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Pioneer PL-516 - Stylus Jumping Grooves

cosme

cosme

New Member
I didn't see a general troubleshooting thread, so apologies ahead of time if there is one.

I have a Pioneer PL-516 that looks to be in pretty good condition. Clean belt, well oiled parts, proper cartridge/stylus placement (49mm), balanced tonearm, etc. However, when I put a record on, I hear a lot of distortion and the stylus skips and jumps out of the groove (no matter what adjustments are made to counterweight and anti-skidding).

Is this simply indicative of the need for a new stylus? New one is on the way, so can test then, but in the meantime, any other mechanical aspects I should dig into?

Thanks!
 
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hi*ball said:
That sounds to me like a worn stylus.

What cartridge are you running, and at what tracking force?

Welcome to AK!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the welcome!

Running a Shure M91ED with a Shure N91ED Hi-Track stylus (yellow base with red lettering).

Tracking force is at 1.0g.
 
Tracking at the low end of the cartridge recommended range is often the problem. In general it's safer to run at the upper end as hi*ball suggests. Mistracking, which you appear to have, is worse than an extra half gram or so.
 
Recommended tracking force for this stylus is in the 0.75 - 1.25 range, so that's why I last left it at 1.0g.

But yes, went as high as ~2.5. Skipping issue improved but still fuzzy/distorted.

All signs point to bad stylus?
 
cosme said:
Recommended tracking force for this stylus is in the 0.75 - 1.25 range, so that's why I last left it at 1.0g.

But yes, went as high as ~2.5. Skipping issue improved but still fuzzy/distorted.

All signs point to bad stylus?
Click to expand...

Or a dirty stylus?? Do you have something to magnify the stylus? You would be amazed at the gunk that can collect on a stylus that is very difficult see with the naked eye. Anyway, you should attempt to get your stylus clean. Have you tried anything?
 
Tiver said:
Or a dirty stylus?? Do you have something to magnify the stylus? You would be amazed at the gunk that can collect on a stylus that is very difficult see with the naked eye. Anyway, you should attempt to get your stylus clean. Have you tried anything?
Click to expand...

Heavier tracking has helped improve the issue with the stylus skipping/jumping out of the groove. Thanks for the suggestion everyone.

Still hearing lot of fuzz/distortion. I've tried cleaning the stylus using a stylus brush as well as the Magic Erasure technique. No/minimal improvement.
 
OK, I will get flamed a little for this, but.........

With gentle pressure I work the magic eraser in a very slight back and forth motion with the stylus slightly impressed into the magic eraser. IOW, ever so gently scrubbing back and forth. Yes the stylus and cantilever are very delicate so the the scrubbing is proportionately delicate. Under magnification the results I have gotten from stubborn particulate is very good. These are results I have observed and achieved. This is not a recommendation. These types of procedures are best left to the individual's discretion.

It's intuitive to consider that the stylus drags gunk that can collect on the back of the diamond, thus lifting the diamond contact a bit higher in the groove and potentially mistracking, and sometimes the straight pulling of a stylus brush may not dislodge said gunk. I have used the above described method from time to time.
 
^ No flaming from me. I will brush a stylus in both directions as needed. Maybe not quite your technique but I do have steady hands and will use magnification. So far so good.
 
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cosme said:
Heavier tracking has helped improve the issue with the stylus skipping/jumping out of the groove. Thanks for the suggestion everyone.

Still hearing lot of fuzz/distortion. I've tried cleaning the stylus using a stylus brush as well as the Magic Erasure technique. No/minimal improvement.
Click to expand...
have you tried different records? some older ones (rca and columbia) have much more defined grooves. later re releases not so much. some records just sound fuzzy. and yeah, take a good look at that stylus. or try a different one if you're able to.
 
seabee1 said:
have you tried different records? some older ones (rca and columbia) have much more defined grooves. later re releases not so much. some records just sound fuzzy. and yeah, take a good look at that stylus. or try a different one if you're able to.
Click to expand...

Have tried different records, no improvement.

New stylus arrives on Friday. Will report back whether that resolves the issue.

Thank you all for the feedback so far.
 
Quick update.

Had originally ordered a new stylus for my Shure M91ED. Became a bit impatient after seeing it stuck "In Transit" for over 7 days so I ended up also buying an Audio Technica AT95E (which comes with an ATN95E stylus) from a more immediate source.

Happy to report that jumping/tracking issue looks to have been completely due to a worn tip on the Shure N91ED Hi-Track stylus. No issues with either the replacement stylus or the new Audio Technica set-up.

As a side note, enjoying the AT95E more so than the Shure M91ED.

Thank you all for the feedback!
 
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