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I'm using a Dynavector 20XL, attached to a Zupreme headshell, on the stock arm of my Technics SL1210. The 20XL has a Micro-Ridge diamond on a hard aluminum pipe cantilever with a 12 X 10-6 cm/dyn compliance. I estimate the resonance frequency of this setup at 9.07.
On some records (good, clean ones), at some passages - usually louder, strong pieces - there is some mistracking at higher frequencies. Generally this occurs during vocal passages - e.g., Opera - but yesterday I received Claude Bolling's 'Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano' and in places Jean-Pierre Rampal's flute hits some of the frequencies which causes the stylus to mistrack.
HiFi World magazine says that in addition to mistracking large, low frequency excursions, a "stylus has an effective tip mass too and if it is excessive it will not be able to accelerate fast enough to follow the groove at higher frequencies. This commonly produces mistracking on loud vocals having a strong sibilant content.
Budget cartridges have their stylus mounted on a small pedestal called a rondel. This allows it to clear detritus on the disc surface. But it also adds to tip mass and degrades high frequency tracking. A small diamond without a rondel (nude) is common on quality cartridges but fluff can gather under the stylus and cause mistracking."
I have tried adjusting tracking weight and VTA without change. So, is the solution to buy a cartridge with a higher compliance, a more expensive cartridge, a thinner, lighter cantilever?
Follow Ups:
1200MK5 stock headshell, KAB fluid damper, and DV20XH bought new.Out of 500+ LP's, very few tracks (like 4 or 5) had that distortion/mistracking. Of the very few, most were the last track of the LP. Herbies, rubber, custom mat, didn't matter. Tried every possible adjustment. Nothing helped.
Same setup, Shure V15VxMR/Jico SAS stylus. All LP's described above had 0 mistracking. Plus, more overall smoothness. Later DV20.
Edits: 03/14/12
I want to thank everyone for suggesting possibilities, probabilities and ideas for me to check.
For the moment I have ordered a Herbie's turntable mat to see if my copper mat is/or contributes to the problem (Steve's mats have received rave reviews so that is an easy and inexpensive test). I will also re-check all the physical attrbutes of the arm and verify the cartrdige alignment is correct. A bigger challenge - for my old eyes - is to check the cantilever.
Resonance in the stock arm has been noted so I will try something I've been told about before (wrap Teflon tape around the arm paying attention to the joint).
Down the road - when and if my retirees budget allows - perhaps a new arm or new 'table should be thought about.
Try weighting the headshell with a 5gm nickel or two and rebalance the counterweight to see if the problem is related to tonearm inertial mass.
Mistracking that is not dependent on tracking force is evidence of a bigger problem. Either:
1. There's something wrong with the cartridge. Perhaps the stylus is damaged or the cantilever isn't mounted right. You need another table just for the 2nd opinion. There are a lot of cheap 1/2" mount tables that will work to direct you to where the problem lies.
2. There's a resonance somewhere or a loose arm/suspension component. See if you can find play in the arm by pushing and pulling it in different directions. Try wrapping the arm with something like rubber grip tape to see if it's resonating at certain frequencies.
3. Something is binding and causing improper forces on the arm as you approach the center. See if you can set the arm to float and blow it back and forth across the mat. See if it lowers all the way to the mat in several positions or if it hangs up on the cueing mechanism.
Hope this helps.
Since I had posted that the mistracking happened on some vocal sections (Opera) and now the flute I thought i would look up the frequency ranges of these instruments. It turns out that the general vocal range of Sopranos is C4 - C6 (C4 = 262 Hz) while the flute also has a range from C4 upwards.
In a old test - posted on vinyl engine - of the structural arm resonance of a Technics SL1700 MkII it is stated that while something was happening at 75Hz (probably counterweight) the first flexural mode at the arm/headshell junction was severe at 250Hz.
I don't know what that means but it's interesting that it's very close to the frequency of Sopranos and flute.
You're talking about this picture?
I own several of these tables (1600MkII's, 1700MkII's) and I discovered that they perform a lot better with a series of snug rubber O-rings slid onto the arm. Others have used heat-shrink tubing as well. I wasn't having inner groove problems but I did notice that certain notes on certain LP's sounded harsh no matter what cartridge was mounted.
I completely tore down and rebuilt a couple of these arms and I wasn't able to improve their sound until I used the rubber rings. Headshells didn't seem to make much difference either. While I like the aesthetics and build quality of the Technics tables, I've decided that this version of their tonearm isn't very neutral in stock form. I'm currently using a JVC table which hasn't exhibited any of these issues.
-Bry
Thanks Bry for the full picture. I had seen only a part of it.
I wonder if the extra weight of the Zupreme headshell (plus weight of the modern Dynavector 20XL) contributes a bit more to the resonance the authors found. The Zupreme is 12 grams versus the original Technics headshell of 7.5 grams so there is quite a bit more weight sitting at the end of that tube and putting pressure on the joint.
