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Helikon run-in groove problem.....

OK...I just spent 2 hours with a very knowledgeable technician trying to figure out why my new (2 months old) helikon (regular) runs in on the lead in groove on some records. My arm is a VPI 10.5 and the tech is quite good at set up and VTA etc. We tried playing with the tonearm cable on the VPI (this is the cable conected to arm tube and the rear arm conection and is also used for anti-skate). We checked the weight,VTA, and still on some records (yes some older Mer's) even newer records..it runs in for a few revolutions or gooves. It is very annoying but does not happen at the end of the record and it plays quit nicely overall. This should be a good question for Helikon/VPI arm 'goners.

Thanks for your help!
rwd

Showing 1 response by frogman

frogman
7,372 posts
 
One more suggestion that might help. I'm glad that you discovered that tweaking the cable helps; however, I suspect that the cable will continue to go out of "adjustment", and it's also possible that there is more than one thing at play (pun intended) here.

I have found that on my VPI table (I'm guessing that you have a VPI table as well), if I overtighten the record clamp it will cause some records to actually "lift" slightly along their outer edge and actually lose contact with the platter. This, of course, would affect the lead-in groove the most. Try using less torque on your clamp and see if that also helps.

Good luck.
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