spare part

[tin ear]

Dug out the old TT to see if it would work. It sounded horrible, so before throwing it away, decided to replace cartridge. Using screws supplied with the new cart, there is a part which will not go back into the headshell, as the supplied screws are too short.

TT: 25-30 year old Scott PS-68. Tone arm maybe steel, headshell appears to be plastic made to look like cast aluminum.

Old Cart: A-T AT71E, bought at Radio Shack; possibly nearly as old as TT.

New Cart: Shure M97xE.

IIRC the part in question came with the A-T cartridge, not the TT, but I'm not sure. The part is a weight, for adding mass, I suppose, but would it benefit me, with that steel tube tonearm? Table sounds OK without it. Should I try to use it or just leave it out? I found a little wiki that didn't really clear this up for me:
http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index....le=Vinyl_Myths

• Adding a penny to the headshell improves tracking/sound.
  • The trackability of a cartridge is related to the mechanical parameters of the tonearm and stylus assembly.
  • Adding weight to the headshell (and adjusting the counterweight to compensate) increases the effective mass of the tonearm and reduces its resonant frequency. If the resonant frequency is excessively high - 15-20hz as measured by a test record - the weight may improve trackability by moving the resonance out of the audible range. Otherwise, it will generally only reduce trackability.

[tin ear]

OK, well I had the TT out today, adjusting it (got a stylus pressure gauge). I've pretty much decided that the tonearm weight or whatever it is must have just come with the old A-T cart.

I am operating on that assumption, anyhow; I've put the TT back in the rack. Played a couple records with no problems. Sounds pretty good.

Thanks for looking.
-j

[jrhymeammo]

Hi Tin Ear,

Is this what your tt looks like? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ategory=134674
looks like that piece is to isolate and dampen your cart from your headshell. I've seen some pictures where stupid audiophiles use spacer between carts and arm/headshell, and claim to hear INCREDIBLE improvement. Of course I've only been a spectator for this "tweak".

Have you thought about replacing your original headshell and lead wires?

But like you said, "Sounds pretty good." Why spend $$ on a new TT or $200 on headshell/lead wires if you like how your table sounds.

Nice to hear your ol' TT is working properly.

But just to make sure she's still sing up to tasks, you may want to do this self-test.
Get a piece of paper and tape it on your platter or mat and let it spin. Make sure you can see paper/marker while it's spinning and get a stopwatch. See how long it takes to spin 33 1/3 times. You may experience dizzyness so be careful. My ol' Marantz use to take about 1 minute and 1.5-8 secs(about 3% off). I'll say there was about 0.2 to 0.3 secs of human error (I dont have cat-like reflexes) but this was something I could repeat over and over again. Or you can choose to print a strobe disc, but I havent been able to do that succesfull yet. http://www.enjoythemusic.com/freestuff.htm

-JRA

[tin ear]

Is this what your tt looks like? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ategory=134674

Very similar, though mine is not as nice.

Have you thought about replacing your original headshell and lead wires?

But like you said, "Sounds pretty good." Why spend $$ on a new TT or $200 on headshell/lead wires if you like how your table sounds.

Nice to hear your ol' TT is working properly.

It sounds way better than it ever did, with my new speaks, new cartridge, and now that I know how to do the proper adjustments.

Still, it's just a get-by until I filter a buncha info & figure out what TT I really want. (This stuff is addictive -- the better it gets, the more you want!) Yeah I thought about upgrading wires, as I am getting some hum, but as it is below the noise floor, I decided not to fool with it for now.

I guess I forgot to mention that the part in question is metal -- about 14 ga. steel.

Ah well, macht nichts; table seems fine w/o the spare part. No worry. 'Preciate it, JRA; always get advice here that can enhance my audio quality. Question is, can I afford it?


-Jon

[JoeE SP9]

There is not a standard height for phono cartridges. When you are using a tonearm without adjustable height a spacer my be necessary to enable the arm to track roughly parallel to the record surface. Ideally you want the bottom of the cartridge parallel to the surface along with the tonearm. If you have to choose one make the cartridge level.

[jrhymeammo]

What Joe said is the best advice on this thread. You many want to make sure your arm isnt leaning down on the end. But more important part is the stylus angle. Happy spinning.

[tin ear]

Thanks, guys; I checked -- my tonearm is parallel to the record/platter.

The bottom of the cart. is not, though. If you look at an M97, notice how the mounting tabs are angled rearward. Obviously Shure meant for the cart. to be at a weird angle.

Ol' table sounds pretty good for what it is...

[JoeE SP9]

Thanks, guys; I checked -- my tonearm is parallel to the record/platter.

The bottom of the cart. is not, though. If you look at an M97, notice how the mounting tabs are angled rearward. Obviously Shure meant for the cart. to be at a weird angle.

Ol' table sounds pretty good for what it is...

In your case and with most of the better Shure's make sure the mounting plate (top) of the cartridge is parallel with the LP surface. If you can do this while having the tonearm also parallel you have it as good as it gets!

[tin ear]

I think I'm good to go there, thanks, Joe. We're parallel. Pretty sure I have this TT as good to go as I can make it, for now, although it's kinda funky. Meaning: The plinth is level; the platter is not. But, it is level in the plane in which the stylus travels, if you can picture that. So, no skips, no hangs. Weird tho. Look at it front-on and the platter slants off to the right. Sounds OK though, but I can do better. It'll do me until I get a table to hold me over until I get a way nice table.

Thanks for your help.

-j