2. analog
  3. 1426125520

Turntable sibilance

Okay turntable Yodas, what is the primary cause of sibilance in vinyl replay? Obviously some records are badly cut & it's in the grooves, but I seem to have an inordinate amount of it.

I have a Shelter 501 mk 11 cartridge on a Rega RB 250 arm on a Nottingham Analogue Studios Horizon table. Running vtf at 1.8, but changing it in either direction makes negligible difference. Excuse my ignorance, but how do you change the vta on these arms, & might that be the issue? Setup was done by reputable hi fi store, spirit level says table is flat. The green sliding horizontal tracking adjuster doesn't seem to much either.

Any suggestions would be received gratefully.
houseofhits

Showing 2 responses by kjweisner

kjweisner's avatar
kjweisner
293 posts
 
Beyond VTA, there are two things that would manifest as sibilance (not having heard the actual rig of course):

Mistracking from either VTF or anti-skate set incorrectly. Since you've tried VTF, then it could be anti-skate (although I doubt it). Try playing individually through each speaker--if you notice a tonal difference (or distortion) through one channel vs. the other, that suggests anti-skate could be an issue.

Phono stage loading--if the loading is not matched to the cartridge, the tonal balance will be affected. Either muddy and closed in, or bright, harsh and sibilant. I think this cart should be loaded between 100 and 150 ohms.

Good luck--I'm sure you'll ultimate get the right answers here in the forum!
kjweisner's avatar
kjweisner
293 posts
 
"Kj...vtf maybe...antiskate...no way."

I agree if indeed it's truly a sibilance issue--and really meant to suggest that what sounds like sibilance might also be some distortion from mistracking. The challenge we all have is diagnosis based on descriptions vs. first-hand review. Probably I should have been clearer on that point--and indeed I doubt that's it. My suggestion about single channel listening should also help rule that out--sometimes finding cure is a process of elimination.
More to discover