-
Feeling lucky? Check out the AK 24th Anniversary Giveaway thread and join in the fun!
SAE 1000LT/E blowout sale on the bay
- Thread starter leakingwater
- Start date
- Status
JP
7480 74111110101115
I didn't. Someone posted them on another forum. That person can't post here. The two close-ups are through a microscope ocular.
I believe it. Having seen the light corrosion on the pins, I’m going to at least try to get some sort of zoomed shot of the cart and see what I see.
Got it. Makes sense, thanks. Edit - ignore the pic below. You can’t see anything from the pic. But if I zoom in, I can see corrosion. Hmmm.
Attachments
Hey @gary7, if this is the post you are referencing, I did read it and was actually wondering exactly what you were talking about? You see, I also saw some "crud" on the tips of my carts (1 E, 3 LT) when I received them looking with a set of high-power Rx fly-tying glasses and adding a magnifying glass to them. I cleaned them and it came off perfectly.....my conclusion was that classicaudioparts, Jeff Moore, had been testing them prior to sale and whatever records he might have used were not properly clean. Hence, what I was seeing was likely the "crud" in those unclean grooves but that is just a guess. Whatever the case may be, the styli cleaned beautifully, revealing the very clean stones and cantilevers to be in like-new condition.
That's to the non-professional, untrained eye having looked at merely dozens, not hundreds or even thousands of styli as some of our more expert-level members have seen. So, I don't suppose you took any pictures of yours that you might be able to put up here for us to view? I'd be really interested if "your crud matches my crud??!!!"
The E pictured above with the snapped cantilever looks to have been in really bad shape! Makes me wonder where that mess actually came from and can't imagine Jeff sending anything out in such a condition, but then there were the corroded pins that he should have caught....I suppose when you're dealing with that volume in a relatively short period of time, anything can happen. But that one in particular leaves me wondering.....hmmmmm.....it looks like corrosion/oxidation! I've seen aluminum that's corroded/oxidized and to my eye, this is what I'm looking at. So, this begs the question of exposure and moisture seems the most likely candidate, but, again, I'm no expert at that.
I've got a microscope I've not set up in years. I'll do it today & get some pics to see if there's any corrosion on my LT.
@lokerola, can you please post the picture where you zoomed in and saw corrosion? Try to get it as clear as you can please.
Hey @gary7, if this is the post you are referencing, I did read it and was actually wondering exactly what you were talking about? You see, I also saw some "crud" on the tips of my carts (1 E, 3 LT) when I received them looking with a set of high-power Rx fly-tying glasses and adding a magnifying glass to them. I cleaned them and it came off perfectly.....my conclusion was that classicaudioparts, Jeff Moore, had been testing them prior to sale and whatever records he might have used were not properly clean. Hence, what I was seeing was likely the "crud" in those unclean grooves but that is just a guess. Whatever the case may be, the styli cleaned beautifully, revealing the very clean stones and cantilevers to be in like-new condition.
That's to the non-professional, untrained eye having looked at merely dozens, not hundreds or even thousands of styli as some of our more expert-level members have seen. So, I don't suppose you took any pictures of yours that you might be able to put up here for us to view? I'd be really interested if "your crud matches my crud??!!!"
The E pictured above with the snapped cantilever looks to have been in really bad shape! Makes me wonder where that mess actually came from and can't imagine Jeff sending anything out in such a condition, but then there were the corroded pins that he should have caught....I suppose when you're dealing with that volume in a relatively short period of time, anything can happen. But that one in particular leaves me wondering.....hmmmmm.....it looks like corrosion/oxidation! I've seen aluminum that's corroded/oxidized and to my eye, this is what I'm looking at. So, this begs the question of exposure and moisture seems the most likely candidate, but, again, I'm no expert at that.
I just looked thru a small hand held scope when I first got the LT. I did not notice any corrosion. Like you said, it looked to be pickup from an unclean record. I'll hook up my digital scope and post pics. I dipped it in my ME & it was clean. Sounds great as for now.
Great discussion here folks. I’ll just wrap up my distortion chasing madness for now by saying I thinks it’s individual tracks on certain pressings that the cart reveals very well. I’ve played a few other albums this morning and they all play perfectly and the E cart sounds fantastic.
Pretty sure you can see corrosion on the cantilever. That’s as good I can get, picture-wise.
Sgt Shultz
Addicted Member
Mine looks the same, thankfully these were only $99, and mine is not seeing any use soon, or ever, just too vanilla for my taste.
Heh heh, don't we all!!!
Seriously once again, thank you for your efforts @lokerola! Just one more favor please.....do you use a brush to clean your stylus? If so, can you gently brush that cantilever to see if the white stuff comes off? If it is corrosion, it will be tough to get off with a brush.....if it's dust, it will at very least move around fairly freely. The corrosion on aluminum usually takes something like vinegar to dissolve.....I AM NOT SUGGESTING USING VINEGAR ON THE CANTILEVER!!! I have no idea what that might do so leaving well enough alone might be the order of the day, aside from some gentle brushing to see if it is thusly removable.
As far as the distortion you are hearing on certain passages goes, one thing I would do is double-check my zenith and azimuth setup as well as VTA. Those are typically pretty easy to do if your arm/headshell allows. Otherwise I think you've come to the most reasonable conclusion that it's just the pressings themselves although I've been surprised more than once how even slight mis-alignment can produce unwanted results on demanding passages.
Last edited:
Sgt Shultz
Addicted Member
Tried with mine before installing and it was a no go, still looks the same even after using liquid stylus cleaner.
And I'll say it again, $300 would be better spent on one nice cartridge than three of these but all spend your money as you see fit.
JP
7480 74111110101115
Here's an E with 'light' corrosion against an LT. All my examples are about the same between the two versions.
The crystalline growth is a royal pain to get off. I've had several 30+ year old NOS examples where I had to scrape the tip of the stylus under a microscope to clear them so they'd sit in the groove correctly.
Full size: https://www.dropbox.com/s/gtlvibbnxipgkk0/R5__3408.JPG?dl=0
Full size: https://www.dropbox.com/s/svevbqqe7irhutg/R5__3419.JPG?dl=0
Excuse the motion blur - not really a rig that's conducive to "causal" shots.
The crystalline growth is a royal pain to get off. I've had several 30+ year old NOS examples where I had to scrape the tip of the stylus under a microscope to clear them so they'd sit in the groove correctly.
Full size: https://www.dropbox.com/s/gtlvibbnxipgkk0/R5__3408.JPG?dl=0
Full size: https://www.dropbox.com/s/svevbqqe7irhutg/R5__3419.JPG?dl=0
Excuse the motion blur - not really a rig that's conducive to "causal" shots.
CrSens
Super Member
Your problem is most likely caused by the hardened rubber suspension of the cantilever.Great discussion here folks. I’ll just wrap up my distortion chasing madness for now by saying I thinks it’s individual tracks on certain pressings that the cart reveals very well. I’ve played a few other albums this morning and they all play perfectly and the E cart sounds fantastic.
Sgt Shultz
Addicted Member
These are old carts for sure
Sarge, might you have some before and after pics? As to your observation about vanilla, I'm reminded of how different things can be when moving from one system to another with different synergy and above all, different ears. My E would certainly not earn a "vanilla" characterization but then even that descriptor might mean different things to different folks. I'm just glad you have other carts that bring you better results!
That's another possibility for sure, @CrSens. It makes me wonder how one might determine if the suspension is as it should be? Maybe a test record? I don't know, have not come across this but I'm sure others here may have some ideas.
- Status