I'm having a bit of trouble with my stereo system. I have a Marantz turntable, TIB amplifier and some small Q Acoustics speakers. Its pretty basic and I only use it to listen to records, nothing fancy. The speakers are brand new but the amp and turntable are a few years old.
Currently, I cannot hear the music coming out of the speakers. I can faintly hear the music coming directly from the record player/record on the turntable. This started happening a while ago with an older pair of speakers so I connected some new speakers and the same thing happened. At first, once I had connected the new speakers, music came out of the speakers but suddenly - when I tried to play a different record - the music stopped coming out of the speakers and I was left with the same problem. Very annoying!
I assume that, since they are new, the problem is not to do with the speakers. I could be wrong, but it seems like there may be a problem with either the amp or the turntable.
Can anyone offer any advice? I am not a pro, so apologies if this message doesn't make much sense! Any help would be appreciated!
My first guess would be you've snapped the stylus tip off the cartridge's cantilever - in other words, there's no more "needle". I would think you have what is termed a "bonded stylus" which means the diamond tip is glued into a small pipe which is then attached to the cantilever. If the stylus tip (the diamond itself) is broken off, the pipe rides on the top of the groove producing minimal sound due to the lack of a stylus to fit down into the groove itself.
Buy a stylus replacement according to the manufactuer and the model number of your cartridge; https://www.needledoctor.com/faq
I have to assume the system has been operating to your pleasure up until recently so it's unlikely the phono circuit of your amplifier has been damaged.
I've taken a picture of the stylus/cartridge. As I said, I'm a novice when it comes to this stuff so please let me know if it does indeed look broken to you.
I've taken a picture of the stylus/cartridge. As I said, I'm a novice when it comes to this stuff so please let me know if it does indeed look broken to you.
You can't tell by such a photo. You would need to inspect the cantilever's end under a microscope. If you touch the end of the cantilever, even if the stylus tip is gone, you'll feel the pipe and assume the tip is still there. Do you have a microscope handy?
There are other alternatives but they are far less likely to be a cause of your problem. If you have another table, you can try it with your amp. Or you could hook your turntable up to another amplifier - with a known to be working phono section.
