM record. I lisented to it on a friends set up (same TT) the day I bought it and it sounded ok, but it was late and I wasn’t listening critically. I decided to use my Walsh 2’s for the hell of it and put the preamp in direct mode. I barely had the volume past 30% and the sound was just awful. Anything above a certain frequency was distorded and had an ungodly amount of siblance. Upping the tracking force to 2.5g reduced this slightly but it was still crap. I became alarmed and rechecked everything, decided to put back on Led Zeppelin ITTOD and it sounded fine. What gives? Any ideas are appreciated. Also regular 45’s sound okay so is there just too much information in a 12” 45rpm for the Cart?
 
Perhaps it could be that this is a difficult-to-track LP? This could point to the AT95E being a possible culprit, assuming the bearings are good in your TT. I am not sure if 12" 45 RPM are inherently more difficult to track than standard 33 RPM LPs, but I'm sure someone will chime in.

Have you ever used a test record with this setup?
 
Have you cleaned the record since you got it? Is it possible the album is just a bad pressing or recording? If one album sounds fine but another doesn't it sort of points to a record issue.
 
The TT is less than 2 years old so the bearings should be okay. I have not used a test record on my set up but this is the first time I’m encountering a problem like this. I was kind of leaning towards it being difficult to track and the cart being at its limit of function.

I agree it does make me look at the record. I haven’t cleaned it, it’s only been played a couple times and was brand new still sealed. The song in question is “Window Licker” which is a busy trance electronic type mash up. That song is one whole side at 45rpm. Sucks because I like that track. Hard to believe the album is bad but I had a similar issue with Californication by RHCP. It wast NEARLY as bad though, just some groove wear/distortion.
 
The TT is less than 2 years old so the bearings should be okay. I have not used a test record on my set up but this is the first time I’m encountering a problem like this. I was kind of leaning towards it being difficult to track and the cart being at its limit of function.

I agree it does make me look at the record. I haven’t cleaned it, it’s only been played a couple times and was brand new still sealed. The song in question is “Window Licker” which is a busy trance electronic type mash up. That song is one whole side at 45rpm. Sucks because I like that track. Hard to believe the album is bad but I had a similar issue with Californication by RHCP. It wast NEARLY as bad though, just some groove wear/distortion.

Sealed definitely isn't clean, in fact the particulates from the factory and the cheap sleeves they use are sometimes worse than thrift records. Give it a good wet clean of your choosing and try it again. BTW, I find the suggestion of cart/stylus being limited as comical. Also, I think your given TT choice is a good one also, I find nothing wrong with the AT120.
 
Sealed definitely isn't clean, in fact the particulates from the factory and the cheap sleeves they use are sometimes worse than thrift records. Give it a good wet clean of your choosing and try it again. BTW, I find the suggestion of cart/stylus being limited as comical. Also, I think your given TT choice is a good one also, I find nothing wrong with the AT120.

Sorry, I wasn't aware that the AT95E was considered one of the best-ever tracking cartridges, as your post seems to suggest. It is quite possible that the LP in question is a "torture test" so to speak, and the AT95E can't track it. Or maybe not. How you're able to confidently discern this however, I don't know.

EDIT: That being said, OP, is this your pressing? (Check the deadwax)
https://www.discogs.com/Aphex-Twin-Windowlicker/release/8635690

Reviews:
https://www.discogs.com/release/8635690-Windowlicker/reviews#c614243

The reviews suggest that it is not uncommon for others to have this problem with Side A. The question remains if it is due to being cut very hot as one poster suggests (thus causing many cartridges to be unable to track), or if distortion is pressed into it. Or it could be a combination of both.
 
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Sorry, I wasn't aware that the AT95E was considered one of the best-ever tracking cartridges, as your post seems to suggest. It is quite possible that the LP in question is a "torture test" so to speak, and the AT95E can't track it. Or maybe not. How you're able to confidently discern this however, I don't know.

EDIT: That being said, OP, is this your pressing? (Check the deadwax)
https://www.discogs.com/Aphex-Twin-Windowlicker/release/8635690

Reviews:
https://www.discogs.com/release/8635690-Windowlicker/reviews#c614243

The reviews suggest that it is not uncommon for others to have this problem with Side A. The question remains if it is due to being cut very hot as one poster suggests (thus causing many cartridges to be unable to track), or if distortion is pressed into it. Or it could be a combination of both.

