Is my stylus miss-tracking?

A final thought:

Perhaps the tracking force is too little, and the stylus is jumping about in the groove only at high frequencies with the incredible amount of rapid movement high frequencies have.

IF you set anti-skate, or have anti-skate active in any amount, other than zero, and then set the tracking force, that is incorrect, and the tracking force will not be accurate when playing.

Always reduce anti-skate to zero. Then set downward tracking force, then ’add’ anti-skate’ outward pull visually as described above.

If the cartridge has a range of tracking force, try the highest amount of that range, any difference?

@mijostyn 

@viridian 

@elliottbnewcombjr 

thank you for the ideas. Everyone else too. I will make sure everything is level, VTF, VTA, Azimuth, and antiskate are correct. If I can’t figure it out I’ll track out to my dealer. Appreciate all your thoughts! 

I forgot to mention, once a record has been mistracked it may be damaged permanently so you have to use other records that are highly modulated to check.

Your antiskate is probably too low. Get the aforementioned blank record. The Lumineers Cleopatra is another disc with a blank side. You can also look through your collection for a disc with a long run out area. You can use the space between the grooves to measure drift. This will allow you to see what happens when you turn the knob one way or the other. When you reduce antiskate the tonearm will drift faster towards the spindle. Increase it and the drift will slow down or even reverse. The correct value is a moving target. You are looking for a rough average. Near the label the tonearm should drift slowly towards the label. The WallySkater is the best tool for adjusting antiskate but it is expensive. The correct value for an elliptical stylus is 10% of VTF, Fine LIne Styluses 11%. For most people measuring drift is the best way. The mistake that they make is adjusting the antiskate so that the tonearm does not drift at all. The will add too much antiskate. What is a slow drift? As slow as you can get it. The drift will always speed up as the arm goes towards the center of the record. Always be ready to catch the arm or raise the lifter. All the other stuff, level turntable, correct VTF, cartridge alignment I'll assume you have already checked. Never force anything. Use a light touch and just snug allen screws and adjustment. There is a tendency to over tighten things which is how you break them. 

btw, I am assuming your TT is level,

check it as close to the arm base as possible. Then check on the platter, rotate, good in all directions? IOW, verify the arm is correctly mounted, plinth/platter all properly parralel/vertical to each other

breaking a wire trying to adjust anti-skate is very strange, had to be unsettling.

IF you cannot get your (any) arm to ’float’ using the blank disc/visual anti-skate method, there may be something errant going on with the arm’s pivot (or alignment to the plinth/platter as noted above)

Once the tiny silk covered litz wires out of the rear of my tonearm were just touching the edge of the rear vta/micrometer plate as the arm rotated, resisting free movement just a speck. I simply moved the wires a bit away from the plate (with a toothpick), problem gone.

Another time, bearings were too tight. Took a college try, arm out of base, loosened them, cleaned with alcohol/compressed air, snugged them up just so, problem solved. 1st and only time I messed with bearings, got lucky.

There is no physical change to stylus/groove/speed interaction relative to volume.

I am going to presume: the noise is there at low volume, only readily apparent at loud volumes.

Assuming the cartridge/stylus is undamaged, not worn out:

My Guess: Anti-skate too low or too high may be present, but is not the problem. Many play with zero anti-skate. I hear l to r imbalance when it is off, but not the described noise.

I suspect your AZIMUTH is incorrect, the stylus ’crooked in the groove’ a bit. That can/will make those kind of noises, and again I suspect the noise is there at low volume, only readily apparent at loud volumes.

How does your TT arm allow Azimuth adjustment? Do you have a removable headshell?

IF so, some headshells provide for azimuth adjustment, here’s one, metal ones exist also, ebay:

 

My method to set azimuth is use a mirror the thickness of an LP, under the cartridge/stylus when adjusting. Amazon:

 

These acrylic blocks with grid lines are helpful

. Amazon:

$10. AZIMUTH and VTA Alignment Block: clear actylic with Grid of Lines

https://www.amazon.com/Nobsound-Tonearm-Cartridge-Alignment-Headshell/dp/B07794JXYZ/ref=sr_1_8?crid=20KYR5S10Y5C1&keywords=azimuth+alignment+tool&qid=1652982195&sprefix=azimuth%2Caps%2C87&sr=8-8

but the mirror: view from the front, any slight deviation from straight will be reflected ’opposite’ in the mirror, thus easy to detect.

Sometimes the cantilever/stylus tip is not perfectly aligned with the cartridge body or headshell, so concentrate on the stylus/cantilever.

IF your cantilever is ’bent’ off-center, ’too much’ which can happen, then errant noises can occur, revealed at high volumes.

.........................................

By the way, an easy way to adjust anti-skate is visually, via a blank grooveless LP.

1. CARTRIDGES

$15. ALIGNMENT DISC: one side: Lines for Overhang and Two NULL Points

ANTI-SKATE: other blank side: spin platter manually, adjust anti-skate control while watching

https://www.amazon.com/Hudson-Hi-Fi-Turntable-Cartridge-Protractor/dp/B01MU6AD2E/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=1HK4102CVP5X2&keywords=hudson+hifi+protractor&qid=1652980845&sprefix=hudson+hifi+protractor,aps,120&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1

1st: no anti-skate, set tracking force.

next set anti-skate. forget the dials/scales, set it visually:

blank side up, spin manually: no anti-skate, it pulls in to the center. add a bit of anti-skate, pulls in less. more anti-skate, less.

eventually it pulls out, that’s too much. Find an amount that keeps the arm steady at two points, like the inner and outer null point locations (no need to be perfect) If seems rignt but not always steady, go for slight inward pull rather than outward pull.

It is also possible that the your cartridge is just incapable of tracking some grooves cut at very high velocity. If you’re not up to doing the adjustments yourself, consult the dealer you bought it from. Also, make sure your tracking force is set at or very close to maximum. The booklet with the cartridge should have the optimum tracking force.  Too low is not good. 

When right channel mistracks increase anti skating, when left reduce.

Assuming of course cartridge alignment is correct. Have you tried with increased tracking force? Is your turntable level?

I have to disagree with above post using a blank lp, which is not reliable, unless you have a conical stylus, where a slight drift to the center would be nearly ok, as you would set anti skating too high. Anti skating is adjusted with modulated grooves and is different with more advanced stylus profiles. Another thing to consider is anti skate would vary across the lp side and all lp’s are not the same.

@viridian thanks for the ideas. I’ll try swapping the cable at the preamp. The stylus is only about a month or two old. (Hana ML)