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I need help diagnosing a sibilant problem on vinyl

Rega Planar 2 turntable. Rega Elys 2 cartridge. Audible Illusions Modulus tube pre-amp. Audio Research D-51 tube amp. Rogers LS-2a speakers. Oppo BDP-95 disc player.
My discs, especially the SACD's sound fantastic. Vinyl instrumental's sound good. Anytime there's an "S" in the vocals on vinyl there's a harsh sibilance that doesn't make sense. It would only make sense if there was a cartridge/stylus problem or a phono stage problem in my pre-amp.
Before I take it to my very expensive, very slow HI-FI tech, does anyone out there have an idea of what it could be?
sprintz699
sprintz699 OP
6 posts
 
I'll start with a level. Good call, thanks.
sprintz699 OP
6 posts
 
Maybe 100.
sprintz699 OP
6 posts
 
I endeavor to clean it, but don't know what the magic eraser is.
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
search the forum for magic eraser. A home cleaning product that has proven to be a most effective and economical tool for stylus cleaning.
zd542
5,339 posts
 
If maybe 100 is 100 hours, that may be your problem. Phono carts need a lot of break in. To me a new cart can actually sound broken. If you are not keeping track of how many hours you have, it probably is a lot less than 100. Its a bit of work putting that many hours on a cart. On a CD player, you can just hit repeat. All of the other suggestions about setup are excellent and worth listening to but keep in mind that you may need to play a few more records for things to smooth out.
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