Early Faint "Phantom" Turntable/Vinyl Signal???


So, I'm getting an early, faint audio signal coming through the speakers (from my vinyl) which immediately precedes the full volume signal.  It is the actual signal of the music, which I can hear very faintly.  What is this phenomenon?  Is this a TT/Cartridge issue?  Phono Stage?
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Showing 1 response by millercarbon

Its called pre-echo. Record grooves are originally cut into a very soft special wax. This wax is so soft it deforms easily. Sometimes if the grooves are not spaced widely enough apart the squiggles from the music being cut deforms the wax enough to create a very weak copy of itself in the preceding groove. If you watch a record when you hear the pre-echo you will notice when it comes around one full turn that's when you hear the original sound. 

Once you know what it is you will notice it happens quite a lot. Sometimes like Harry Belafonte at Carnegie Hall its almost like he sings "Sylvie" twice each time. Part of the charm of vinyl.