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Please help, distorted and hissy treble

Guys, I have a denon DL-110 cart, oracle alexandria TT, well tempered arm (which i rewired this weekend with cryoed cardas stuff). And am still not happy with the sound. The treble is very hissy and seems to breakup and distort. Its more aparent on some albums than others, is this a function of crappy albums? Or is there something im overlooking. I am using the parasound PPH-100 phono stage with audioquest quartz cables. I had very simaler experience with my anthem PRE 1 phono stage. If I could get a smooth even response with minimal distortion I would be very happy. Ive played with VTA, it doesnt seem to help much, azumuth is pretty close, as is the cart alignment (i have no protractor). I also used the shure gauge to set stylus pressure.

Let me know if you guys have suggestions!

Thanks so much - Evan
eoie943220dd
eoie943220dd OP
2 posts
 
Actually, my TT sounded like this before the rewire. I had to rewire becuase it didnt fair too well when I moved recently. I just never took the time to try to find the culprit.

I am not sure what the VTA setting is supposed to be for a denon DL-110, would anybody know this or have suggestions off hand?

Also, There is an internal jumper in the phono pre that I will be sure to check to see whether its on mm or mc.

One other wierd thing, I can almost hear the distortion when listening to the TT with my audio system off. I assume its normal for a cartridge to resonate etc.. but I can acutually hear the distortion! Could this be not enough damping on the tonearm perhaps?

Thanks for your time guys, this is very helpful.

Evan
jameswei
883 posts
 
Could be mistracking of the needle. The Shure gauge is pretty simple but it isn't infallable -- can you verify your VTF setting? Try using the high end of the cartridge's recommended range. Also, a buildup of grundge on the needle can contribute to mistracking, so a good look with a magnifying glass might help. Good luck.
eoie943220dd OP
2 posts
 
Thanks for all the links. I got a lot of good reading. I am going to find a protractor I can use, or use a paper one to set the cart the right way. I did find out my phono stage was set on the lesser sensitive setting. Im going to try the higher gain setting now. I will continute to try to tweak. I am wondering if my cart isnt a problem as well. Ill try everything else first.

Does anyone live in the chicagoland area that would let me listen to a good vinyl setup so i can tell whether or not its actually my vinyl that is the problem child?

Thanks - Evan
stefanl
296 posts
 
Do you have The Beatles Album Revolver? The Love You To track on side 1 by George Harrison is a good sound test.Try and get the harmony on the end of each stanza right i.e "...you don't get time to hang a sign on meeee" should sound sweet and harmonic and compressed at the same time.The Tablas and Indian instruments should sound full and deep and resonate well also.Your alignment will be pretty close if you get this sounding O.K
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