Left channel not working

[Audionooby]

Hi Guys,

Been reading these forums for a while (actually chose the 90s planar 3 I'm posting about based on stuff I read here) but this is my first post).

Had the planar 3 for a while and it's been fantastic. Recently though, the left channel is often silent. I've just replaced my amp and speakers so I know the issue is definitely with the turntable.

The planar I have has the r300 tonearm I believe and a rega elys cartridge.

If I touch the wires at the back of the cartridge I can sometimes get sound (or sometimes just feedback) from the left channel but it never lasts more than a few songs.

I'm guessing I need to maybe disconnect and reconnect the cartridge or even replace it but I have no idea what I'm doing and am reluctant to try until I'm certain that that is the right course of action.

Another issue I have is that whenever I touch the wires at the back if the tonearm, it loses all of its balance and tracking ability to the point where it just bounces of the record. I then have to reset it which I usually manage to do after sometime but I'm not the best at it. I'm not sure whether or not it is normal for the tonearm to be so temperamental but thought I'd best mention it.

The only other point to mention is that we recently moved house (though the left channel issue predates the move) and I think the tonearm may have been knocked out slightly as I needed to twist the main body a few degrees to the right to get the arm facing straight forward. I'm guessing I just need to tighten it up at the bottom but again want to be sure before I start tinkering.

Sorry for the extremely long post and my embarrassing lack of knowledge guys but I'm in Wirral UK and cannot find a single servicing / repair shop anywhere near by some im going to have to do this myself and am very nervous about getting it wrong.

Thank you in advance to any who can help. I hope many years from now when I'm not such a novice I can return the favour to a noob in a similar position!

 

[Audionooby]

Sounds like you could use a pair of nose pliers to tighten the HS lead connectors on the pins of the cartridge and simply avoid touching whatever it is at the back of the TA that craps it up when touched, unless you wanna go through maintenance of the wiring (which might had been overly twisted) at the bottom of it.

BTW: Welcome to AK!

Hi. Thanks for replying so quickly. Sorry if I sound dumb but do I loosen the nuts at the top of the tonearm head with nose pliers, make sure all of the wires are in properly and then tighten it all up again? It's getting harder and harder to get the left channel to work so the twisted wire thing sounds like it could be the problem. Is there a guide anywhere on how I would deal with this?

 

[Audionooby]

No need to untighten any screws, just crimp the connectors at the end of the headshell leads to be tighter around the pins of the cart. Make sure you don't over do it, so the connectors don't get squashed and take care to only exert pressure on the metal, so you don't clip the leads.

Update. Both channels currently perfect. Thanks for all of your help. Really appreciated. One final question which again will sound ridiculous to you I'm sure. I've got new speakers and for the first time with any speaker have left the covers off. Is it normal for the centre to bounce out quite aggressively on heavy drum sections?

 

[Audionooby]

bounce out quite aggressively on heavy drum sections and make aggressive sound is normal. bounce out quite aggressively on heavy drum sections but being way less audible than expected (or all together silent) is the manifestation of sub-sonic frequencies present which indicates either an isolation issue or a cart/tonearm mismatch.

That's great. Thank you so much for all of your help. Really appreciate it.