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New member Username: JonnysheffMenlo Park, CA USA Post Number: 3 Registered: Mar-06 | Hello, I am trying to work out some bugs on my Dual 601 that I bought used when I moved out to CA. The table itself is in very nice condition, although it does have the famed 'double speed' tendency from time to time. My question regards a topic that I have seen mentioned several times, crackling/popping sounds coming through during playback. I just replaced the cartridge with an AT92E, for which I anticipate piles of derision from the elitists out there (I'm temporarily broke). My plan was to test the Dual with an entry-level cartridge and decide if it was upgrade-worthy for the future. Anywho, even with a brand new cartridge and stylus, a brand new (just unwrapped) and Discwasher-treated LP, I still get a large amount of crackle during low-intensity passages. As I have read about this issue, it seems that the cleanliness of the record is always at fault. Obviously this doesn't jive with a brand new, mint record that has been Discwashed. This seems to be the case for all of my records, brand new or vintage. Are there any other contributors to such a problem? Could a small error in setting tone arm weight or anti-skate provide enough force to cause the stylus to track in a non-optimal portion of the groove (and thus be more prone to hitting 'junk')? Could the stylus have been damaged, dirtied or altered in such a way that the sound would degrade in such a fashion? The leads at the headshell/tonearm interface are a tad suspect. They seem a bit tarnished, but not so much that I worry. Any comments as to what would cause these symptoms would be greatly appreciated. It was my impression that a (temporary) budget cartridge would sacrifice some overall soundstage imaging quality, not result in rice krispies coming through the speakers. For reference, I am listening through a higher-end Yamaha receiver (with all processing bypassed - direct stereo mode), a puny TCC phono preamp, and B&W DM601 S3 speakers. Other sources (CD, laptop, radio) sound great, but I know that vinyl should sound better, thus the frustration. For what it's worth, vinyl DOES sound better (by far) during higher-intensity passages, obviously when the crackles are drowned out. Thanks, Jonathan |
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Gold Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 8368 Registered: May-04 | Noise from an LP is due to the cleanliness of the LP. Nothing else with the caveat the stylus profile and dimensions dictate what portion of the record groove the stylus traces. You seem to be assuming that if you can't see any dirt, there shouldn't be any dirt. By that logic you should also be able to see the slightest modulations within the groove walls. I'm going to assume you have normal vision and neither the assumption nor the conclusion are accurate. New records are dirty as they come out of the liner. The friction of the vinyl against the liner causes static electricity which attracts more dust and dirt into the groove. The groove is typically covered by a mold release agent that has to be removed before the record can begin to sound clean. Read a bit about LP clenliness and see if you get any hints on how to clean records. Pay particular attention to the Disc Doctor pages: http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?p=LP%20record%20cleaning |