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Taming sibilance: Ortofon OM10/Dual 1019

Zvezda

Zvezda

AK Subscriber
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My newest toy is a Dual 1019 with an Ortofon OM10. I've been getting intermittent and fairly mild to moderate sibilance on most LPs, usually in the middle of the LP, and usually not in the inner grooves. What I've done so far:

1. Verified alignment. The 1019 does have a short tonearm, and the alignment is close to a Stevenson, but has somewhat higher distortion than Stevenson would at the outermost grooves. Sibiliance has not been a problem on these outer grooves.

2. Increased VTF to maximum spec, which is 1.75 grams.

3. Dialed in anti-skate using test LPs and my own listening to non-test LPs. I've been able to move the sibilance from the right channel to the left channel and eventually to center by doing this. It's as even as I can get it right now.

All three of these activities have reduced but not completely eliminated the sibilance. Am I simply being spoiled by the microline stylus on my main turntable? Am I expecting too much from a budget cartridge? Should I consider a stylus 20 or another cartridge entirely?
 
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If that's the cart that looks like the Concorde I would change it as I would think the VTA wold be very jacked
I would use a conical on that table if I had something handy but if not an M97xE or any decent 1/2" Shure for that matter, basic elliptical cut at the fanciest most
 
VTA actually looks really good when viewed from the side. The bottom edge of the plastic stylus housing is perfectly parallel with the LP surface.
 
Try putting two records below the one you want to listen to, and see if the sibilance is reduced. The 1019 and other changer type Duals provide for stacking a series of records, and I believe is optimally set for the third record. If you are not interested in stacking then you can place a shim between the cartridge and holder to set the angle for single play. Online information is available about this.
 
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Dneprrider said:
Try putting two records below the one you want to listen to, and see if the sibilance is reduced. The 1019 and other changer type Duals provide for stacking a series of records, and I believe is optimally set for the third record. If you are not interested in stacking then you can place a shim between the cartridge and holder to set the angle for single play. Online information is available about this.
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Trying this right now. Still hearing a little bit of sibilance in same tracks as before. Maybe somewhat reduced, cartridge seems a bit less treble-forward but not by much. Once I get through this album side I'll have a good idea of how much it helped, but it hasn't eliminated it completely.

KlipschFan61 said:
I had a similar issue with an OM10 on my Tech 1210. Went back to the Grado Gold and never looked back.
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I also had the OM10 on a Sony turntable years ago and had the same issues. I switched to a Denon and stuck with it. That said, almost everybody I see commenting on the OM series in online forums likes these cartridges. I wonder if I'm just more sensitive to this issue than most people.
 
Well, played through an album side stacked on 2 other LPs and the sibilance is not that much improved.
 
Zvezda said:
I wonder if I'm just more sensitive to this issue than most people.
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The more you listen, the more discerning you become. I still use a vintage Ortofon VMS series cartridge and it really likes my carbon tonearm. Haven't tried the OM-10 on the Music Hall yet as I may look for an OM30 stylus to replace the OM-10 before I try it on the mmf 2.3.
 
The suspension on om10 is tuned for ultra light tonearms, totally wrong for a 1019. I’ve used om5e on those without any problems. Same cantilever and stone, but a stiffer suspension.

Oh, and by the way, the OM´s don´t like cabling with to high capacistance, which sometimes can be found on these old tt:s. High capacistance creates a bump in the highest frequences, which can be mistaken for (or accentueate) sibilance. I suspect this may explain some of the rumors about OM:s sounding shrill, something I´ve never heard.
 
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The tough thing about the 1019 is there is no tonearm data published for it. Some people refer to it as a light tonearm, others call it medium mass. No numbers available to figure out who is correct.
 
Since the Dual arms of the eighties and nineties are archetypal LM arms, in comparison I definitely wouldn´t consider 1019 as such. I´d say it was light for its time, but by todays standards mediumish. I´ve had it play along nicely with an om40, so not heavy.
 
The problem is the cart if everything else is factory perfect which at this point we do not know
The 1019 is a changer and the arm sits ass high by definition
Enjoy the table with any good CONICAL stylus
That table came with a Shure M44-MG or similar
Put an M44 on it or a Stanton 500 with a conical stylus
It's a 1965 changer, put the right hardware on it
 
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Historical reenactment can be fun, but why limit the use of an excellent turntable for such, when it is perfectly capable to handle modern cartridges? Provided it has its bearings in tune, the cartridge is correctly set up, and has cabling that isn´t matched for old Shures.
 
M Chavez said:
The 1019 is a changer and the arm sits ass high by definition
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Already experimented with stacking two LPs under the one I'm playing to fix VTA. No real improvement.


tothmes said:
Since the Dual arms of the eighties and nineties are archetypal LM arms, in comparison I definitely wouldn´t consider 1019 as such. I´d say it was light for its time, but by todays standards mediumish. I´ve had it play along nicely with an om40, so not heavy.
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This is sound reasoning. I have an extra Denon DL-110 sitting in a drawer that I can try. It's got lots of hours on it and could probably use a retip, but it was definitely not sibilant when it was taken off of my Thorens.
 
tothmes said:
Historical reenactment can be fun, but why limit the use of an excellent turntable for such, when it is perfectly capable to handle modern cartridges? Provided it has its bearings in tune, the cartridge is correctly set up, and has cabling that isn´t matched for old Shures.
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Because math is math geometry is geometry and physics is physics
 
Zvezda said:
Already experimented with stacking two LPs under the one I'm playing to fix VTA. No real improvement.



This is sound reasoning. I have an extra Denon DL-110 sitting in a drawer that I can try. It's got lots of hours on it and could probably use a retip, but it was definitely not sibilant when it was taken off of my Thorens.
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The problem is with your cartridge assuming everything else is in top shape
 
With regards to capacitance - the older MM Ortofons do like to see higher capacitance. 200-500pF from the Ortofon site.

The newer 2M's do not.
 
I´m a bit sceptical about the published recommendations on capacistance for the OM:s. Both due to actual measurements I´ve read on loading of them, and my own experience. But I wouldn´t swear by it.
 
When I was a boy - lol - I used a CAP210 with my VMS 20E. Certainly made it sound more even.

Conversely, now I use a 2M Black which doesn't want too much capacitance - I have it at the lowest(roughly) of it's recommended range. 150pF

TBH if I was the OP. I'd buy one of the new AT95's much less susceptible to this kind of malarkey.
 
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