My records sound more distorted the further I get into each side

I’ve noticed lately that when I play my vinyl records, the closer the needle gets to the center of the disc, the more crackle, sibilance, and general distortion there is. Is that a normal problem to have with a turntable/cartridge, or is that just something that tends to happen to LPs, or is it something else?

 

Inner Groove Distortion is a fairly common problem, but if you are just noticing this recently, that suggests that something else may be going on.

 

It's likely a normal occurrence, called inner groove distortion - in particular longer LP's and thus ones with a very small runout groove.

Could also be a stylus that's starting to go, or a misaligned TT. Especially if this wasn't noticed on a LP before and is now more noticable.

 

Inner groove distortion. It's not uncommon, depending on the tracking/tracing abilities of your setup. Besides possible issues with alignment, tracking force, anti-skating, etc., hyperelliptical, variants of Microridge, etc. styli go a long way in mitigating this. If the records are used, they may already have wear in the part of the groove your stylus is hitting, which again can be reduced or eliminated with a different stylus.

 

Thanks for the replies. To be clear, I’ve been noticing distortion for a long time, but it just occurred to me that it was mostly on the inner groove. It is also mostly on used records, so I think the distortion probably came from the previous owner(s).

 

If the problem is that widespread, I’d look at the common denominator (your set up). Ruined inner grooves on used records is not really that common in my experience.

 

Agreed, I would look first at the stylus, then at the set-up, cartridge alignment, anti-skating etc. and last at the record.
Audible inner groove distortion in most of the records that you play is primarily a sign of worn and/or misaligned cartridge imo.

 

My stylus is slightly off-center. I brought that up in a thread a while back but I don’t remember what advice I was given (I imagine I would have replaced it if it was suggested that I do so). As for anti-skate, counterweight, etc, I’ve adjusted them since I first noticed distortion, but they haven’t totally fixed it. If it helps, my system is a Teac TN-300 with the default Audio Technical AT95E VM cartridge, a Panasonic SA-XR55 amp and some Boston speakers.

 

To be honest, I don’t really know what I’m doing as far as adjusting the anti-skate. I just used the instructions that came with the turntable and set it to the recommended position.

 

Sometimes less is more with anti-skate. For example, my Technics manual suggests 2.5. But 2.0 is better. Also check to see if the cart is perpendicular to the record.

 

It seems to be, to some degree, inevitable. According to Keith Howard, writing in Stereophile:

"LTED (Lateral Tracking Error Distortion), it turns out, is inversely proportional to linear groove speed, and so the same LTE at the innermost modulated groove radius of an LP will result in about 2.5? higher distortion than the same angular error at the outermost modulated groove radius."

Arc Angles: Optimizing Tonearm Geometry
Page 2. (I assume the "?" is a computer mistranslation of "x")

 

Another thing to consider is cleanliness of the used LPs. Do you have a cleaning practice for the used LPs you buy? If not, your stylus may be getting a dust buildup as the side progresses. If you cleaned LPs once but not before each play with a carbon brush, this can also contribute to the exacerbation of IGD.

 

Inner Groove Distortion - Check and double check your setup:
turntable level
correct overhang
stylus parallel to grooves at null points
correct tracking force
correct anti-skate setting (but Google this - for example, many Grado owners prefer no anti-skate)

Good luck.

 

I don’t have a practice I use on every record, but if it looks dirty or I hear surface noise I will try and clean it. If I hear a lot of crackly distortion, my first instinct is usually to check for dust buildup on the stylus, but a lot of times I don’t find any.

 

If your stylus/ cantilever is off center that will definitely cause audible problems and will be more noticeable at the inner edge. So realign your cart as exactly as you can - close doesn't work here. It is possible that your cantilever has become bent from slightly too firm brushing or other mishap. In that case you are forced to replace it.

 

Ever hear it on new records, or only used?

 

If all my records sounded bad toward the center, I would have fixed that. Especially if a bunch of knowledgeable told me it was a problem. If your stylus is off center, your alignment is probably off. Your choices are probably as follows, replace the stylus and hope it's centered or get a mirrored protractor and align the cartridge as opposed to the cartridge body. I would get the protractor, as it may prove useful later.

 

I don’t remember ever hearing it on a new record.

 

When you align your cartridge pay attention to the stylus shank, not cartridge body.

 

After switching to a Shibata or Micro-line stylus I never had a problem with IGD again.

 

Inner groove damage on a record is not that common in my experience. Microline styli go a long way in completely eliminating inner groove distortion from the logistics of normal vinyl playback. They can also improve the sound on records that are damaged in the outer areas. I [and others] have experienced better SQ on the inner grooves than the outer grooves with the AT150Mlx. Unfortunately the styli for this cart are no longer made. I recently acquired a NOS ATN150Mlx replacement and covet it greatly.

Nowadays I clean every record [including new] before playing. Vinyl playing is virtually problem free this way.

 

Before you go chasing setup issues, a lot of used records are damaged/worn from the previous owner’s equipment.

Nonetheless, as others here have noted, advanced stylus shapes like microline, microridge, Fritz Gyger, etc are the best for tracing inner grooves due to their smaller radii.

 

The crackling distortion isn't dirt, not usually. As you mentioned before, this does indeed come from previous play that damaged the groove. Any dust in the groove was ground in, which "pot marks" the groove wall. The stylus tracks this damage, and heard as crackling. This may occur also in a silent groove.

If you notice your cantilever is off-center, the cause was most likely incorrect anti-skate. Cantilever lean is a common problem. The #1 cause is no antiskate.. as the cantilever will lean to the right (off-center to the right looking head on at the cartridge) The stylus needs to be replaced. If the original is conical, I suggest an upgrade to an elliptical, nude mounted and polished... but not a cheap poorly made elliptical, which would be worse.

 

You note it's always sounded that way. I have to be honest and say every time I see that Teac turntable, I feel the headshell geometry just does not look right. It has a severe angle that looks like it would be extremely difficult to track inner grooves accurately. At the very least, print out a protractor and double check your setup, even though the cartridge might have been factory installed.

 

Try an AT VM540 cart. Have never experienced IGD with this cart.