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Author Topic: VPI Classic 1 Turnable - look what the cat dragged in.  (Read 3583 times)

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aive

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Re: VPI Classic 1 Turnable - look what the cat dragged in.
« Reply #60 on: August 23, 2015, 12:27:36 PM »
Ok vinyl gurus, don't mean to hijack this thread but just want to ask a quick question about an issue I've got that's made me stop listening to my TT.

Got a second hand Technics a few years ago, and the stylus was shot so ordered an AT one from Amazon, couple of hundred bucks. Since then I've always had a channel imbalance which I suspect is due to a fault in the stylus itself - I've swapped stylus, swapped LR, swapped preamps, etc. I've tried realigning the stylus to no end with no improvement (as that's what my googling turns up as the main fix to the problem).

Are there any other checks I can do? I'm thinking of doing a resistance check from RCAs to headshell pins (loose internal wiring maybe?). Or should I just bite the bullet and get another stylus, sigh...
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Marvey

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Re: VPI Classic 1 Turnable - look what the cat dragged in.
« Reply #61 on: August 23, 2015, 02:42:56 PM »
pins?
phono-pre? (try swapping channels)
alignment (doubtful if you've already checked)
anti-skate/VTA?



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Thad E Ginathom

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Re: VPI Classic 1 Turnable - look what the cat dragged in.
« Reply #62 on: August 23, 2015, 03:48:14 PM »
Merv, applause for the expression on your daughter's face. Priceless :)

Quite apart from the endless-cost possibility, Vinyl breaks my heart. I play a record, with enormous care; put it back in its sleeve, with enormous care; next time I play it, there's another scratch. I can't stand it. I'll stick to digital. Somehow, this doesn't happen to everyone, and if you can keep LPs clean and relatively scratch-free, then I wish you joy.

There is certainly nothing like the tactile, sensuous experience of playing a record.
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Marvey

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Re: VPI Classic 1 Turnable - look what the cat dragged in.
« Reply #63 on: August 23, 2015, 05:58:20 PM »
Quote from: Thad E Ginathom on August 23, 2015, 03:48:14 PM
Quite apart from the endless-cost possibility, Vinyl breaks my heart.  play a record, with enormous care; put it back in its sleeve, with enormous care; next time I play it, there's another scratch. I can't stand it.

That's the whole point of it! Impermanence. Rather than run away from it, embrace it. There's sweetness in knowing that all those records you love won't last. Really not any different from your friends, your family, etc.

This is why uber-godlike Q was so interested in understanding humans in ST:TNG. Where the writers goofed is that they never had Q make the decision to become human (and grow old and die, or die in a gruesome transporter accident).
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AustinValentine

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Re: VPI Classic 1 Turnable - look what the cat dragged in.
« Reply #64 on: August 23, 2015, 06:20:43 PM »
Quote from: Merv on August 23, 2015, 05:58:20 PM
That's the whole point of it! Impermanence. Rather than run away from it, embrace it. There's sweetness in knowing that all those records you love won't last. Really not any different from your friends, your family, etc.

The turntable needle will eventually dull. Your vinyl will turn into scratched plates incapable of sonic verisimilitude. Someday, people won't even have ears and every record player will simply stand as a momento mori and grim reminder of a bare life we used to experience that is now forever lost. We're all moving ever so imperceptibly slowly apart; it makes no sense to claw against the casual diffusion - this ineluctable heat death of the universe. Pride yourself on your disease. Life is meaningless. Eat Arbys.
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Anaxilus

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Re: VPI Classic 1 Turnable - look what the cat dragged in.
« Reply #65 on: August 23, 2015, 06:40:17 PM »
Quote from: aive on August 23, 2015, 12:27:36 PM
Ok vinyl gurus, don't mean to hijack this thread but just want to ask a quick question about an issue I've got that's made me stop listening to my TT.

Got a second hand Technics a few years ago, and the stylus was shot so ordered an AT one from Amazon, couple of hundred bucks. Since then I've always had a channel imbalance which I suspect is due to a fault in the stylus itself - I've swapped stylus, swapped LR, swapped preamps, etc. I've tried realigning the stylus to no end with no improvement (as that's what my googling turns up as the main fix to the problem).

Are there any other checks I can do? I'm thinking of doing a resistance check from RCAs to headshell pins (loose internal wiring maybe?). Or should I just bite the bullet and get another stylus, sigh...

