turntable - right channel has more surface noise!

thanks a lot for the replies guys, i really appreciate the help

i had to go to a hifi shop in philadelphia for the cartridge (NOT the one i typically go to), where i don't have any relationship with the dealer. in fact it was my first time meeting him when i bought the blackbird. i even specifically asked about warranty information and everything, and he said something along the lines of ::
'if you damage the cartridge / stylus in any way, obviously that will not be covered.'

in fact, the same statement is in essence also in the manual. he went on to say that:

'in ~30 years of business, i've almost never seen a new cartridge have a mechanical defect, such as one channel being out, etc. if this is the case call me'

i really DONT want to call this guy. but perhaps i might have to.

my plan is to carefully reread all of the suggestions that have been given to me in the thread, and then just go down the list. will update!

but really, this is what has me so confused and what i WISH i knew the answer to:

why is there RIGHT CHANNEL noise during the start of a record, and LEFT CHANNEL noise towards the end? if azimuth, then i believe i will HAVE to buy that headshell

 

You didn't damage the cartridge, so you don't have anything to worry about there. And if rarely finds a bad one, he's not looking hard enough. I've had several new ones from reputable companies that were complete duds.

 

The laws of physics can play tricks on us sometimes. Just conventional logic would have an azimuth error affecting only one channel more than the other. Have you looked at your stylus for any lean? Have you looked at the cueing platform that it clears the arm? Please get back to us after checking that, and rechecking your arm for any stiffness or resistance. Balance the arm, and be careful, it should move freely on its own. Check the anti-skate mechanism, by setting it at 1.5, then observe the arm moving to its pivot in one smooth sweep. Do this near the spindle, then near the outer edge of the platter. This is necessary before you go further with your setup.

 

The fringe, i'm testing the turntable now.

With anti skate set to ZERO and the VTF to 0 (balanced), the arm does NOT stay anywhere over the platter. Instead, the arm wants to skate OUTWARD to a deadpoint just beyond the platter.

With anti skate set to 1.5 and VTF balanced, the arm skates smoothly from any point to a rest position by the arm rest.

what is the cueing platform? if it is the black plastic half-circular piece attached to the tonearm-base apparatus, then yes it clears during normal play.

could you please help me understand what i am looking for as far as azimuth angle when a record is playing?

when starting a record, it SEEMS that the cartridge is slightly tilted to the right.

pictures:




just fyi these pics seem exaggerated , although i tried to use the digital focus squares to create as accurate a reference point as possible (independent horizontal line).

please help : (

fyi the main reason i don't want to call the dealer i purchased this from is because i KNOW he will give me crap for using a technics sl-1200. in fact even the guy i called from my regular hifi shop gave me crap for putting the cart on a technics. he was like "ohhh i see... that's like a dj turntable...."

 

Is it just the photo angle? That stylus looks angled to me....

 

I agree with tim185. It appears from your 2nd photo that the azimuth is way off.
It could be a distortion caused by your camera lens, though.

 

Don't worry about what they think...if they have that attitude bear in mind they sell turntables for a living. Nonetheless, I'm sure they wouldn't mind making $100 just to align you cartridge.

I was going to suggest making sure you are using brand new records, because I have several used LPs that have noise (or more noise) in the right channel only. I agree with the posters above though...unless the camera angle is distorting things, it looks like the whole cartridge is tilted outwards like this: \ when looking head-on. Start by trying to get the cartridge body parallel to the record, and then worry about fine-tuning azimuth.

 

It does appear in both photos the cartridge and entire headshell and arm are tilted in. This could be a distortion in the photo. If you take more pics, try lining up the camera exactly edge-wise to the record, and the record edge at the middle of the frame (which has the least distortion of the image) and looking head on into the front of the cartridge.
The arm and antiskate passed the test. The slight movement of the arm outward with the antiskate set to zero is not optimum, but it is acceptable. The arm movement back to rest with antiskate at 1.5 is good. The anti-skate appears to be working properly. I am only looking for major mechanical malfunction, and all appears well with the arm bearings and the anti-skate. Set the antiskate to the tracking force as a starting point. ie: 1.5 grams tracking = 1.5 on the anti-skate. You can always tweak it from there.

It does appear at this point that you have a major azimuth error. The entire arm appears to be leaning in \ this way.. maybe the tube has twisted in the arm pivot assembly, or has been bent, or could be loose.

 

If the azimuth is off, it's usually the headshell socket. There are screws underneath the socket that let you adjust it. They are hard to get to with the tonearm still installed but it's not impossible. Also, I once had a stock Technics headshell that was crooked itself. Apparently that's pretty rare though.

 

i tried getting some better pics , but they are all looking quite similar. just by observing the arm / cartridge visually though, it DEFINITELY seems to make the \ angle , especially towards the beginning of the record.

i'll look for the screws on the bottom of the tonearm the next time i can force myself to work on this odious abomination of a vinyl system. just so i'm aware, i am looking to adjust the azimuth angle such that the cartridge / stylus is orthogonal to the plane created by the record itself?

