Is your image centred?


I am giving up on my old Analog rig soon!
The image on most of my disk is not centred! Some shifted to the left, some shifted to the right!! Yet, some are dead centred!!! WHY???
My rig:
Thorens 125 mark2
SME 2009R
Otofon MC20 Super, Grado Prestige Gold
luna

Showing 1 response by opalchip

This definitely occurs - hard to say why. I have some records that pull badly to one side and many that pull just slightly. Yet I can easily check with test LP's and CD's that there is no issue with my system. My best guess would be poor mastering.

Some classical lp's may appear to exhibit this because that's how the sound was when recorded. Quartets often have the 2 violins on the left overpowering the viola and cello on the right, for example. Not much you can do about that - except find a better performance/recording.

If small changes in your antiskate matter a lot, it may mean your tracking force is too light. A gross mismatch between A.S. and T.F. could cause one channel to reproduce with more distortion/less volume than the other channel. Keep in mind that it's sonically best to be as close to the UPPER end of the cartridge manufacturer's recommended TF range as your arm's mass allows.