Arm resonance and other questions..


Hello to all out there! I have recently acquired a Rega 25 with a Dynavector Dv-20x and its running threw a Monolithic ps-1, hc-1 power supply combo. This replaces my old luxman. Why did i not do this years ago!!!! It sounds MUCH! better in every way than my Adcom gcd-600 cd player. I will be putting a Heavy weight on and play with the endless other things i can do (keeps me off the street at night). But i digress(perching to the choir). I do have two questions.
When i put the needle down on on a record with the sound off i here the normal sound of the needle playing the groove, but it is much louder at the bearing end than the cartridge end. Is this normal? do i need to try and dampen the arm, or this part of Rega’s thing and i should stop being anal and stop listening to the turntable with the sound off! ( girlfriends suggestion)
The other question is ...... I just bought a Dave Brubeck “Time Out” Columbia “six eye” mono (cl-1397) that looks clean, black and little played.... $10. Very excited, i come home, go strait to the turntable, give it a dusting, carbon brush it, ....ahhhhhhh looks good for a first play, drop the needle, quickly sit down ........ Well, its like sticking your head in a bowl of rice crispes ..... no make that like dragging a rake down a gravel road. Not just the random clicks, pops, and hiss of a dirty groove but a constant, and it gets louder and softer with the music. clearly not just dirt! ............... I slump in my char and a tear comes to my eye. I have not cleaned it properly yet but i have a sinking feeling this is not the problem. The odd thing is that listening threw the gravel every thing sounds wonderful. Bass is full and tight and the cymbals ring clear .... and i can here the brass. All better than either of the other Time Out’s i have ....... i think??? Is it posable to damage the groove so that it sounds like its raining pebbles and still have everything else sound fine?? Any thoughts on what this could be??

Thanks....... Bill
bkcme

Showing 1 response by bkcme

Thanks for the replies. sorry i haven't responded sooner but I've been out of town.
Hearing the amount of resonance in the arm it makes me wonder what would happen if the arm was completely dead (resonance wise). Im assuming that a cartridge is designed so that it dose not move and only the stylus moves, thus only receiving info from the groove and not the arm, bearings, plinth ect...?? If the arm is vibrating enough to here it, this must shake the cartridge at the same frequencies possibly conflicting with the same or other frequencies being picked up by the cartridge. Please correct me if im wrong! Would a sonically dead arm be a step forward or back?
(TWL) Following the thread on your “HIFI” mod my first thought was...... “well Duh”....that's a no brainier!!...Why didn't i think of that... Simple, elegant, cheep .... at least until you market it! ; ‘ ) and logical. Hats off to you and your ingenuity. Here is a question .... If i have the basic idea right, its all about increasing the moment of inertia in the lateral plane? Thus keeping the cartridge steadier and more resistance to groove influenced vibration, leaving the stylus to “wiggle” in a stable housing. All this insuring a more accurate picture of what is in the groove. Now what happens when the cartridge is “sinning” from arm resonance??. This has been on my mind for the last few weeks and i need help getting it out ... Im bet you have all done it before but go and put on a lp with a loud and complex passage ... turn off the sound and listen to that arm sing!!! Considering the lengths people go to eliminate the most subtle vibrations in the table/system this thing is just screaming with un controlled vibes!!
As for my Brubeck lp i’m going to learn to listen threw the groove noise with the idea that in time i will not here it any longer. If i can get to this point with this album then i will never need to clean another record as long as i live!!! ; ‘ )

Bill.......