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Inner Groove Distortion- Turntable problem?

80sonvinyl said:
How on earth could VTF be broken? It's literally a weight on the arm, there's nothing to break in the first place :dunno:
I am pretty confident with tonearm balancing, after all there's not much to f**k up, it's just getting the arm horizontal lol.
I said that I didn't hear any increase/decrease in distortion on problem LPs when increasing VTF. I didn't say I couldn't hear any change in sound...never really paid that much attention tbh. What sort of changes would I hear? Increase in bass maybe?
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just trying to help finding possible causes of this IGD deal. not questionning your setup abilities. sorry if my posts didn't sit well with you I didn't mean that. good luck with finding the solution.
 
Final_Baton said:
just trying to help finding possible causes of this IGD deal. not questionning your setup abilities. sorry if my posts didn't sit well with you I didn't mean that. good luck with finding the solution.
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Didn't mean to come across as rude or anything. Your help is most definitely appreciated, you are far more experienced in vinyl than me.
Just saying that I think my VTF adjusting is OK. Antiskate is of course another matter.
 
Take those IGD records to a shop or friend with a known good system, and listen there. That will rule out the records being faulty.

Realign, realign, realign. Set VTF on the high side, and go down from there. Don't be afraid to go slightly higher on the VTF. Experiment with Anti Skating.

Shim the cartridge to adjust Stylus Rake Angle.

CLEAN DAT STYLUS!!!

Upgrade turntable?

Out of ideas...
 
GChief said:
That sux... I have 2 and both of my daughters do also, like $9 bucks off of Amazon. I even took the weights they can with to work and they are dead on. Guess we got luckily with 4 goods ones.
:beerchug:
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I've had three, gave one to my brother, the other to Cooper, the young man I helped getting that great deal on the pristine SL1200MKII. All are still functioning properly, my personal one still has the original battery after 5yrs, still works great.
 
One more time then I'm out, try a completely different cartridge, preferably a better one starting at $300 and up, you do get what you pay for more often than not.

Expecting perfection from a budget cartridge:dunno:
 
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Grenadeslio said:
One more time then I'm out, try a completely different cartridge, preferably a better one starting at $300 and up, you do get what you pay for more often than not.

Expecting perfection from a budget cartridge:dunno:
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On an excellent table with an exceptional arm, even a cheap cartridge like the AT3600 can sound very good!
 
Grenadeslio said:
One more time then I'm out, try a completely different cartridge, preferably a better one starting at $300 and up, you do get what you pay for more often than not.

Expecting perfection from a budget cartridge:dunno:
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Or sometimes you don't. At one point I had a cart that retailed for $675 and it tracked inner grooves worse than the daily driver cart I use now, which is cheaper.

Heard IGD plain as day on a system (not mine) with a heavily modified turntable that costs thousands, linear tracking air bearing arm, and $1K MC cart.

Another system I've heard had a $10K Lyra cartridge with a different, but also heavily modified TT. Astounding in the level of detail, no IGD, but you could hear every little flaw being picked up off the record, even with sealed NOS records.

Perfection doesn't happen with vinyl, end of story. Groove wear, and especially "burned in" IGD from previous play by a previous owner on used records is also very, very common, and especially common with the records OP is talking about.

OP has no made the rounds on three different forums with these same problems BTW.
 
80sonvinyl said:
Try and see things from the point of view of a newbie to the hobby. Forums are full of contradicting opinions and views and if I was a veteran of the hobby and knew my stuff + my equipment, I'd take some stuff with a pinch of salt. However I don't have that luxury yet so I'm in the habit of seeing each reply as true, if you understand.
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Can't relate. Learned how to sort through B.S. at an early age, figured out things for myself, etc. Forums helped me maybe 10% of the way when I came back to vinyl, the rest learned from experience and a refusal to buy into B.S.

If you wanna keep going round and round, be my guest. No more replies from me on this topic.
 
doctor fuse said:
Take those IGD records to a shop or friend with a known good system, and listen there. That will rule out the records being faulty.
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This might be a the best starting point. :idea: :)

What were the albums with the worst distortion, on your turntable? If I have the same pressings, I could give one or two a listen, on my tables. I would need to know specific pressings and inner matrix etchings.
 
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patient_ot said:
Or sometimes you don't. At one point I had a cart that retailed for $675 and it tracked inner grooves worse than the daily driver cart I use now, which is cheaper.

Heard IGD plain as day on a system (not mine) with a heavily modified turntable that costs thousands, linear tracking air bearing arm, and $1K MC cart.

Another system I've heard had a $10K Lyra cartridge with a different, but also heavily modified TT. Astounding in the level of detail, no IGD, but you could hear every little flaw being picked up off the record, even with sealed NOS records.

Perfection doesn't happen with vinyl, end of story. Groove wear, and especially "burned in" IGD from previous play by a previous owner on used records is also very, very common, and especially common with the records OP is talking about.

OP has no made the rounds on three different forums with these same problems BTW.
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And you still get what you pay for more often than not.
 
In this case I would just try a different cartridge to see if the cartridge is the problem. For example, I had one cartridge that would show a lot of distortion, especially in the right channel. I thought it was the records' fault, but then I switched it out for another cartridge, played the exact same section of the record, and heard no distortion. I don't know what was wrong with that cartridge (I did get it used), but I never used it again after that.
 
AdlerW said:
In this case I would just try a different cartridge to see if the cartridge is the problem. For example, I had one cartridge that would show a lot of distortion, especially in the right channel. I thought it was the records' fault, but then I switched it out for another cartridge, played the exact same section of the record, and heard no distortion. I don't know what was wrong with that cartridge (I did get it used), but I never used it again after that.
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told him this in post #5:dunno:
 
Mr Boochie said:
This might be a the best starting point. :idea: :)

What were the albums with the worst distortion, on your turntable? If I have the same pressings, I could give one or two a listen, on my tables. I would need to know specific pressings and inner matrix etchings.
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I am not at home ATM so can't verify matrix numbers. Unlikely you have the exact ones anyway.

Gary Numan- The Pleasure Principle (1979 UK)- M.E has a fair bit in the right channel only (it's only this record so doubt it's antiskate)

Mike Oldfield-QE2 (1980 UK)- 'Arrival' tracks horribly

Thomas Dolby- Golden Age of Wireless (1983 Europe) - last track S2 awful

Tears for Fears- The Hurting (1983 UK 2nd press) last track side 1.
 
"Thomas Dolby- Golden Age of Wireless (1983 Europe) - last track S2 awful."

This is the only similar album I have which is in your list. I have the EMI-Toshiba (Japan) pressing. EMS-81494. 1982. I'll listen to Side B, song 2: Airwaves just in case it's the original studio master which is bad.

https://www.discogs.com/Thomas-Dolby-The-Golden-Age-Of-Wireless/release/871708

Do you have the Mercury US pressing of Tears for Fears - Music From the Big Chair? Any tracking issues?
 
Mr Boochie said:
"Thomas Dolby- Golden Age of Wireless (1983 Europe) - last track S2 awful."

This is the only similar album I have which is in your list. I have the EMI-Toshiba (Japan) pressing. EMS-81494. 1982. I'll listen to Side B, song 2: Airwaves just in case it's the original studio master which is bad.

https://www.discogs.com/Thomas-Dolby-The-Golden-Age-Of-Wireless/release/871708

Do you have the Mercury US pressing of Tears for Fears - Music From the Big Chair? Any tracking issues?
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It's actually 'cloudburst' that is at the end on my version.
Japanese pressing of that album sounds nice!

I have the UK pressing. Funnily enough I don't think I have a problem with that one. I'll give it a spin later though
 
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