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Vinyl distortion - What's the problem?

The right channel of my turntable output is a little distorted, especially in certain upper-mid frequencies, while the left is crystal clear. I have a shure v15 (whatever the brand-new version is designated). I've tried replacing the stylus to no effect and the problem switches sides when I switch the left and right input cables around, so I know it's not my amp or phono input. It does this on brand new and well worn records. Any suggestions?
dogrange

Showing 2 responses by dogrange

dogrange OP
4 posts
 
Sorry I forgot to say the first time that the cartridge is on a brand-new Rega P25 with the stock 600 tonearm. I checked the alignment with the shure alignment card that came with it and set the tracking force for the recommended 1.5 grams with the brush/stabilizer. I don't know what azimuth adjustment is, so I suppose I didn't adjust that. I'll check with a level tonight to see if it is sloping any direction. Looks fine to the eye, but maybe that's not good enough.
dogrange OP
4 posts
 
Thanks for all the input. I adjusted the "bias" slider (is this the same thing as anti-skating?) as suggested by Newbee to be around .75-1 units instead of the 1.5 to match the tracking force as recommended by Rega. Seems to have helped a lot. Occasionally, there still seems to be a little distortion as the arm gets onto the inner part of the record, but I'll try to tweak my alignment to see if I can eliminate that.
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