[Legendlime]

I'm kind of new to the Vinyl game but I believe my phono cartridge went out on me.

 Yesterday when I was listening to The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking, I began to hear distortion and I was thinking, "hmm that's an interesting effect". But as the record played on the distortion came and went but got worse and worse until I had to lift the needle. I put on a different record and the sound was just as bad so I tried yet a third record and it barely played at all. I wasn't sure what the problem was so I swapped out the pre amp for an older AVA T-2 pre to check the phono section and the distortion was still there. I had an old Dual turntable in the basement so I switched the Grado out for some unknown cartridge from that tt (without a whole lot of set up) and the distortion went away.

 

So, I guess my cartridge went out.    It's a Grado and the only markings on it are an 8 and an M. The cartridge I put in has no name on it just a symbol that looks like an upper case L with a lower case n sitting right in the angle and E185. I looked on-line but I couldn't find anything like it. I'm going to have to replace it because the needle part that sticks out is a little cocked to one side.

 

I could use a little help deciding what kind of cartridge to buy. If I recall, the guy I bought the turntable from said the arm on my TD-316 was a Technics arm.

I would like something that plays well but my budget is somewhat limited.

[Wayner]

It sounds like you wore the poor stylus down to a knub! Good thing 'cause your destroying your records. I suggest an Audio Technica AT440MLa. It can be had in price ranges from 99 to 200 depending on where you shop. www.lpgear has it, so does J and R music, and a bunch of others. Google it and you'll find many sources. Tracks nicely @ 1.50grams. If you don't have a scale, get a Shure SFG-2 for 25 bucks, too.

2000 hours of play on a stylus is pushing it. Get a replacement stylus while your at it.

Wayner  aa

[jules]

Ll,

have you taken a really close look at the stylus? This could be as simple as a build up dust/gunk. It doesn't have to be all that obvious and a good lens helps with forensic analysis but the way you describe the change in sound is consistent with that cause.

jules

[Wayner]

Jules is probably right in the fact that you may have picked up some glue type junk in the grooves of the Roger Waters album. Inspect the stylus for junk. If you see some, use some diluted isopropyl alcohol and a stylus brush (or a small electric shaver cleaning brush) to clean off the crap. Alway clean from back to front or you can damage the stylus.

Get a new cartridge anyway as your old one is probably worn and needs to be replaced. The cartridge itself really can't go out as it is just coils. Although some here at AC have damaged their carts with static electricity! The usual suspect is the stylus, something like dust or junk on it.

Wayner

[Legendlime]

Thanks, I'll check it out and let you know.

[Legendlime]

Well, I finally got everything put back together yesterday. My wife had the carpets cleaned last Friday so I had to disassemble and move my entire system out of the living room. The new  Audio Technica AT440MLa phono cartridge arrived from LPGear Monday, right on time for the reassembly. I bought an alignment kit from turntablebasics last year and I got everything lined up pretty well. I inspected and cleaned the Roger Waters LP but I didn't find anything that would have fouled the other cartridge.
 So I'm back in business and everything sounds great.




I drilled some extra hole across the back of the cabinet to let heat out and it gave me more ways to route cables without crossing them.

Thanks again for your help.

[TheChairGuy]

What a cool deck, Legendlime 

I owned a TD-316 for many years and always thought it was a handsome and clean looking deck.  The worst thing about it (I think) was the stock arm....someone along the line changed out the stock arm for some other arm (probably to tremendously good effect!)

btw, the best tweeks I ever did on my Thorens was to absolutely 100% perfectly balance the whole machine (seems suspended belt drive units benefit greatly from this) and I used TUFOIL oil additive (www.tufoil.com...difficult to find in shops)in teh bearing well.

I remember the moment after I added the TUFOIL...even before the first cut the bearing rumble had been quashed so thoroughly that my hairs stood up on end.  I think you'll flip over the improvement...$12.50 + shipping from TUFOIL (the rest can be dumped in your crankcase to good effect...3 cars / 300,000 miles / 17 years and no issues (just better mileage 2-5%, more responsive, lower engine operating temps, too)

However, that likely couldn't happen today - I have less hair 

Way to go...John