Distortion..

[colinB]

I was having a good session yesterday with the old vinyls and i noticed on some passages that are really busy and suddenly loud, i notice distortion. Some people like this apparently and see it as part of the listening experience. I dont like it and would like to get rid of it.
I use MM carts and try to be accurate as possible in setting the arm. I use amplification that has plenty of headroom but i still hear it. Could be the quality of the vinyl i suppose.
Is this a never ending obsession with everyone?

[AlexM]

Colin,

Two possibilities are that either your cartridge is mis-tracking on heavily modulated grooves, or that the vinyl has been damaged by past mistracking or a damaged stylus.

What cartridge are you using, and what tracking force are you running it at? Try to increase tracking force to the manufacturer's maximum recommended setting and see if that improves matters. Does the record demonstrate the same distortion on another deck? (if you can check).

Another (more remote) possibility is that you could be overloading the phono stage if you are using a SUT or the wrong gain setting on a MC/MM switchable phono stage.

Regards,
Alex

[colinB]

I have a Goldring 2500 mm run through a Icon Audio ps1. I do tend to use a medium tracking weight so i will experiment with a higher setting. The phono stage is unusual in that it has a set input, no ability to adjust.
In the past ive always judged a systems distortion by how it handles female vocal and to be honest it sounds very good in that way. More of a problem with lots of strings or as i say very complex busy tracks.

[AlexM]

Colin,

Not familiar with the Goldring, but do try it at a higher tracking weight to see if that improves things, as well as trying to see if the vinyl is worn or damaged on another turntable.

Regards,
Alex

[Stratmangler]

You haven't got a clump of fluff on your stylus have you ?

[colinB]

Sorry , lost connection last night. I use stylus cleaners so i think my needle is ok. i will try resetting the cart tonight.

[DSJR]

Vinyl does have distortion, often in heavy bass notes at end of side. I rather think it's built in to the system and may be impossible to fully eradicate in the playback system, although the effects of this can be greatly tamed. I don't know the 2500 Goldring, but aren't they made by Nagaoka for them (I read somewhere)? If so, they should be ok..

This is where good mastering in the first place came in to classic vinyl cuts... I have been so fortunate to have known mastering engineers (one of whom I met and had a lengthy chat to was a senior engineer at Decca Records from the 60's to the early 90's and cut many classics in the 60's, and he spoke at length around the compromises they had to endure back then, together with mastering for CD too, which wasn't always done right in the early days.

Some Epic titles in the 70's and 80's seemed to run their stampers out and early pressings often sounded tons better than later ones with the same matrix number (a couple of Jeff Beck titles I had especially). Once you hear that kind of worn-stylus kind of distortion it can bug you..

The thing is, this is where the very best styli and pickups come in, together with meticulous setting up of same. My Decca Microscanner (the Microscanner profile stylus says it all) seems to cope with things that most of my other cartridges have an issue with - a couple of Gull Records LP's I have were cut with loads of bass which can distort, but not with the Decca or M20FL Super I have. I'm sure you guys will have other and better examples of this.

Good luck with your quest for minimal distortion. Perhaps you could try playing these "bad" records on alternative gear to see if you hear the same thing.

You know, the better 12" 45rpm's showed the right way to go, as limiting could be all but removed when cutting and the sound was so much better potentially. I've also heard some rather wonderful 78 transfers, done with a decent phono stage and a top flight 50's cartridge - stunning and with very low hiss too..... :)

[colinB]

I thik you may be right there david. I do buy new vinyl a lot and some of it is rough. The recent Doors reissues on Rhino showed me how clean a good master/cut can be. Breath taking quality. But then i bought the Steve Hoffman mastered Kate Bush Hounds of love reissue which sounds very distorted to my ears.

[DSJR]

The original's ok, and so is the early CD issue (we used both as dem discs, LP and CD). Chris Blair did the original mastering as I recall and he usually did an excellent job I remember.

[Stefaan]

I bought most of my records from the early '70ies to the early '90ies, and the difference in quality between labels is quite obvious. Turnabout/Vox for example, had a great catalog, great prices, and low pressing/sleeve quality. I guess the low price was achieved by pressing a lot more copies from the stampers, in addition to using more recycled vinyl and unlined sleeves.

[BTH K10A]

I bought most of my records from the early '70ies to the early '90ies, and the difference in quality between labels is quite obvious. Turnabout/Vox for example, had a great catalog, great prices, and low pressing/sleeve quality. I guess the low price was achieved by pressing a lot more copies from the stampers, in addition to using more recycled vinyl and unlined sleeves.

IMHO it's worth seeking out the UK issues as the Decca pressed Turnabout and Vox vinyl was of equal quality to the premium Decca SXL vinyl and came with good quality lined sleeves.

The US and European mainland pressings were nowhere near the same standard.