You replied to a quote that wasn't even yours?! I can only confirm it's track(ability) from the fact my Aphex Twins sounded crystal clear with no distortion. Of course that's using an AT95e, which I purchased "on the advice of my own suggestion."
 
Sealed definitely isn't clean, in fact the particulates from the factory and the cheap sleeves they use are sometimes worse than thrift records. Give it a good wet clean of your choosing and try it again. BTW, I find the suggestion of cart/stylus being limited as comical. Also, I think your given TT choice is a good one also, I find nothing wrong with the AT120.

absolutely nothing wrong with it, and if you remove the pre-amp the sound opens up more.
I ran it exclusively for a while before getting an AR and it was a good table, only problem i found was you can hear the rumble with headphones but thats it.
 
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You replied to a quote that wasn't even yours?! I can only confirm it's track(ability) from the fact my Aphex Twins sounded crystal clear with no distortion. Of course that's using an AT95e, which I purchased "on the advice of my own suggestion."

I'm not sure what you mean by that - you referred to the suggestion that the AT95E could be the culprit as "comical", and I was the one that floated that possibility, hence why I replied to you.

I doubt the AT95E, even with all the praise it gets, it would be considered infallible by many. You seem to be a staunch defender, however.
 
Sorry, I wasn't aware that the AT95E was considered one of the best-ever tracking cartridges, as your post seems to suggest. It is quite possible that the LP in question is a "torture test" so to speak, and the AT95E can't track it. Or maybe not. How you're able to confidently discern this however, I don't know.

EDIT: That being said, OP, is this your pressing? (Check the deadwax)
https://www.discogs.com/Aphex-Twin-Windowlicker/release/8635690

Reviews:
https://www.discogs.com/release/8635690-Windowlicker/reviews#c614243

The reviews suggest that it is not uncommon for others to have this problem with Side A. The question remains if it is due to being cut very hot as one poster suggests (thus causing many cartridges to be unable to track), or if distortion is pressed into it. Or it could be a combination of both.

Good call. I actually tried to look around but had a hard time finding any reviews. Discogs is great. My dead wax is as follows : 'WAP -105- A2' followed by 'MPO' & then 'mg@dpm' . Again mine was sealed so i didnt had the chance to audition it. I suppose if i attempt to purchase another in the future I'll try to find a used one i can hear first. Its tough to discern whether its cut hot or a poor pressing. Ironically, speaking of hot cuts, my Zeppelin II RL plays fine on my set up. It does skip in 2 places in the beginning of 'The Lemon Song' but thats more so due to the use it's seen before I got it. Otherwise it tracks fine.

Sealed definitely isn't clean, in fact the particulates from the factory and the cheap sleeves they use are sometimes worse than thrift records. Give it a good wet clean of your choosing and try it again. BTW, I find the suggestion of cart/stylus being limited as comical. Also, I think your given TT choice is a good one also, I find nothing wrong with the AT120.

I also agree, respectfully with the tw1st. I don't see my suggestion about the AT95E being at it's "limit" or rather being put through a type of torture test with this particular record as comical. I've read that even though this table has the ability to play 78's (not that i own any) but if you do choose to use this feature, it may be a good idea to upgrade or get a different cart that can do those LP's justice. This is the only 12'' 45 rpm LP I own and was the first time I came across something to this affect. The way I saw it, there's quite a lot of modulation happening in those grooves, especially with the genre of music it is, & its rotating on the faster setting compounding whatever this apparent issue is- hot cut, poor pressing or otherwise. I will however heed your and other's suggestions to clean the record and see if that gives any improvement. I love vinyl, but what a rabbit hole it can be!
 
I edited the link but it only changed the text and not the link itself: https://www.discogs.com/Aphex-Twin-Windowlicker/release/8635690

That is in fact the same pressing (based on the deadwax) that the discogs reviewers are commenting on. I must admit, this has now piqued my curiosity and I wouldn't mind getting my hands on a copy to see if any of my carts could track it (if that is indeed the issue here).

All in all, I think it's safe to say that your TT is not the problem.
 
Thankfully so. Looking further into that link you posted, if I can find a 1999 original release instead of the repress, that is what I'll go for. Glad to know I'm not the only one and its not the gear. Crisis averted :music:
 
MetalDaze your table is probably at or beyond it's limits, I suspect loose tonearm bearings are the issue and when faced with records that are difficult to track that's why your hearing siblance etc. Cartridge is decent but table not up to task, just about all the entry level tables lack any serious quality control by mfgs, only exception might be UTurn.
 
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