Possible alignment issue with Technics 1200

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dkd7

Re: Possible alignment issue with Technics 1200
« Reply #20 on: 5 Aug 2012, 06:11 am »
This one took awhile, but the stylus follows the arc perfectly now, dead center for the entire sweep.  :beer:  The setup sounded very good before, now there is a noticeable difference.

The bias on the left went away through the headphones,least I can't tell anymore... but is still present in the speakers and really only discernable through the sound meter. I have 1.5db bias on the left now instead of just slightly over 2db. When I swap the speaker cables at the amp, the sound meter reads even on the azimuth track.

The imaging moved almost towards the center now, some tracks have a very slight bias but that could be the recording, wear in the grooves...who knows.

What really sounded good was Floyd's DSOTM  LP, dead-center vocals and smoothness from wall to wall through the SDA's. The inner groove "On the Turning Away" was crazy smooth..much more than before. I kicked back just to hear "Sorrow" and just let it go, what a difference.

One thing I did after the alignment fix, was take the phono pre output and hook it directly to the amp. I figured if the pre has anything to do with it this will eliminate it. I reduced the gain all the way and the left bias was still there. Could be a combination of the speakers and the cart/pre but reducing almost 1db made a big difference.

Still needs alot of AS though....just under 3. At 1.5 the cart jumped out of the groove on the torture track and at 3 it did fine.

neobop

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Re: Possible alignment issue with Technics 1200
« Reply #21 on: 5 Aug 2012, 11:51 am »
That's great!!  I suspect your anti-skate is still too much, but that shouldn't be hard to check, that is, if you stop using the test record.  I must have seen hundreds of post by people using that test record and then having anti-skate problems.  If Dark Side was perfect, maybe it's right. I don't know.  If so, the following is for others who might be reading this thread.

When sighting your stylus/cantilever, either for alignment on a grid or checking anti-skate, do it from the front.  You have to make sure you're directly in front and not viewing at an angle.  For alignment, many use a magnifier and if you look from slightly varying angles, you can see if the cantilever lines up with the grid. You also need even lighting.   It's helpful if the light is more than from just one source.  For anti-skate, observe the angle of the cantilever to the cart body from directly in front, while the record is playing. If the cart body is consistently closer to the spindle, that indicates not enough anti-skate, and conversely.....  When anti-skate is in the ballpark it will be roughly centered, varying a bit one way, then the other.  Anti-skate requirements vary with groove modulation. The loudest passages require more anti-skate, so set it with your normal fare. 

It's easy to forget to turn off anti-skate when realigning.  I know you already got this, but I'm just saying.  Also, if you changed it, arm height should be reset for normal operation.  On a record player, every parameter effects another.  If you change arm height your overhang will also change.  Dialing in a cart is usually an  evolving process. If you change one thing you might have to check another, but Man oh man it is worth it.

el34

Re: Possible alignment issue with Technics 1200
« Reply #22 on: 31 Aug 2012, 02:45 pm »
After years of listening to DSOTM with headphones in the 70s... The original masters had the vocals skewed to one side.  I've read the newer masters have corrected this.

dkd7

Re: Possible alignment issue with Technics 1200
« Reply #23 on: 1 Sep 2012, 03:51 pm »
I need to edit my album name, not sure why  I added the "M"...possibly force of habit. The album was "Delicate Sound Of Thunder", or just "DSOT"

 :duh:

dkd7

Re: Possible alignment issue with Technics 1200
« Reply #24 on: 30 Sep 2012, 01:59 am »
Has been awhile since I last visited this project....what I did was adjust the gain on the Phonomena 2 to 60 db on the right channel and 59.4 db on the left. This did help but how does this affect the cart or the stylus? Does the gain need to be the same on both sides? Will this change the behavior in the MC area of the cart in a negative fashion?

Makes sense to think the stylus will have more freedom of movement in one direction but is this the case with just a slight change in gain, or is this only in the area of cart loading and not in the gain?