Tracking Force vs. frequency question.

[Nat]

Its worth just checking to make sure you have the cartridge wired correctly. If one channel is out of phase with the other, you won't have much bass, and imaging will be out. Also, if I recall correctly, the M 97 has a damper brush, which requires an additional one gram of tracking force, so after balancing, you ought to set the tracking force at around 2 1/2 grams. Ditto antiskate.

 

[Nakdoc]

There are 2 things that wear out. The diamond wears, and the groove wears. Which is more difficult to replace? By NOT using the maximum recommended tracking force high velocity (the treble) high volume music will cause mistracking, which literally is the diamond colliding against the groove wall sorta like the hovercar race in Star Wars #1. This wears out the groove.
My recommendation is to minimize groove wear, and keep the records clean!

 

[Nat]

I would doubt that your problem is that the M97hx isn't as good as the M91ed, since theoretically the M97 is a step up from the M91. Hence my suspicion that something is wrong with the setup. Its not impossiblye that there is a defect in the cartridge, but it's not likely. But its possible that even set up is correctly, that you simply don't like the sound of the new cartridge. Possibly the damper is damping the low frequency which might have been giving a bit of fullness to the bass, or possibly the new one has more extended highs, which might create a brighter overall sound. I'd listen carefully to the bass to see if its actually lacking, or merely seems less.

 

[rjohn]

Thanks for the reply. I actually bought another Kenwood turntable off E-bay with the 91 cartridge installed. Seller says all in good working condition, including the cartridge and stylus. When I receive it I'll swap out my current TT and see if I notice a difference. There is every possibility I don't have my current one set up correctly as I'm following the directions in the manual for setting tracking pressure and I don't have an actual guage.