Grungy sound with clean needle

Has your suspension on the Denon S1 collapsed? I was in the middle of a listening session, (about 3 hours in) and all of a sudden the sound was horrible. Quicking checking everything, I had found that the suspension on my Lyra Delos had fallen.

The Delos only has about 200-250 hours on it and was meticulously maintained.

You might check this to be sure.

Mofimadness - - I have a similar problem with a Lyra Helikon mono cart with very low mileage. Used to sound spectacular and now it's . . ..well, grungy. What's the best way of checking the status of the suspension? Many thanks!

Rshak...in my case the white paper that protects the wires and coils was actually touching the vinyl surface. Kinda easy to tell :-)

It was fine just the album side before and wham, the suspension was shot.

It seems unlikely the suspension would collapse on an "almost new" cartridge. Anything's possible, as Mofimadness unfortunately learned, but I'd consider other causes first.

Try cleaning the stylus with Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Search here or on other forums for how-to's, cautions and testimonials. Hundreds have adopted this method since I first publicized it 9 years ago. It's more effective than any liquid stylus cleaner (which some cartridge manufacturers warn against, as certain solvents may attack the glue holding the stylus to the cantilever and/or the elastomers in the suspension).

Also, and rather obviously, if you aren't cleaning your LP's effectively - preferably before the first play - your stylus will continually dredge up grunge and muck itself up. This is true even with new releases.

Nothing more fun than troubleshooting hi end vinyl over the internet....:^)

Do you have a spare cart? If so try it and see if grunge goes away. That would tell you something.

Otherwise, do you have a magnifying glass or mirror to inspect stylus with? Could be damaged or defective.

Of course always do your best to make sure any cart is mounted properly with proper tonearm adjustments for vertical tracking and anti-skate, otherwise all bets are off.

..oh and make sure the record you test with is in in good condition as well and you are familiar enough with it to know what it should sound like.

Thanks to all. Am re-installing cartridge with protractor this time. What the hell, everybody is dumb about something.....

Make sure the little needle thingy is pointed down...

OP said:

Stylus cleaned with stylus cleaning liquid. Still get a grungy sound like there is muck on stylus. Was playing well, now it won't . Any ideas?

Mofimadness said:

Has your suspension on the Denon S1 collapsed?

Dougdeacon said:

liquid stylus cleaner (which some cartridge manufacturers warn against, as certain solvents may attack the glue holding the stylus to the cantilever and/or the elastomers in the suspension).

I've got one idea, but you ain't gonna like it...

Hi Doug
Good to see you back in these parts...
Pradeep

Hi Pradeep,
The respectable places kicked me out, so...

The respectable places kicked me out

I knew there was a reason I liked you, Doug ;-)

Doug
As Groucho Marx said, I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.....
Cheers