ok im new to this...i just bought a sony ps-lx520. im not sure if the needle is bad or if i just cant find a good ground.
when i hook everything up and hit play i get very little sound. i have to turn everyting up max to just barly hear the record. would a bad ground or no ground at all cause this lack of sound or would it just be a bad needle. i know its not the amp because when i put the radio on it sounds fine very load actually
ive tried grounding to the plug screw and behind the plug face plate but it didnt make any diffrence in sound.
does the amp have a phono input? If not, you need a preamp, the signal that comes from a stylus is very small, so unlike with cd players etc, you need a preamp. If the amp has a phono input, it has a preamp built in for that purpose.
my amp does have a phono input. is it possable that because the amp is about 25 years old and the turntable is about 5 that i still may need a pre-amp?
J. Vigne
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Posted on
Grounding is not the problem nor is the age of the components. It sounds like you might have knocked the stylus off the cantilever. Can you actually see the stylus on the end of the cantilever?
i actually dont know what the stylus or the cantilever are...im new to all this. is there any links you know of that show a pic or whatnot of these parts?
thanks
J. Vigne
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Off hand I can't think of an illustration I could send you to quickly. Does the turntable have a removeable headshell. If you're not sure, refer to your owner's manual.
Look at the headshell of your tonearm, head on. Underneath it is a little block, typically an inch long and a quarter of an inch wide or thereabouts. This is the cartridge which generates signals from the record. Underneath the cartridge, there is a pipe hanging down at an angle (typically). This is the cantilever. At the frontmost point (closest to you), the cantilever bends and there should be a tiny fragment of sapphire or diamond just hanging below the free end. This is the stylus, which is the bit that sits in the grooves of the record. If there isn't a stylus, you need to talk to your dealer since this is a brand new deck.
However, I doubt that the stylus is missing. It's almost as if your amp doesn't have a phono stage in it! This is very rare on amps older than ten years of age, but it is possible. If you have the amp's manual, it should tell you. You're typically looking for a moving magnet input which is expecting a 47kohm load. If you don't have the manual, you may have to take back the record deck to the dealer and get them to show you the deck working in one of their systems to prove it's OK. If it is, then there is likely no phono stage in the amp and you'd need to buy one. Entry level ones are NAD's PP1 and Project's Phono Box.
Regards, Frank.
J. Vigne
Unregistered guest
Posted on
I asked if the headshell could be removed because looking at the cartridge when it's installed on the table, it is dificult to determine whether the stylus is on the cantilever. And, if you have no idea what either object is, it will be even more difficult.
Many of the lower priced cartridges have a stylus that is not "n-ude" mounted. If this is the case with your cartridge you can be looking at the correct area and not knowing what you are seeing. Most better cartirdges have a n-ude mounted stylus meaning the stone (diamond/needle/stylus) is attached directly to the end of the cantilever for the most precise fit, the best transfer of information and, in general, the best mounting. A "fixed" stylus will be on less expensive cartridges and it will use a smaller diamond chip that is attached to a microscopic pipe which is then attached to the end of the cantilever. This was done as a cost cutting procedure by the cartridge makers. If the stylus on a n-ude mount breaks off, you likely won't see anything on the tip of the cantilever. If, however, the tip of the fixed sylus assembly is broken , you could look at the end of the cantilever and still see the pipe attached but with no stylus. It would be difficult to determine what you were looking at when you are new to the looking game. It is best to remove the headshell and observe the stylus under some magnification. Since you still won't know exactly what you are looking at, I would suggest you take the headshell/cartridge asembly into a shop that could take a look under high power magnification. Most audio shops don't keep a stylus microscope in the shop anymore than they keep a tube tester. My best sugestion would be to take the whole assembly, carefully wrapped and boxed, to a jeweler who should look at the cantilever with a loop and be able to tell whether a stylus exists. If no stylus is there to ride in the groove the pipe that is still extant will sit on top of the groove and will produce sound but not very much. It will lack highs and lows and be somewhat distorted as there is no groove tracking being accomplished. That is why I suggested you may have broken the stylus. It is quite easy to do when the stylus is not n-ude mounted and can result from just a moment of inattention.
I would also suggest you recheck your connection to the phono inputs. Some amplifiers had two phono inputs, some had separate ins for a moving magnet and a moving coil. Make certain you have the table in the correct input and selected the correct input on the front of the amp. You can check the operation of the phono input by connecting an interconnect with RCA connectors at both ends (just a regular interconnect cable) to the phono input. With the volume control at about 8 O'Clock, touch the open end of the interconnect at the center pin of the RCA. If you hear a reasonable buzz from your speakers the phono section is operational for a cartridge. You can proceed to trouble shoot from that point of knowledge.
Exactly what type of amplifier do you have? Is it possible you are running an amplifer that is meant for a crystal cartidge? That would also explain the lack of volume.
Can't write the word n-ude on this forum. What a pissing load of buggery crap!
I replaced a Shure M92E Stylus Cartridge with a Grado Black Cartridge--it is running in an old ROWE AMI Juke Box. The Juke Box was operational 2 weeks ago, until the needle died. The machine was then transported. I am trying to figure out if it is an incompatibility issue, or if the unit was damaged during shipping.
The new Cartridge has been tested in my home system, and is operational. (so we know it works)