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In Reply to: RE: I think you're misunderstanding... posted by olddude55 on March 23, 2012 at 10:47:50
why do you say that linear tracking will reduce the sibilance of the Grace Ruby (or any other cartridge)?
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Provided that the cantilever is lined up correctly, the stylus tip has the same tangency to the groove wall that the cutting head did when the master was cut. With a pivoting arm, the stylus is only tangent to the groove at the null points. There's no skating force either.
On-the-fly VTA helps, too. I know which of my records have the worst problems with sibilance and change VTA to compensate.
With straight-line tracking, a micro-ridge stylus, and judicious use of the VTA adjuster, I've been able to just about eliminate all sibilance from my listening experience.
I'm probably more sensitive to sibilance than most. It's always been my LP pet peeve.
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The little old ladies wait in wild anticipation for the meetings of the Double-A-C-ASSN...
Edits: 03/24/12
Personally, I don't believe the small amount of tracking error from a properly aligned pivotal tonearm can cause sibilance distortion. I guess the reason I believe that is because I have never had a problem with sibilance distortion. In fact, I thought that a conical stylus would cause sibilance distortion, but I have never heard it with either my DL-103R or my DL-103SA cartridges.
I'm not sure exactly what causes sibilance distortion other than the recording itself. None of my audiophile pressings seem to exhibited sibilance distortion even with conical styli. Some of my older records that had the problem had especially long playing times per side. Anyway, I think that sibilance distortion is caused either by a worn stylus or by the recording itself. Come to think of it, another reason might be loose cartridge mounting bolts or excessive play in the tonearm bearings.
Best regards,
John Elison
The Grace wasn't exactly spitting like an angry cat. I was in love with it until one song on one album came up sibilant as hell. Once that happened I started listening for it all the time and things went downhill from there.
I replaced it with an AT150MLx which did a much better job of taming the sibilance on that particular song (it was "Don't Break the Heart" from Laura Cantrell's When the Roses Bloom Again . The track is mid-side, where tracking error is probably the greatest) but it was still spitty.
I moved the AT to a Rabco arm and all the sibilance was gone except for two instances. To my mind, removing the 2-degrees of error (or whatever it is) from the pivoting arm smoothed out those sibilants.
Now, with the Terminator arm and Shure V15III/JICO SAS combo, all but one instance of sibilance is gone from that track and what's left is barely audible. I hear it because I listen for it. Can't be helped.
As far as the source of sibilance, I think you're first guess is right. It's the recordings themselves. It seems to be a problem on recordings in which the vocals are mixed loud and "forward."
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The little old ladies wait in wild anticipation for the meetings of the Double-A-C-ASSN...
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