Question about Inner Groove Distortion (especially on shorter records)

Well, to be honest, $120 was really pushing it for us -- we really wanted to spend $100 or so for a better stylus. It really is down to raw budget.

What would be recommended under that price that could perhaps better the AT95e at least a little...maybe the VMN95EN, the new nude elliptical from the VM line?

 

I had just asked about that in my previous post...would you recommend the EN over Turntable Needle's HyperElliptical?

 

I understand budgets. But the fact remains that an elliptical wears out faster than a microline. So even though you pay less now, you pay more over time and get worse tracking and tracing of the inner grooves. If the VM95EN is all you can afford right now, go ahead and buy it. It'll be better than what you have and you can upgrade to the ML stylus when the EN stylus wears out.

 

Probably yes, because you never know what you are getting with aftermarket stuff. And I'd always prefer a quality nude stylus over a bonded one. With a real AT stylus, you get exactly what they say - no mystery.

 

Will the VM 95EN STYLUS slip right onto the older AT95e BODY...without modification?

 

YES, if you are the same guy on VE that was going round and round about this I believe it was proven to you over there. Any VM95 stylus will fit on an older AT95 body. However, if you can afford a complete new cart I'd suggest getting that instead. The new VM95 bodies are improved over the old AT95 ones.

 

No, that is basically bull. Sorry you can't think critically. Gonna put you on ignore because you just don't get it. A number of folks gave you good advice elsewhere. You seem to be interested in pointless arguing more than good advice.

If anyone else is reading this, ignore this guy. He already pissed off a bunch of folks elsewhere.

 

They fit and work fine without surgery. The overhang changes though with the old body. But it's only an extra $20 to get the whole cart.

 

Thanks Bolt; but what about if I wanted to get the cart mounted in a new shell? How much would that run, about?

Do you feel the EN would be better than the HyperElliptical from TN?

 

A nude mounted Stylus is going to be better than bonded. It's all diamond in the groove and better tracing with the cantilever. Still important to align properly though. What turntable is it?

 

AT-LP120, unmodded.

 

So on my Aerosmith records I’ve noticed that the records are notably wavy towards the center of the disc, and my tonearm moves up and down far more as it reaches the center. The needle never jumps out of the grooves but the sound gets worse for sure. Would getting a record weight flatten the discs a bit? And would the distortion clear up? There’s actually no sibilance on these, just a bit of distortion.

 

Your records are warped. If the warp is a bubble type warp that protrudes up the center, sometimes a record weight or clamp can flatten them out. As for getting rid of distortion, impossible to say without trying it first on that specific record.

If You Have a Turntable You Should Have a Record Clamp

Note also, that if the distortion is partly or completely due to IGD and has nothing to do with the warping, then a clamp won't fix it. A cart like the 2M Red will always have some degree of IGD on records with narrow inner grooves.

 

I just tried Grateful Dead's Tennessee Jed off my 180g reissue pressing of Europe '72. I read somewhere on the forums that this song is great for checking for misalignment and inner groove distortion. Sure enough, my copy distorted like hell throughout Garcia's guitar solo. It's obvious to me now that Something is seriously off with my cartridge set up. This is my first time setting up a new cartridge, and this micro line stylus is tough for me. Gonna go back and try to resolve my issues.

 

Is it a new copy? And how old is your stylus?

 

It’s a new copy, my stylus is about a week old.

 

Then you really need to redo installation. I hope your TT can make the adjustments.
What new cart do you use?

 

Audio-Technica VM95ML, it sounds real good, but my novice skills can only do so much. I’m getting there though. I’m also having a seriously difficult time being able to confirm the balance on this J-Shaped tonearm.

 

Does the shape of the arm affect how it balances?
Do you balance with the stylus guard on perhaps? Or do you have a digital scale?

 

I have a digital scale, and I balance without using the cap, but it’s more that I don’t trust my eyesight. The curved shape throws me off when I try to get it horizontally balanced. I’ve got it to where it seems as straight as possible and without the stylus ever touching the platter but very close to it.

 

That sounds balanced to me.

 

No more Grado Black for me... I've tried, tried and tried, on a couple of different turntables, fussing with the alignment and what not... It could never be trusted with a little collection I had built up over the years of various torture tracks... Now with a Shure M55 I am practically in heaven compared to what I used to have... That particular end-of-side, very busy and very loud church organ piece is still a tiny bit of a challenge for distorsion... But other than that, with both heavy rock and fine classical records, I'm more than happy.

 

What kind of protractor or alignment jig did you use to align the cartridge on your TT? What ML cart are we talking about here and what turntable is it on? I don't have that record so I can't speak to it too much.

Here is a thread that discusses some tracks that are problematic for many people when the cart and setup isn't quite right:

Vinyl Torture Tracks - Inner Grooves, Sibilants, Hotly Cut Tracks, Sudden Volume Bursts, etc.

 

I guess this is a different TT than the Pro-Ject in your profile? If you are using a digital scale to check VTF, there is no need to balance the tonearm. You simply adjust VTF until you get the correct reading.

 

Shures are generally much better trackers than the Grado Prestige line.