Turntable Fluttering distortion

Will try this! Thanks

 

Problem unfortunately persists. It tends to start off playing fine, but after a few minutes the distortion/flutter returns.

Here is a video of the motor spinning. You can see the motor pulley is still slightly leaning towards the center. IMG_1793.MOV

 

Yea, can see that the belt isn't riding on the crown of the pulley, it is sliding down and not very smooth running. Belt seems really thick too, but guess that's what they use. Is the belt tension the cause of the motor tilt? Does it straighten out when belt removed? Motor mounts may be too loose or belt too tight.

 

Belt tension isn't the main cause of the motor tilt, but it makes it slightly worse. Tilt seems to be mainly affected by how tight the screws are holding the motor to the plinth. Using those two screws doesn't really allow for much adjustment, but the tighter they are the more the motor tilts. I've tried rotating the rubber washers there but no improvement.

 

You know, I have seen that with my TT. I believe the belt is in the proper position, but I noticed I could move it to several position on the spindle. If the belt gets loose, I can see it moving.

 

Depends on the quality of the turntable and the belt and other variables. Below is a short video of the belt going around the pulley on my vintage Micro Seiki BL-91, which has very low wow and flutter, similar to the good direct drive tables at a specified .025%, the belt stays centered on pulley even though the camera doesn't stay centered on pulley

 

Thanks for sharing the vid! I'm not sure How I can adjust the motor to be more level. I maybe just take it out all together and re-position the suspension rubber band that runs around the perimeter.

I've added some oil to the motor bearing and spindle, and when I spin it I hear what sounds like a few rough points. It looks very smooth; no pitting, etc. Whatever resistance is present is VERY minor.

 

I'd take the PLX-1000 over the Fluance for the price.

 

I suspect your motor has worn bearings. And will need replacement. A tip: On average, the motor on turntables needs at least annual lubrication (with the recommended oil per instruction manual). This will help your motor last a much longer lifespan.

 

current observation: Turn the table on, start playing record, and it sounds great. A few minutes in the distortion appears and becomes gradually worse. Raising and lower the stylus while still spinning fixes it for a hot second, but then it returns. Stopping the motor altogether, then restarting, starts the cycle over: starts off playing great and then after a few minutes, distortion returns.

 

Also, I've tried multiple adjustments with the motor screws and rubber band, and there is no combo where the motor pulley doesn't lean slightly inwards towards the sub-platter. I can adjust the motor screws slightly, and that makes it more level, but still a slight lean. My year/model states to not remove the motor screws and let the motor sit suspended by just the rubber band. I believe older models you were told to remove these screws.

I'll reiterate here that I never had this issue until the turntable was removed from being in storage two years. There are really too few hours on this deck for it to be a wear issue, and it was working fine before I put it in storage

 

The symptom of this Project debut carbon esprit is likely due to the failure of electronics. The symptom appears suddenly after operating for a while. No home-brew fidgeting is going to fix it.

The turntable uses an AC sync motor, the kind that would be plugged directly into a wall outlet, and a "speed board" and power supply amp to generate a new waveform for 33 or 45. Failure of half of the AC wave driving it or of motor run capacitor dropping a phase would cause such a flutter heard through the belt drive.

It would take a technician with an oscilloscope to verify the amp output, and rectify the problem. This is a turntable that can be "turned on" with a Zerostat, made by Sumiko, who makes Rotels that blink off from power switched in the other room.

"speed board"

 

Nice features!

Me too.
I actually had one for a few years, it's a nice deck.

 

A PLX-1000 is sounding pretty good to me right now... lol.

 

Honestly, if I can't get this to resolve, this will be the last Pro-Ject I buy. For $600, I expect a turntable to last longer than 5 years. I wasn't going for something crazy high end here, but rather a reliable, good sounding turntable. And honestly, when I haven't had the distortion issue, it has sounded really nice.

 

One quick thought: I'm now in Nevada where it is very dry. My platter is acrylic. Could static electricity be causing the distortion I'm hearing? I mean, it makes sense as that would build up as the record plays. Just a thought. I've never experienced this before, so not sure what it would sound like.

 

Thanks for the video.

 

No, but it can induce crackles and pops if spikes of discharge happen between the record/platter and cantilever.

 

Update: backing the tracking force down to the minimum recommended by Ortofon has seemed to help drastically. I set it at 1.6 grams. Recommended is 1.8. I ordered a tracking force gauge. I'm curious how accurate the dial is on the turntable arm.

 

Didn’t the Ortofon 2M cartridge come with one of those small white plastic balance scales?
I mean, my 2M Black did.
Those are not really accurate, but good enough for an indication/estimation.

 

The cartridge was on this deck when I bought it. I upgraded from a red to a blue stylus, so bought the stylus only. I think the plastic scale only comes if you buy the whole cartridge.

 

Ah yes that makes sense.
The manufacturer buys those in bulk for their TTs, no retail packaging.