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 Post subject: Re: Death by sibilance
PostPosted: February 9th, 2017, 11:09 am 
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Joined: July 15th, 2016, 10:02 am
Posts: 74
Quote:
The s curve of the tone arm has to do with cartridge offset not azumith. Azumith is the verticallity of the stylus and is adjusted with a twisting of the headshell or arm tube


Aaaahh! Got it. Ok I will check that tonight. I know my headshell doesn't allow me to adjust that, but I could probably put some paper or something under the mounting screw if it's off. Thank you!


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 Post subject: Re: Death by sibilance
PostPosted: February 9th, 2017, 5:22 pm 
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Joined: October 21st, 2013, 6:53 pm
Posts: 270
Hey Justinis,

Just my two cents:

I'm not really a vinyl guy, but have you tried fooling around with your cables?

It's much easier to swap out some different interconnects, than to master all the stuff everyone else is talking about. ( You might want to master it anyway), but different cables can make a profound difference in the sound of your system. You might rule it out depending on where in the chain your headphones are, but if you have an RCA somewhere in the chain before your headphones, you can alter the sound of your system there.

I have never had a sibilance problem, but I know when you improve the resolution of you system (however you do it), sometimes those things that sounded like distortion were meant to be there.

Going from a copper interconnect to a silver one can improve the overall resolution of your system. It can also make it too bright if you have other issues, but in my experience silver, a lot of times, has the ability to turn "edgy" sounds in to "silky" sounds. I'm not sure, but that could have something to do with your complaint.

Cheers,

Chris


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 Post subject: Re: Death by sibilance
PostPosted: February 9th, 2017, 5:39 pm 
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Joined: July 15th, 2016, 10:02 am
Posts: 74
Thanks, Chris. I have done enough swapping out of components to feel confident the problem is in the turntable somewhere. You can listen to my audio link in the original post to hear the problem. It's very noticeable!


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 Post subject: Re: Death by sibilance
PostPosted: March 31st, 2017, 4:08 pm 
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Joined: July 15th, 2016, 10:02 am
Posts: 74
Followup/resolution:

So after tweaking my alignment ad nauseum, I wasn't able to reduce sibilance distortion. One day I happened upon this massive thread:
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/many-lps-are-incompatible-with-normal-cartridges-cant-be-played-without-sibilance.255701/

TLDR: the OP claims that certain catrdiges cannot track certain records, particularly modern records. I was skeptical until I read that the OP claimed Peter Gabriel's "So" could be rid of sibilance distortion with a particular cartdridge. I have that record and it sounded AWFUL on my system--sibilance distortion made it unlistenable.

I read the entire thread and wrote down all the recommended cartridges for sibilance distortion elimination:
zu denon dl-110
ATMLA440a or AT440MLB
Jico SAS stylus with ShureM97xE
AT150MX (AT150Sa)
KAB Stanton 681 EEE with the Pickering D11 stylus
Nagaoka MP-500

I decided to buy an AT440MLB because it was the most affordable. I set it up on my system and... fixed. Every record I play now has perfectly clean sibilance. It's like magic.

One downside is this cartridge is very bright. I'm hoping that it will mellow with age. I appreciate the extra detail it brings out, but I miss well-roundedness of my Stanton 680ee.


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 Post subject: Re: Death by sibilance
PostPosted: March 31st, 2017, 4:32 pm 
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Joined: July 24th, 2015, 4:17 pm
Posts: 1701
Location: Parkville, Maryland
The stylus rake angle may too great. Lower your arm to change the rake angle and see if things don't get smoother and more musical.

If you go too far the sound will get dark closed down. When adjusted properly the mids especially will "pop" in and the treble will be clean without edge.

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Walt


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 Post subject: Re: Death by sibilance
PostPosted: April 1st, 2017, 12:33 pm 
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Joined: March 12th, 2013, 11:12 am
Posts: 738
I beleive that most of those carts are high compliance and are probably good trackers. I have absolutely no sibilance problems on PG's So with my 103 or my 301/II. I still think there is some setup issue, worn or bad bearings or some compatabiluty issue btween your cart and arm that is causing the sibilance you hear. It is mistracking that you are hearing not really sibulance if is not in the recording. I a pretty gobsmacked at how great sounding the lowly 301/II is, I am retiring all my 103 variants.


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 Post subject: Re: Death by sibilance
PostPosted: April 2nd, 2017, 12:47 pm 
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Joined: March 12th, 2013, 1:49 pm
Posts: 214
Yes, I am a fan of the Denon 301 Mk II myself, have you ever had a retip of this cartridge? Mine is nearing the end...


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 Post subject: Re: Death by sibilance
PostPosted: April 2nd, 2017, 12:57 pm 
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Joined: January 15th, 2015, 7:19 am
Posts: 1697
Location: Baltimore MD
Peter Lederman at SoundSmith can retip. Aound $250 for conical
Also David Slagle at Emia will do it also if you want to support the little guy


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 Post subject: Re: Death by sibilance
PostPosted: April 2nd, 2017, 1:53 pm 
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Joined: March 12th, 2013, 1:49 pm
Posts: 214
Pelliott321 wrote:
Peter Lederman at SoundSmith can retip. Aound $250 for conical
Also David Slagle at Emia will do it also if you want to support the little guy


Thanks, Paul, I am thinking about having SS do the retip as a HE as that geometry is pretty good.


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 Post subject: Re: Death by sibilance
PostPosted: April 3rd, 2017, 3:08 pm 
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Joined: February 28th, 2013, 10:38 am
Posts: 1682
The original DL301 was my first decent cart. Still have it around somewhere, but it's 30+ years old at this point, I suspect the suspension is well past gone. At $250 for a re-tip, and $330 for a new MKii, unless the re-tip is better than a new one, I'd probably just buy a new one, then you've got a spare in case of emergency...

Roscoe

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