Which AT cartridge did you get? AT cartridges are very good, and depending on which are some of the best at managing inner groove distortion so they are quite pliable. I'd guess your problem is elsewhere so stop messing with the stylus or cartridge unless you messed it up during install by bending the cantilever. The only time I had a channel imbalance after changing a cartridge was one of the pins was a little loose connecting to the headshell. Also verify you wired it correctly. The colors on your headshell pins might not be the same as the cartridge. Look at the symbols instead of the colors.

Edit-Ah, read you as ordering a new AT cartridge, not stylus. Yes, you might need a new cartridge. I suspect knocking something loose during install as channel imbalance only happened after you did the install based on what I'm reading.
« Last Edit: August 23, 2015, 09:10:34 PM by Anaxilus »
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ultrabike

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Re: VPI Classic 1 Turnable - look what the cat dragged in.
« Reply #66 on: August 23, 2015, 07:22:56 PM »
Quote from: AustinValentine on August 23, 2015, 06:20:43 PM
The turntable needle will eventually dull. Your vinyl will turn into scratched plates incapable of sonic verisimilitude. Someday, people won't even have ears and every record player will simply stand as a momento mori and grim reminder of a bare life we used to experience that is now forever lost. We're all moving ever so imperceptibly slowly apart; it makes no sense to claw against the casual diffusion - this ineluctable heat death of the universe. Pride yourself on your disease. Life is meaningless. Eat Arbys.

Meh. There will be those cloned and imperishable digital masters from which new Vinyl may resurrect. Think cruciforms in Hyperion. Which is proly bad. But what can you do.
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DaveBSC

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Re: VPI Classic 1 Turnable - look what the cat dragged in.
« Reply #67 on: August 23, 2015, 08:44:09 PM »
Quote from: aive on August 23, 2015, 12:27:36 PM
Ok vinyl gurus, don't mean to hijack this thread but just want to ask a quick question about an issue I've got that's made me stop listening to my TT.

Got a second hand Technics a few years ago, and the stylus was shot so ordered an AT one from Amazon, couple of hundred bucks. Since then I've always had a channel imbalance which I suspect is due to a fault in the stylus itself - I've swapped stylus, swapped LR, swapped preamps, etc. I've tried realigning the stylus to no end with no improvement (as that's what my googling turns up as the main fix to the problem).

Are there any other checks I can do? I'm thinking of doing a resistance check from RCAs to headshell pins (loose internal wiring maybe?). Or should I just bite the bullet and get another stylus, sigh...

Connect one channel of the cartridge out of phase with the other (reverse the + and - on one channel only) and play a mono tesst record. Out of phase information cancels so adjust the azimuth by tuning for least output. Then repeat the process with the other channel out of phase. See if you hear any difference. My guess is either that you've got a wiring issue somewhere, or you just need a new cart.
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DaveBSC

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Re: VPI Classic 1 Turnable - look what the cat dragged in.
« Reply #68 on: August 23, 2015, 08:51:35 PM »
Quote from: Thad E Ginathom on August 23, 2015, 03:48:14 PM
Quite apart from the endless-cost possibility, Vinyl breaks my heart. I play a record, with enormous care; put it back in its sleeve, with enormous care; next time I play it, there's another scratch. I can't stand it. I'll stick to digital. Somehow, this doesn't happen to everyone, and if you can keep LPs clean and relatively scratch-free, then I wish you joy.

There is certainly nothing like the tactile, sensuous experience of playing a record.

I'm generally unmoved by the tactile experience of playing my records, and I'm really unmoved by the experience of running my records through my Nitty Gritty - and it's a two sides at once, largely auto cleaner. Full manual cleaning? Fuck that.

I'd sell it all tomorrow if I could replicate the sound via digital, but I can't. Drops get pretty close, and whenever I don't feel like actually playing my records, I'm happy listening to one of my drops. Modern digital production is just almost universally garbage though. I know that probably at least half the new records being released are cut straight from loudness destroyed CD masters anyway depending on genre, but there's still a sizable percentage that aren't, and if you want to listen to them, you've gotta have a TT, at least unless you know the mastering engineer, which in some cases I do.

I really don't find scratches to be a big problem. I've got plenty of 30 and 40 year old records that are holding up just fine, whereas my first CD pressing of "Master of Puppets" lasted maybe 10 years before it became so scratched that "Damage Inc." was totally unplayable.
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Anaxilus

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Re: VPI Classic 1 Turnable - look what the cat dragged in.
« Reply #69 on: August 23, 2015, 09:11:41 PM »
I find nothing romantic about the experience of actually using vinyl. It pretty much sucks. Until you finally get to sit down and listen.  p:3
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"If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading." - Lao Tzu

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