I will try your suggestions as well as verifying everything else that folks posted.
I will also try a Herbie's mat in place of the copper one to see if that's a contributing factor.
Whenever I have had problems of this sort (which I absolutely cannot stand) it's always been the cartridge alignment - or a sticky arm bearing.I strongly advise you to obtain (or make) an arc alignment protractor using the actual data of your arm geometry.
The hit & miss nature of standard protractors means you're faffing around trying to determine the actual point where the stylus is supposed to hit the record (the effective length I think it's called). With an arc protractor - this approximate methodology is eliminated - allowing you to concentrate on the actual alignment.
I made mine with manufacturer's data and autocad. Since then - I no longer know what inner groove distortion or tracing distortion means. I have gone on to discover what VTA and azimuth means (doh!) but I'm working on those as well.......
Best regards,
rr
Edits: 03/14/12
Thanks Rocky, actually I use the Mint Tractor which I find to be excellent for ease and accuracy of set up.
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horns...nothing.
.2 x .7 elliptical diamond FWIW @ 1.8 grams
The Dyna gave me frequent trouble but on a different arm, the XX2 was better but the 130 surpasses it when it comes to tracking and alleviating inner groove distortion.
Sadly it's obsolete.
I'm using a copper mat on my Technics SL1210 with the LP coupled to the mat with a weight. The mat is said to "eliminate platter vibration using a material with a high specific gravity improving tracking and stylus stability and dramatically improving the depth of sound." But also, "The Copper MAT will be more dynamic and in many cases the VTA may be slightly lowered vs. a stock MAT due to the upper and lower frequency range being produced by the density of the Copper."
Perhaps a more compliant mat such as Herbie's would be "better"?
Not saying that's your problem, but he experienced the same thing after acquiring a copper mat at an audio show. Replacing the mat fixed the problem. No idea why and, granted, it makes no sense.
I've owned 20XLs for about three years now and have noticed no such mistracking. I've used one on a SL-1200, too. No issues.
Opus 104
It's happened on new LPs as well so it can't be groove damage.
mistracking, usually caused by biological contamination. Do you clean new LPs before playing? Try an enzyme cleaner?
It's been my experience that the 20XL is an excellent tracker.
Opus 104
Yup, I carefully clean all records before play (new and used) with an enzyme cleaner.
Mistracking can be caused by a number of problems. Arm mismatch is one of them, but the Dynavector should work in a medium mass arm. You said you tried added weight but you did not say what weight you were tracking at. Too light a tracking is the most common problem.
Improper anti-skate can also cause mistracking. What is your anti-skate set at? Did you verify it with a test record?
Bad alignment can do it too. How did you align your cartridge?
Also, damage could be the problem. You should inspect the cantilever and stylus for misalignments. Check the arm bearings for free play and slop.
Good luck!
Dave
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I had no such problems when I still had the stock arm on my SL, provided I used a microridge stylus.
___
The little old ladies wait in wild anticipation for the meetings of the Double-A-C-ASSN...
From my understanding of the phenomenon - it's the stylus that has trouble tracking - the arm has nothing to do with it. Of course I may be wrong.
In my experience, the arm has everything to do with cartridge behavior.
The three DV-20s I've used for the past ten+ years have not exhibited this in my Souther arm. Nor would I suspect they would in the VPI Scout package either.
While Technics tables have always provided good performance (had an SL110 back in the 70s myself), their arms have never been up to the same quality, IMHO. I put an SME on the 110.
,
with inexpensive integrated arms.
I agree that the arm has a lot to do with performance but wouldn't this be more of a micro problem at the stylus? For example, as I understand it the arm's job is to keep the cartridge body stable so that the stylus can react fully to the groove without outside influences. If the stylus itself can't stay in the groove is it the fault of the stylus or the arm?
PS I'm not disagreeing, I'm trying to understand the dynamics.
then the Dynavector DV-20 is a defective series of cartridges.
It is not.
I agree with RR's comments.
Many Technics arms were, well, not the greatest in terms of bearing tolerance. Even their top line arms, the EPA series with the titanium armtubes had many issues with their ground ruby bearings ( The Mod Squad used to specialize in mods for that particular arm). The micro ridge type stylus can emphasize any bearing play and then of course you need to match the cartridge compliance to the damping factor of the arm itself.
IIRC, the lesser Technics arms had a bit more play and thus would need more mass at the headshell. Or if silicone damping is available, try that ( I'm thinking about the sadly defunct Townshend arms).
Stu
Check it out !
http://www.townshendaudio.com/turntables/the-rock-7
he is right - but I'd investigate geometry before getting a better arm. It's amazing the difference a really good arm makes though. Not to be underestimated. But no matter how good the arm - if the geometry is off - it's wasted.
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