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Save a vinyl newbie, please

I've been stocking up on LP's for the past month and a half, and I finally got a turntable yesterday (a new Music Hall MMF-5). When I picked it up, the guy had it playing and it sounded great! He showed me how to set the tracking force, vertical tracking angle, the cartridge angle (or something like that), and the anti-skating force. He also gave me some suggestions of how to clean the records and the stylus before use. OK, perfect.

I brought it home and tried some of my records on it. It sounded horrible! I get loud pops every second or two. The pops drown out the music. The music sounds muffled, and sometimes it sounds like the ocean from the tweeters (particularly in the right channel). The situation only gets worse with the volume turned up.

I tried it with several of my best-looking LP's last night and still couldn't find one that was even listenable. I have a couple sealed records, so this morning I tried them with the same results. I called the place where I bought it and he said that only about 10% of records that I'll find actually sound good. That sounds like a good incentive to go back to CD's.

I'm using the MMF-5 with a Musical Fidelity A3cr preamp, Audio Valve ppp45 amps, and Audio Physic Tempo speakers. (You can click on my system for more details.)

Please let me know if you have any suggestions!

Michael
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Showing 2 responses by rockinroni

rockinroni's avatar
rockinroni
287 posts
 
you have a great system!! Your lp's should be free of almost any noise and not muffed at all. It should sound "better" that it did when you first heard it.

Best fastest soulution is to bring it back where you bought it,
and see how it sounds on that system, this will answer a lot of questions. If everything is ok there, maybe the guy will help you set it up at home. If he is a dealer, I think he will be glad to help you to discouver the problem.

As far as buying used lp's and how they sound. I buy and sell many LP's and rarely do I get lp's that are misgraded and when I do I get a refund. The vast majority sound fantistic, most with no pops or clicks, no noise at all. Some with maybe 1 or 2 pops this is usually dirt. I assume you are buying lp's without scratches because many of these scratches will sound on quiet passages.

Let us know what you find out.

Ron
rockinroni's avatar
rockinroni
287 posts
 
Twl you are going a little overboard on the lp rant, not that what you say is not true. Just that mike is a newbie. TWL you hit the nail on the head with the low frequency problem. This must be the source of your problem. you have a lot of low frequency information being introduced into your turntable, this will cause multiple problems for you. Its hard to belive you took a sealed lp and it sounded bad. I have lp's with obvious damage and do not hear any pops clicks. This lp the dealer played was it a MFSL or audiophile recording ,it must have been. while these are generally better, a regular domestic pressing should sound great also. This "vinyl synergy" thing, you have a good system for LP's. You need some vibration isolation. I do not think your turntable has any.
Don't give up so easy, we will resolve this problem yet.

Anyone else figured this one out yet? I have never had this kind of problem.
Ron
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