Chilliwack
New Member
I posted this on another forum as well and thought it should be here as well since it doesn't seem to be a documented issue... Hope this helps someone:
I've looked extensively around the internet and it seems that most people with this turntable or others similar blame distortion or sibilance on their stylus, tracking or other setup issues and must either give up or just live with it because rarely does anyone post that they have it solved.
I recently acquired an SL-DL1 in excellent condition with the original P23 cartridge and a cheapo new stylus. I sounded OK for the stylus it had but after a few plays I noticed very slight distortion, usually for the first track or two and it would disappear. This became progressively worse, though intermittent as well as I noticed the muting function was not consistent. Some times one channel would not mute, most times muting was only about 50% which I figured was correct.
The distortion issue was the too much to put up with however I was quite suspect of the stylus quality so it took me a while to dive into the turntable. What I found however was the muting relay (RL1) located between the cartridge input and the phono out connection was dirty and or oxidized. The rest of the TT was spotless inside and out but the relay would not fully release and was degrading the signal, as well as not fully contacting and muting. This muting relay works by shorting the outputs + and - of the cartridge so it takes very little contamination to interfere with this very low level signal.
The relay has a tin cover which is not soldered to the board so it can be carefully pried off, taking the plastic relay cover with it. In my case the relay seems to have cleaned up well but it would not be tough to change should the issue reappear. It is an Omron G2V-2 12VDC coil, but any physically similar relay with the same or better contacts would work.
To clean this (or any small signal relay), I cut a few strips of paper about 1/8" or less wide(new paper with no ink or toner on it), opened the contacts, placed the strip between them, wet the paper with de-oxit and drew it back and forth with tweezers. You will see oxidation etc on the white paper that has come off the contacts. Make sure to open the contacts and spray them off to remove any residue from the paper and especially important, ensure all cleaner has completely dried before reinstalling the cover.
It's been several days and it the muting is now 100% and distortion is zero.. The only downside is that now I can really hear how bad the cheap conical stylus is. Hopefully this helps someone else, the first few times I noticed it, it sounded for all the world like it could've just been a tracking force problem until it progressed. The real tip-off here was the muting was inconsistent.
I've looked extensively around the internet and it seems that most people with this turntable or others similar blame distortion or sibilance on their stylus, tracking or other setup issues and must either give up or just live with it because rarely does anyone post that they have it solved.
I recently acquired an SL-DL1 in excellent condition with the original P23 cartridge and a cheapo new stylus. I sounded OK for the stylus it had but after a few plays I noticed very slight distortion, usually for the first track or two and it would disappear. This became progressively worse, though intermittent as well as I noticed the muting function was not consistent. Some times one channel would not mute, most times muting was only about 50% which I figured was correct.
The distortion issue was the too much to put up with however I was quite suspect of the stylus quality so it took me a while to dive into the turntable. What I found however was the muting relay (RL1) located between the cartridge input and the phono out connection was dirty and or oxidized. The rest of the TT was spotless inside and out but the relay would not fully release and was degrading the signal, as well as not fully contacting and muting. This muting relay works by shorting the outputs + and - of the cartridge so it takes very little contamination to interfere with this very low level signal.
The relay has a tin cover which is not soldered to the board so it can be carefully pried off, taking the plastic relay cover with it. In my case the relay seems to have cleaned up well but it would not be tough to change should the issue reappear. It is an Omron G2V-2 12VDC coil, but any physically similar relay with the same or better contacts would work.
To clean this (or any small signal relay), I cut a few strips of paper about 1/8" or less wide(new paper with no ink or toner on it), opened the contacts, placed the strip between them, wet the paper with de-oxit and drew it back and forth with tweezers. You will see oxidation etc on the white paper that has come off the contacts. Make sure to open the contacts and spray them off to remove any residue from the paper and especially important, ensure all cleaner has completely dried before reinstalling the cover.
It's been several days and it the muting is now 100% and distortion is zero.. The only downside is that now I can really hear how bad the cheap conical stylus is. Hopefully this helps someone else, the first few times I noticed it, it sounded for all the world like it could've just been a tracking force problem until it progressed. The real tip-off here was the muting was inconsistent.