How many skips do you have on your vinyl playback?

That should reveal what it is that's causing the issue. Otherwise, your only other option is to use a microscope, at this point.

Personally, I never put my stylus through anything other than NM with very few exceptions. Those few records are usually quickly replaced by superior copies. I now it's vinyl but the crackling, skips, and pops shouldn't be immediately part of the sound.

By taking good care of my stylus, I'm ensured longer life and better sound... and frankly, it's so much more fulfilling to listen to music on an LP that has been so well taken care of that playback is next to flawless.

 

Hi Guys!

Very interesting.

My point was not to complain that the new AT VM95ML skipped once in about 100 hours. That's more than ok for me.

I was suprised that it tracks so well.

So therefore I will never know, what went wrong with my former carts, because I bought both new from a wellknown hifi-store.

But I will recheck the alignment with my AT-VM95ML and report back.

Edit: to clarify I really mean skipping - not the pops and clicks.

Bye Andrea

 

I have only one record with skip in the very beginning - an original UK first album of "Atomic Rooster". I'm only keeping it because of it's rarity, otherwise I usually don't keep records with skips.

Sometimes though skipping could be certain cart/tonearm related. I have Nagaoka MP110 that sometime skips without obvious reason.

 

A good turntable with good cartridge should not skip at all, unless you are playing a very damaged record.

 

Always best to verify the setup after it's done just in case. If one setting is off, you can experience what you described.

 

Hi Guys,

so I rechecked everything with the Rega RB 300:

Mounting distance = 222mm
Overhang = 15mm

I put my Rega alignment tool on - and the needle exactly hits the point.

VTF for the AT-VM95ML is due to my digital scale = 2,01g

That's a bit strange because I set it initially at 1,86g and did not change anything.

Is this because the suspension has been softened after 100+ hours?

Bye Andrea

 

I agree with this approach. The records in question are LZ II RL, which is a nice play copy conservatively VG to VG+ with only very light crispies between songs. The other is the George Piros CSNY Deja Vu, which is clean as a whistle, VG++ to NM.

 

This happens according to reports here with some Rega arms. If you get a "bad one" the anti-skate doesn't work quite right and applies too much AS force. I would look carefully there and run some tests to see if the AS is too much. OP should watch Peter L's videos on anti-skate if they haven't already.

Another potential issue is flooring. If OP has unstable wood floors or anything that's not 100% level, that can also cause problems. The turntable itself needs to be checked with a good torpedo level on both the plinth and platter. Wood floors can cause skipping unless you have a wall mounted shelf for the TT.

 

I have purchased used vinyl that looked to be in excellent condition only to have a skip when played. After a thorough presoak and cleaning with a Spin Clean followed by another cleaning on a Record Doctor RCM I have always been able to clear the skip so far so they were all caused by a dirty record.

How are you cleaning your vinyl with skips as a good wet soak and cleaning may solve the problem?

Could be a setup issue with you Turn Table as well. As someone mentioned maybe your anti-skate is not working properly or needs adjustment. You might try different setting on the anti-skate to see if that solves your issue. The anti-skate number will not always be the same as your VTF on some tables.

 

No skips in years. I own a cupla thousand records and check for scratches on new and used. No bad scratches, no skips (I don't count the occasional skip caused by record defects)

 

That's interesting patient_ot.

I do have indeed a laminate flooring. The turntable is level - I even bought a special very small spirit level.

I have a hifi-rack made of steel and heavy glass. The turntable is on the top and underneth are about 50kg to stabilize.

I know about the AS probs with the Rega RB 300. I have set mine to about 1,8 on the scale.

@all The problem is that I can not repreduce the skip. After taking the needle about 30 seconds back, there was no skip.

Bye Andrea

 

If the floor has any "bounce" to it weighing down your hi-fi rack may not completely solve the issue. The only surefire way is a wall mounted shelf.

Re: the anti-skate, I would try turning it down further.

 

Do you have a basement below? Your floor might be flexing and causing random skips. I installed an adjustable post between the basement floor and the joist below my turntable and it's now solid as a rock. If there is an occupied space below a wall mount rack would solve the problem. Adding weight (ballast) isn't going to help if the floor is the problem, and may make it worse.

 

Almost zero. I recently got a copy of a record that turned out to have a pimple in the vinyl, and that skipped because it jumped the stylus further in (yes, that copy went back...). I haven’t even had scratches cause skipping, but maybe I have been fortunate. IME, proper setup keeps the stylus in the groove unless there is something very wrong with the groove.

 

I have an album that skips but only when the dust cover is down. Also on one occasion, I was experimenting with minimal VTF, otherwise zero skips.

 

Interesting definition of tracking well:
tracks so well == skipping 1 time/100h.
In my book skipping is of track.

 

Hi Ken!

Thanks, I haven't thought about it.

And yes, you might be right concerning the laminate floor.

It is about 8 years old and it starts to squeak from time to time, when I step on specific spots. It has increased in the last two to three years and that was exactly when the probs with my carts started...

Would any of thoose "audiophile" hifi racks solve the problem? Mine is not rock solid and has no damping at all. Only glass and steel.

Bye Andrea

 

Can’t miss an opportunity for a dig?

 

None

 

None.

 

I clean my vinyl religiously before the stylus touches any album. The only time I have experienced any skipping is when the filament line on the anti-skate mechanism to my VPI table gets "caught". It's annoying, but has only happened twice and is easy to fix. I try to remember to visually check the line before dropping a needle into the groove.

 

Never.

 

None except with an uncleanable/damaged used record.

 

Thousands of hours on Technics 1200s and high-volume 12" and no skips without a reason, like fluff-balls lifting the stylus out of the groove, or hundreds of people jumping on a barn floor.

The natural skating force will pull the stylus towards the center. If you have a tendency to only skip into the next groove (instead of a repeat), then increasing the turntable's anti-skate may be the answer. Some tonearms don't have a good mechanism - the amount of correction force imparted at different radiuses doesn't correspond with the actual forces at varied locations.

If you hear a skip, which may be from a musical peak on a long-playing record where grooves are close together (instead of a bit of grit that is now swept out of the groove), I'd experiment to see where you can make it reliably skip vs reliably play by adjusting to extremes in the anti-skate dial, and do the same for a record that has a repeat-lock-skip, and pick the center position between the two. Some music content may accelerate the stylus in one direction.

 

Out of around 2,000 records, at least 30% bought used, none skip. I would have culled any that skip, but, I have not had to do this. I have never returned a record because it skips.