Cartridge Setup?

I loved my MMF5.1 with the Goldring cartrdige.. But one day as I was playing a record, I heard a loud noise and the needle fell off... :-( So I went to a dealer and for around $300, he gave me the Sumiko, I can hear more details now, but I just can't stand the surface noise, static pops and the brightness, but I think the brightness will go as it breaks in... Not sure about the noise, but I am bringing it to some professionals down at the Analog Room in San Jose this weekend... Hopefully they can get it right..

Indeed - I've had dealers set up my cartridges and they NEVER got it right. I allow them to do it because they get it somewhat close, but I always fine tune. Sometimes it takes months before the cartridge breaks in and fine tuning is settled

so i did something similar recently. i 'upgraded' to a grado gold on my MMF 2.1. i'm not sure if its the cartridge or what, but i am now obssessed with perfecting the sound. dont get me wrong, grado hum aside, it sounds great, but now i notice more. i am constantly tweaking it. is it possible that the grado gold is just too good for my TT? i adjusted the VTA as best i could last night and i am pretty happy with the sound, but i am not sure if i did it correctly. i'd give the bluepoint 25 hrs or so to 'break in' then do a re evaluation. how do you like your 5.1? i love the old model with that glass platter!

good luck!

Ekobesky is correct, although I would call that Blue Point a backwards move. The Blue Points pick up way too much surface noise, move to something like a Dynavector 10x5, there are many choices that are better than the Blue Point.

Probably not. If memory serves, the Goldring has a fine-line stylus which digs deep into the grove (below most damage) which can result in quieter backgrounds than the Blue Point, which though very good, uses an ordinary eliptical stylus profile that rides higher up in the groove and therefore can pick up more imperfections. So on worn (or especially, dirty) records, you may hear more random ticks and pops. Between you and I, the cartridge swap was more of a sideways move than an upgrade.

Improper alignment shouldn't increase surface noise that dramatically, but you can check it with the supplied protractor. You might also check to make sure the four cartridge wires are connected to the proper terminals on the back of the cartridge -- they're color codes, so this is a one second visual check.

Aside from that, the only thing I can imagine is that *maybe* they damaged the internal arm wiring or it was already damaged and they exacerbated it. That's a big maybe, though.

Try cleaning your records with Disc Doctor fluid or a good vacuum record cleaner like Nitty Gritty. Or try playing a brand new record and see if the noises are still there.