 

Just so You know, these collar screws are not made to be able to adjust the azimuth angle, nor are the screws at arm base. On the contrary they are made to get a fixed position. In your case, as I see the arm, the arm is slightly twisted, and it´s the arm itself that is twisted slightly. So without changing the arm, or bend it back, the right solution is to get a headshell with adjustable azimuth.
With the caveat that the arm in reality is what it looks like, as this angle is hard to really see on picture.

 

Yes, this does appear to be a mechanical issue. If the arm is twisted, it may be far better to replace the turntable, maybe a great opportunity to upgrade.

 

That's correct. They are not azimuth adjustment screws per se. But they do allow you to adjust the headshell socket a little. Re-aligning the headshell socket was a standard part of Kevin's (www.kabusa.com) quality-control tune-up when he was selling new Technics turntables.

Here's what he used to do, as per the website:

KAB Quality Control Inspection
This is what makes our '1200 different from any others out there.
Before any upgrades, KAB performs a rigorous inspection and makes corrections as required to ensure that every Custom KAB 1200 performs correctly.

1. Tighten all case screws. Believe it or not, it is often necessary.
2. Install cartridge and test wiring for continuity.
3. Balance arm and test bearing friction vertical and lateral.
4. Full operational test.
5. Test platter for proper fit. The platter must not rock on the spindle shaft. KAB will re-machine the platter center hole to ensure a perfect fit. This is always the result of nicks inside the platter center hole. How they get there we do not know, but if they interfere with the proper fit of the platter we will correct it.
6. Test platter for flatness or planarity. KAB will replace a platter that exceeds + - 0.005" planarity as measured with a Mahr runout guage on the platter edge.
7. Check azimuth alignment of cartridge socket. Correct it necessary.
8. Replace interconnect cable with low capacitance stock cable if required.
9. Remove silicone mold release film from rubber base along front and sides if present.

 

I can't tell from the photo if the tonearm is actually bent. A bent tonearm that also passes a bearing friction test would be a real oddball, I think. If you have a little L-shape tool that accepts small screwdriver tips (like at the end of the video below), you can loosen the screws without removing the tonearm. It could still be a twisted headshell that's causing the problem and not the tonearm.

 

It is clear from the photo that the cartridge is, for whatever reason, tilted from perfect perpendicularity to the record surface. This is evident from the reflection of the image of the cartridge in the surface of the record. When perfectly perpendicular, the image is in a straight line with the cartridge itself. If the cartridge and the image appear to have a kink, which the picture shows, they are not perpendicular. This is how I determine perpendicularity when I am starting to adjust azimuth. The arm does not at all have to be bent for the cartridge to be non-perpendicular with a fixed bearing arm.

I don't know what accounts for the significant tilt. I would certainly look at setup, alignment, and adjustment as the major suspect in any sort of problems with inter-channel variability. I would also consider prior play damage to the groove as another possibility; one can listen to new records to see if the problem occurs there as well.

I have my doubts about the problem being not enough anti-skating. First, from personal experience, I find most often that the manufacturer's recommended setting for anti-skating most often applies too much anti-skating (as determined by using test records with increasing modulation levels and setting anti-skating for minimum mis-tracking and otherwise listening to the result). The problem of the needle jumping into the record when one initially cues the needle down in the lead-in groove has nothing to do with insufficient anti-skating; this has to do with the needle being set down on top of the raised bead around the edge of the record, which causes the cartridge/arm combination to gain excessive momentum when it slides down that bead before it catches a groove. To minimize the problem, you should cue the needle down further inward even though this seems counterintuitive.

 

You are getting great advice here. If the pics. are accurate, there is definitely an issue with the arm head not being parallel to the record surface. The head assembly appears tilted with the spindle side lower than the outside edge. I would suggest before you go further you find out why and correct this. My question to you is what did you replace in the way of cart.? Did the previous setup work with balanced channels and no noise? Also if when there is no skate adjust applied and the arm balanced horizontal to the platter, the arm should float steady without movement. If there is movement then it would appear that something is out of level or there is a mechanical defect applying some force to the arm. Zero skate adjust may not truly be zero. If you get a 9 inch full size spirit level it will fit on the platter, Start by leveling front to back and the side to side. Then you can slowly rotate the platter with the level on it to see if the "bubble" holds center. Remove the cart. head to be safe. As you know being out of level can distort the tracking and skate adjust values. I would think you need to get to a point of physical setup where the arm can be zeroed out motionless and floating horizontal to the platter. I think you need to eliminate these possible mechanical issues .

 

With the tonearm zeroed out, motionless and floating horizontal to the platter, it should hold steady and not move. But, according to KAB here, if it moves very slowly outward then the bearings are still good with very low friction.

 

OcdMan is +1 with the reference.