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Serious distortion from Rega RP1

Hi all,

My Rega RP1 has all of a sudden developed some major distortion. It comes and goes quite suddenly. Presumably, this could be anything from the cartridge to the phono stage, but I thought I'd ask to see if you all think one component is more likely than another to be the culprit. I'm using the included ortofon cartridge, the built-in phono cables, and a Red Wine Audio Ginevra phono stage. Unfortunately I don't have other equipment to swap in in order to isolate the problem area, so I'd appreciate any thoughts. Thank you!
lousyreeds1

Showing 5 responses by andezzat

andezzat
7 posts
 
@lousyreeds1
Hey, I’ve got the exact same problem with a used RP1 that I bought.
Distortion seems to come and go, most noticeable in the highs. It’s prominent in very busy passages in the songs. Happens on all my records, most of them are brand new as well.

I’m ordering in a gauge scale and a new stylus/cartridge and re-doing the whole thing for added measure. But seriously, what was the issue with yours? I’m very keen to know if you fixed it!
andezzat
7 posts
 
I've re-aligned the stylus/cartridge as it was a little off, I backed off the counterweight a bit, then the tonearm just kept wanting to move away from the center, so I added more weight, now it's slightly less weight than recommended.
I still have the tonearm wanting to move away from the center, but it's less pronounce and it's only when it's high up.

Anyhow, I think it's a little better now, but it still distorts a little especially when there's a lot happening in the song. And the overall fidelity is a little lacking, but I think that's just the nature of the OM5E; stock cartridge, so yeah...

I'm gonna order the Ortofon 2M Red soon & a digital gauge and set it all up to the T then see how I go I guess. Hopefully I get better results, but this is definitely an improvement @tablejockey; so thank you! :D
andezzat
7 posts
 
Silly me, there was a slight bump on the rubber that's on the arm rest. It was uneven enough to let the tonearm slide one way. All good now! :D
andezzat
7 posts
 
Now that I look at the cartridge & stylus more closely, I think the stylus is bent out of shape, and on the side it doesn't say OM 5E like the ones in the Ortofon website's pictures do. Mine only says OM.
Mine: https://imgur.com/gallery/XZUKw
Ortofon: https://www.ortofon.com/ortofon-om-5e-p-551
andezzat
7 posts
 
@stringreen I'm sorry, could you elaborate?
@raymonda I clean it with the stylus brush every time I am about to play a different record etc.
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