Cartridge Appears to Bounce and Sway

You're safe as long as you're within the manufacturers range for tracking force for your cartridge. Personally, I tend toward the higher end of the range on my cartridges.

 

Did you remove the mat yet?

 

So the OP has an issue that for sure can be solved by replacing the TT with perhaps a more costly TT. This does not enlighten us as to the cause of this issue and we would learn nothing to add to our audio knowledge. I am confused a bit by the OP as he says he has suspected the mat from the beginning. Well what would a new cork mat cost? Maybe $20 for a basic one? Take the plunge get a new mat that is flat and covers the entire platter. If things still bounce to the music then he has some solid experience to report to the company service department. The thread is about 20 days old, if it was me the first thing I would have done is replaced the mat. I have had experience with a persons entire record collection being warped in almost the same way for all records. That was the result of improper stacking so the entire stack got bent out of shape. Given the OP's concern to solve the issue I suggest he borrow (if possible) or buy one new record that he can verify is not warped or punched off center. Another minor investment to track (lol) down the cause of the issue. He might even take one of his bouncy records to a friend or to a record store and play it to see if it bounces on another TT. I hope he gets back with more on his issue.

 

I don't think it's safe to assume that; your stylus may be affected, too.

It's like driving up US 395 and/or through a slalom; the "roller coaster" and lateral motion effects can be felt; your shocks and tires are constantly being compressed and expanded; it has to take a toll.

In other words, when your cartridge is "bouncing" upward, stylus pressure is reduced, and when it "bottoms out," stylus pressure is increased, perhaps extremely.

 

I'll try this tomorrow.

 

U-Turn offered me 50% off on a cork mat, which I just ordered. I'll probably wait until I get that to play any records. They have excellent customer service.

 

Looks like the LP to me. Bad thing is, that can throw the woofers right out of the basket.

 

Sounds like a good plan. Keep us posted about how it works out. I like it when a company has good customer service. It can make a huge difference about how satisfied I feel with the purchase I've made.

 

I received the mat today. The mat's edges still are just slightly short of the platter's edge, so there is a sliver of black (the platter) on the end. I am not sure if this is a problem. With flat pressings, there is a very small amount of wavering back and forth with the cartridge. I assume this is not an issue, and is something all cartridges do. If it is a problem, I'm guessing it's due to the mat being slightly small. I'm not sure. I don't think it's a big deal though. I put a couple slightly warped records on, in which the records bounced up and down, causing the cartridge to do the same. I don't think there's a whole lot I can do about that.

 

My cartridge does not play a whole lot different from these videos, so I assume what I have is normal:

 

U-Turn Audio Orbit Plus Sound Samples »

U-Turn Audio Orbit Turntable Cue Lever Review »

 

Wavering back and forward indicates an off centre pressing. Now if all your records do this either you are very unlucky or something is wrong with alignment of the spindle/platter. Actually few records are perfectly symmetrical but at least in my experience most are almost completely flat and the sway from slight off centre is small or non existent. Slight eccentricities are nothing to worry about and won't damage the cartridge.

 

The wavering is not very pronounced, and it seems like others have slight wavering as well (as seen in the videos I posted). Maybe I should post another video of my platter?