Distortion w/U-Turn

All of a sudden say within the last week or so I've been noticing quite a bit of distortion/fuzz/sibilance in the background when playing records. Can't figure it out. My U-Turn has an Ortofon red and I even bought a new stylus even though the old wasn't even a yr old. I've been cleaning and playing a bunch of old records and thought I possibly damaged it. Still persists with new stylus. I've been dipping stylus into Magic Eraser. I ordered a new stylus cleaner...an Onzow.

I just pulled out Dr. John's Gumbo Lp, which hasn't been played much, cleaned it good, and it's pretty bad. Some albums I don't notice it too much. Never really noticed it at all before the last week or so.

I use a Spin Clean and a Record Doctor. Wonder what could be causing this?
I had to send this U-Turn back once. Bearing problem. Almost had to another time...turn it on wouldn't spin. They sent me a new spindle and belt.

 

Is it in both channels? If so, does it change sides if you swap the RCAs?

Check the leads on the cart, check that the stylus is secure on the cart body, etc.

 

Just pulled stylus off and pushed it back in snugly. That seemed to help. Music sounds a bit clearer, louder...no fuzziness, yet. You suppose I didn't have it pushed in all the way? Hmm.

I tightened screws on cart already. Wires into cart ok.

 

That the stylus was not fully seated could be it. Sometimes it takes a bit of pressure to get it fully seated. Just hold onto the cartridge body when pushing so that you do not stress the tonearm bearings.

 

I dunno...there's still something wrong. Maybe I'll contact U-Turn (again). This cart isn't even quite a yr old.

There's just in certain parts of music a noticeable fuzzy sound around certain instruments. Sibilance?

Right now I'm listening to music stored in cloud at Amazon and it's crystal clear.

 

I find that a stylus starts sounding off at around 700 to 800 hrs or so. I change mine once or twice in a year.

Before you consider this, be really sure you've done your best to clean the stylus. It will get stuff stuck to it that is harder to remove than fuzz.

 

Clean your stylus and make sure it is seated properly.

Truthfully, you are probably dealing with two problems here:

1) Groove wear on old records

2) The limitations of the 2M Red's stylus

I honestly think the 2M Red is the worst sounding cart available at it's price point. I heard it in a friend's system and it sounded horrible. It's a sibilant, nasty thing.

 

What method are you using to align the cartridge?

 

Heck, my current cart, a Hana SL, sounds better than my my Koetsu, even when it was new. I'm blown away. I thought my records were distorted--it was the Koetsu. Now I have no discernible IGD.

 

Well, it came supposedly aligned. Like I said earlier I never really noticed this much fuzz or whatever til about a week or so ago.

I do have a cart alignment tool/gauge I bought from Fern/Roby. You place it on spindle, line up a direct line to Pivot, and then check point of stylus. Mine lined up where it was supposed to.
I think/hope I used it right. I'm not real knowledgeable with that kind of stuff. Something does sound off though.

I pulled tt plug out of a power strip and plugged directly into wall socket. Haven't done anything with RCA plugs yet.

 

Well, I sent U-Turn an email describing problem on Sunday morning not expecting a reply until Monday sometime. Got a response late Sunday nite! They said to loosen bolt on top of counterweight and slide it back a couple millimeters. That the Ortofon cart sometimes likes a lighter weight.

It seems to have worked! Music sounds great. Thanks for all the replies.