Ikeda 9 Cartridge Squeaking


This is an odd issue I have never been able to figure out the last few months. I have an Ikeda 9 Kawami cartridge on a Well Tempered Reference table, with the longer WTR arm. There are a few albums by Mark Isham on Windham Hill label that this cartridge has a high pitched squeak or rubbing sound in the groove. I can hear it and it drives me nuts! Yet on other albums such as George Winston on the same label there is none of this nonsense. 

Overhang is set by an arc protractor with spindle to pivot being 233 degrees. I have not found a factory listed number for this arm, but an owner of a Wally Tractor had one done for his table and reported the 233 mm number. I used an original Feikert and measured 230 mm from the first setting that the previous owner had it at when I obtained this table.  I cannot find a factory protractor for this table, and all the info from Stanalog or Transparent seems to be missing. I am tempted to pull the cartridge off this arm and put it on my Audiomods Series Six with a heavy cartridge plate and see what happens there. But I would prefer to keep the cartridge on this table, but for the life of me I am not sure what the issue is. 

There is nothing on the net regarding this phenomenon that I have found. Anyone experience this, or hear about it? Since the cartridge is similar to a London Decca design, perhaps an owner of those cartridges may have heard something?
neonknight

Showing 5 responses by nandric

The nomenclature by many carts is confusing. AT being the 
champion.. By Ikeda's 9 series is this, alas, also the case..
Because you mentioned Decca I assume that your sample is
the so called ''cantileverless kind''. Their problem is not geometry
but tracking (ability). You will need an test record with tracking/
ability test. The best what you can hope for is 50 micron ''pure''.
This ability is connected with VTF while , depending from which
 one you own, can vary from 1,5g till 3 g. 
I think that 9REX and Supremo are the latest in the cantileverless
series. My (forum) brother Don bought Supremo with integrated
headshell and posted to ''Expert stylus'' in UK. As Decca owner
he knew that Decca uses styli produced by ''Expert stylus''. So he
got new stylus for about 200 GBP. Before buying any in Japan
we wanted to be sure that someone in the West was able to retip
them. I have never seen Kiwami so can't say anything about this
one. Our assumption was that 9REX and Supremo are ''identical''
qua ''generator'' . Their VTF are 1.5 g which is the lowest among
Ikeda's cantileverless kinds. I am very happy with my REX.
Dear neonknight, the gold Ikeda looks like my REX but also like
the new Ikeda 9 TT. But on my Ikeda 9 also the name REX is
written. I assume that Kiwami has integrated headshell. 
bukanona, ''debris the Achilles heel of Ikeda''. Those who know
who Achilles was are called ''classical educated kind'' (grin).
I call those ''black particles'' and try to estimate the use duration
of the cart in question. All magnets in MC kinds are pretty near
to the record surface. They all attract particles. By ''Expert stylus''
the first job they do by carts is cleaning this, uh, ''debris''. 
There is of course just one Achilles but his ''heels'' are everywhere
between the stylus and bellow the stylus to see. Except by my
Magic Diamond. Because of this ''pottingmaterial'' which function
 was assumed to be preventing espionage of its ''internals''. 
Conspiracy ''theories'' every where. All those particles are black
so my assumption (aka ''theory'') is that those are caused by
chaksters ''preffered'' sharp shapes styli which  plough our
beloved LP's. So instead of cleaning we need some ''restoring''
method to cure our LP's. 
 
Dear chakster, you are not lost in translation but in advertising. 
However Japanese translations of Japanese in English are
indescribable.