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Troubleshoot tracking issue

I have an SME V arm on a Michell Orbe SE. I've been trying this new cartridge for a little bit. Previously, I've been using a Shelter 901 which weighs in at 9.1g. The new cartridge weighs in at 10.0g, and the diamond is slightly more forward.

When I installed this new cartridge, I rebalanced the arm to account for the weight difference, and also readjusted pretty much everything else to make sure that it is set up correctly.

Several friends have been trying the same cart and they all told me that this cartridge is a tracking champ. But I've been having some tracking issue. Most noticeably at the outer rim. When I first put the cart down, it would just skip the first minute worth of the first track, but then it would play through the rest of the LP side just fine. The recommended tracking force is 1.5-2.0g. I'm trakcing at 2.5g with slightly higher antiskate and it is still doing that. I checked the lift beneath, and it is clear of the arm tube when the cartridge meets the vinyl.

The arm is about 8 years old. Is the anti-skate spring loosing tension? the damping fluid needs to be replaced? Something else I'm doing wrong to cause this problem????

FrankC
gundam91

Showing 2 responses by gundam91

gundam91 OP
506 posts
 
Thanks guys for brainstorming. I purposely left out the name of the cartridge because it's from an unknown cartridge maker (an 86-year old gentleman who has been making MC carts for 30+ years) from Taiwan. The story of the cartridge itself and how I ended up with it are very intriguing. I'll post the story some other time. To say the least, the cartridge is good and it can take on most of sub US$2000 cartridges. Best part, it's darn cheap! But unless you have friends in Taiwan, you can't buy one.

I took down the cartridge last night, and reinstalled it step by step incorporating all your suggestions. What I found out was that at the time the stylus touches the vinyl, the lift underneath the arm tube had not gone down completely, and that's the cause of the problem. I was able to just use my fingers to lower the cartridge without any issues. But this makes me nervous. This did not happened when I was using the Shelter 901.

So my conclusion was either:
1/ this cartridge may have a shorter height than most other cartridges, so it is hitting the vinyl earlier (before the lift is completely down)
2/ The lift is sticking, not lowering fast enough to "get out of the way" before the stylus hits the vinyl.

Will continue to investigate and check with SME. Again, thanks all for help brainstorming!

FrankC
gundam91 OP
506 posts
 
Neil, thanks for the info!

Yes, I am aware that the lift mechanism can be adusted. I took a closer look at how it was lowered when I turn the lever. The lift will eventually dropped completely clear of the arm tube. That's why after the initial issue, the cartridge would play through the entire side without any issue.

So my take is that the lift is not lowering down fast enough at the beginning, so that by the time the stylus hits the groove, the lift is still somewhat supporting the armtube, thus temporarily decreasing the VTF. And that cause the cartridge to glide through the surface until the lift is completely lowered, and allowed the full VTF to be applied to the stylus. That's my theory.

I tried shifting the lift up and down a few times to "warm" it up, and the problem would go away. But that's not something I want to do every time I play a side of an LP.

Thanks eveyrone for all your great input!

FrankC
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