looking for advice to mitigate inner groove distortion


I currently have a Nagaoka MP200 on a rega P3 with all the groovetracer upgrades (including counterweight for better tracking).  I've calibrated the cart using the Stevenson method but I am plagued by inner groove distortion.  I'm considering getting a MP500 with the line contact diamond to help.  Is this a good idea?  I know IGD is part of the deal with Vinyl but I get bummed out every time the last song on the record comes on.
adam8179

Showing 2 responses by adam8179

I hear it mostly in horns and vocals.  It's a fuzzy halo around the sound of the instrument.  Also in loud passages of orchestral works that occur in the inner grooves.  I start to hear it about 3/4 of the way from the edge of the record to the end of the grooves and it gets worse as it gets closer to the center.  It's worse on some records than others and sometimes, I think it's the record that's the culprit but it seems that the turntable and cartridge are playing a role as well.  I checked for anything obstructing the travel of the tonearm but I didn't find anything.  I tried adjusting the anti-skate.  Some fine-tuning helped a little (maybe, not sure I trust my ears sometimes) but it was still there 
cleeds, I used an alignment protractor and my eyeballs :)  I used a tracking force gauge to calibrate my tracking force.  The anti-skate on the P3 is pretty primitive so that part is imprecise,

lewm, both channels and the motor is located under the platter in the center and on the rear side of the plinth