cartridge replacement

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what are some of the symptoms of a defective cartridge? i have an old m91ed and i get a lot of crackling when the volume of the music increases in particular at high frequencies i think. when a violin plays a high note and at a loud volume a crackling becomes very prominent. does this have to do with the cartridge?


thanks
 
or the input capacitor, or a frequency dependant location through the phono preamp...

By "volume of the music" do you mean the recorded volume, or when you turn your amplifier up?

Remember, the cart is a pretty simple device at heart - its a wire coil and a magnet. Not a lot to go wrong really.
 
or the input capacitor, or a frequency dependant location through the phono preamp...

By "volume of the music" do you mean the recorded volume, or when you turn your amplifier up?

Remember, the cart is a pretty simple device at heart - its a wire coil and a magnet. Not a lot to go wrong really.

dont watch that, watch this, this is the heavy heavy monster sound ...

i mean the recorded volume. input capacitor you say. ill have to dig up a schematic for this turn table. it's a technics slq202. i did replace a bunch of caps but they were of pretty low quality.

thanks for that wisdom about the cartridge
 
it ain't wisdom, just a hunch. Hunches are not good things for finding problems however.

The cart has a set of measureable values - I'd start with some good diagnostics. What you are saying is that at high frequencies and at high (relatively) output levels the crackle kicks in. Does it "replace" the sound of the instrument, or sit on top of the instrument?

Night Boat to Cairo was one of thier betters too.
 
ok then - we are talking PROBABLY about something that is superimposed on the signal the cart is generating rather than some thing the cart is making itself. No gaurantee, but more likely.

To confirm, replace with a known good cart OR inject a signal into the phono input on the amp from a good quality signal generator.

From this point (and one step beyond...) you need some test equipment and a bit of experience - got any?
 
ok then - we are talking PROBABLY about something that is superimposed on the signal the cart is generating rather than some thing the cart is making itself. No gaurantee, but more likely.

To confirm, replace with a known good cart OR inject a signal into the phono input on the amp from a good quality signal generator.

From this point (and one step beyond...) you need some test equipment and a bit of experience - got any?

i have a usb o'scope that has a signal generator. i have never really used it though. ill try messing with it tomorrow. im not sure what to look for, i guess if the output signal doesnt look a lot like the input one then it's distortion.

i used to like to listen to that one step beyond record a lot.

in the middle of the night he steals trough your garden gives your home a real fright and doesnt say "pardon"
 
remember, the signal into your phono section is VERY small, typically 5mV at 1khz. Don't go squirting 2vRMS down there!

Link to a typical specs sheet for your cart is here

thanks for that. what does it sound like if the stylus isnt tracking properly.

5mV at 1khz. i hope this scope can be set this low. so i inject the signal on one of the leads coming from the tone arm? and the other one on the output rca plug i guess.
 
I think it is not the vinyl but the dust and dirt that grinds the diamond. That is the reson i keep my records clean and wash them regulary. I clean my stylus each time i play a recor
and apply some Lyra SPT. Nevertheless i send my cartridge for service each ca. 3 years.
I play around 1 to 2 hours music each day over vinyl.
It is years ago but i have seen microscopic pictures that show diamond wear over time.
 
I've seen those pictures as well. Ever see a river carve a canyon? Razor blade need replacing? Continual friction will even wear something very, very hard.

IME, for high quality diamonds, the suspension starts going sour before the diamond wears. But diamonds CAN wear.
 
Yes of course, I´ve seen such pictures too. But the question is if this really takes only 1000 to 3000 hours. Rivers that carve canyons do so over some billions of years, no ?
I´m not sure if this 3000 hour thing comes from those who want to sell you a new cartridge.
If you ask people who actually work with diamonds the general consensus is that you only can grind diamond with diamond (and then it takes some time and high speed rotation).
I really would be interested to learn about the facts here, given the price of a decent cartridge it certainly makes a difference if you have to replace it after two or let´s say 15 years.
 
1000 hours is pretty low for a quality diamond. But let's look at 5000 hours.

We can do a bit of estimation to simplify the math and get a rough idea. At a rotation of 33.3 rpm, that's about 2000 rph. Multiply by 5000 hours. 10 million revolutions. We'll take the average diameter as 8 inches (it's about 12 in the beginning, 5 at the end). That corresponds to about 25 inches of stylus travel, so the stylus rubs against the vinyl over a 250 million inch path. We can convert to more rational units and call that 640 million cm or 640,000 km.

That's a lot of opportunity for wear!

Rivers that carve canyons do so over some billions of years, no ?

More like hundreds to millions, depending on the rock, the water velocity, etc. It can even happen faster.
 
Could be a faulty stylus. New ones are sometimes badly made. Has the cartridge suspension gone hard?

Is it mistracking due to wrong downward force? Have you checked the downforce and alignment? Bias too - does it get worse or better at different point on a record?

Use a record you don't mind damaging - as mistracking can permanently damage the groove.
 
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