Skipping issue with my Clearaudio TT

Hi all,

As my profile states I have a Clearaudio Innovation compact Wood with the 9" Universal arm and Stradivari cart the whole setup is just over 3 years and about 1000 hours on the cart. The TT sits on a Gingko Cloud 11 isolation platform. Over the past few months I've started playing my collection of jazz mono recordings which have been in the family for all their life nearly 65 years. Nearly all of them are play graded at VG or higher. recently I've noticed that that many of them skip a bit as the needle approaches the run-out. So the last song or portion thereof. The rest of my collection that I play are the AP/MM45s as I was/am an original subscriber. every single one of the reissues play without skipping, yet the vintage exhibit the skipping behavior and again ONLY near the end and a visual inspection shows, in most cases, no significant defects. I was thinking since I have only had the isolation platform for about 4 months that it may in fact causing more hard than good. I am not an expert on adjusting the VTA or any other part of the tone arm and my trusted dealer is unfortunately dealing with significant health issues and not able to help. I'll likely call Musical Surroundings tomorrow for guidance, but I thought I'd ask the smart people here for any pointers.

TIA

 

Your post reads as though the installation of the isolation platform coincides with the commencement of skipping as the stylus gets close to the runout. If so, it seems most likely that some adjustment changed. When you reinstalled the turntable on the new platform, either the vertical tracking force was reduced to something lighter than or very close to minimum for the cartridge, or the antiskate setting was increased to the point where it is exerting too much outward force as the stylus nears the runout. A third possibility is that the turntable is not level.

 

I can't offer help but I experienced a similar thing on my Pioneer PL-560 but it's more at the beginning of the first track and then occasionally thru the rest of the side. It's weird...worked fine the past few days now it's jumpy all of the sudden. It actually shudders from side to side if it hits a speck of dust or something deep in the grooves or other reason. Could be the cart/stylus which is a NOS Grado GF3E+ that was just mounted a few months ago. All settings are the same ??? My tech friend is coming by in a few days to take a look. I defer to his knowledge/experience.

BTW, I just re-leveled it after the problem showed up and still does it.

 

Does it skip backwards or forwards? Can you take a picture of the tonearm, maybe from above the pivot, showing the anti-skate magnet position?

 

Could be some installation issue or simply inner groove wear that has caused enough damage to create a skip.

What are your settings? Get a CD and drop the stylus on in to see how the arm swings with your current Anti Skate setting.

 

I'm using the same table and arm. I'm wondering if the arm is running into the tonearm lifter platform. I had that problem with my VPI after adjusting VTA sometimes. Check that the tonearm is not barely touching the felt liner of the lift as you swing it across the platter. If so loosen the set screw, and you are done.
Can you play the last song? Does it skip in one spot every time or random? Does the stylus get stuck or does it jump ahead or backwards. Is it all records that extend to the spindle?

Good Luck
Jeff

 

The arm not clearing the rest all the way across could cause this. And the heavier weight of the MM pressings might make enough VTA difference that the arm is clearing it on those. Maybe. It's where I would look first. Did you carefully check the level of the turntable and platter after you put it on the isolation platform?

 

You said you're close to or at 1,000 hours - have you considered re-tipping the stylus? My 2M Blue started skipping mercilessly as time came to changing the stylus.

 

Also, good point made by others above - have you adjusted VTA lately? I've had a very similar issue quite recently, and even posted a thread here about it. Turns out, when adjusting the VTA, I moved the whole arm assembly slightly right, thereby robbing it of that last portion of swing needed to track the last few grooves and the run-out grooves.

Inspect the arm visually to see if it's pointing a bit to the right, and if so - loosen the VTA screws and turn the whole arm assembly a bit to the left, so the arm is visibly parallel to the side of the plinth, and perpendicular to the front.

Cart/arm not tracking inner-most groves on Pro-Ject The Classic TT

 

Wow!! great info. I will post the pics of the TT and check the level.

 

Here is a link to some pics of the arm/cart. I did level it since it was a bit off. Not much. Oh, it skips forward only, no repeating

Dropbox - Universal_Tone_Arm_2.jpg - Simplify your life

Dropbox - Universal_Tone_Arm.jpg - Simplify your life

 

No matter what the cause of the skipping is, your stylus is worn out. A stylus tracking at 2.8g under the best conditions is not gonna last any longer than 400-500 hours. You might be permanently damaging your records.
That being said, after you replace that cartridge watch these two videos on how to properly set anti-skate. I’ll bet your problem will be solved.
How Do I Adjust Anti-skating On My Cartridge? | Soundsmith

 

Can't see much from these angles. You need to be facing the arm to see if it's skewed to the right.

 

Check the anti skate indeed and replace the stylus if its old. I dont fully agree with Ledermanns method anymore but its absolutely great to check how the arm moves on a flat surface.

 

I had a similar issue with my SME Series V when I did the first cartridge change. It drove me mad until I took it back to my dealer. He went over the setup with the templates and saw right away that I’d nudged the arm very slightly out of alignment when I was setting the VTA. He was even nice enough not to laugh at my hamfistedness or charge me for his time.

 

Hey Jeff,

I just realized how little I know about the adjustments. I now can't even track to the run out groove. Can you look at the pic and tell me if this is what you're referring to?
It's bumping up against the anti-skate, so I must have unintentionally moved something.

Dropbox - 20200710_090327.jpg - Simplify your life

 

Your pivot to spindle distance is off, it seems your arm board came loose, remeasure and tighten, should be good to go!

 

Also check that your VTA screws are tight and that the assembly didn't twist.

 

Also when you get some spare cash, get the outer ring and the HRS record weight its an amazing addition to this stellar set up. Killed my VPI Classic 3D.

 

Agree, looking at that last photo it seems your arm board is definitely too close to the plater. By moving it clockwise you should be able to set the correct pivot/spindle distance. Just gently loosen the big hex head bolt and move/measure.

 

Okay, you're correct it is at 203mm should be 222mm almost .75 inches off. I'll adjust.

 

Thanks everyone for the great input. As it turns out adjusting the arm board to it's correct position resolved the issue.