Technical Difficulties Thread

Hey y’all, I got a question. I have a Project Debut Carbon that I have been experiencing some platter wobble on, a degree of horizontal and vertical movement. Now, it’s not that severe, only moving at most a millimeter, but I can’t help but be bothered by the horizontal movement. When records are flat I can still see the tone arm move. I sent the turntable in to the dealer, Sumiko, at the end of the year, and still have this issue. They have assured me it is within tolerances but I’m skeptical. The base of the sub platter that screws into the plinth is not perfectly seated in the prefab space, leaving a small gap between the sub platter spindle, and the plinth. So after corresponding with them for a few weeks, they have offered to replace my turntable. Before I go through with this I wanted to check and see if anyone has had any similar issues with this table, and if you think it is normal for a turntable at $400 to exhibit these behaviors. Thanks everyone, your opinions and questions are welcomed, I need all the help I can get.
 
A buddy’s turntable has an issue where on certain albums (not all) the volume of the record goes up and down. Any ideas on what could be causing it? It’s a newish turntable (Less than 6 months old). He says the records seem to be flat and the stylus is clean.
 
highqualityrecords said:
Hey y’all, I got a question. I have a Project Debut Carbon that I have been experiencing some platter wobble on, a degree of horizontal and vertical movement. Now, it’s not that severe, only moving at most a millimeter, but I can’t help but be bothered by the horizontal movement. When records are flat I can still see the tone arm move. I sent the turntable in to the dealer, Sumiko, at the end of the year, and still have this issue. They have assured me it is within tolerances but I’m skeptical. The base of the sub platter that screws into the plinth is not perfectly seated in the prefab space, leaving a small gap between the sub platter spindle, and the plinth. So after corresponding with them for a few weeks, they have offered to replace my turntable. Before I go through with this I wanted to check and see if anyone has had any similar issues with this table, and if you think it is normal for a turntable at $400 to exhibit these behaviors. Thanks everyone, your opinions and questions are welcomed, I need all the help I can get.
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I don’t think that’s normal at all...I haven’t seen a TT do that before. I’d take the replacement.
 
Set up my Fluance RT85 last night, got it spinning and it sounds amazing and such a crazy upgrade. My problem is that I have no idea if I balanced my tone arm correctly. I followed the directions to a T which basically just called for ensuring the tonearm was completely parallel to the platter.... When I did that the tonearm would just slowly start swinging back into its original resting position. The balance bubble is dead center, so I don’t think that’s the issue. I’ve remedied this by manually messing with the counterweight until the tonearm doesn’t swing back to rest while also making sure it’s not what I think would be too much or too little force on the needle... sounds great but I’m sure it’s out of spec.
 
Tys1 said:
Set up my Fluance RT85 last night, got it spinning and it sounds amazing and such a crazy upgrade. My problem is that I have no idea if I balanced my tone arm correctly. I followed the directions to a T which basically just called for ensuring the tonearm was completely parallel to the platter.... When I did that the tonearm would just slowly start swinging back into its original resting position. The balance bubble is dead center, so I don’t think that’s the issue. I’ve remedied this by manually messing with the counterweight until the tonearm doesn’t swing back to rest while also making sure it’s not what I think would be too much or too little force on the needle... sounds great but I’m sure it’s out of spec.
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Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but if the arm swings back, it's because you have the anti-skate set too high.
 
MikeH said:
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but if the arm swings back, it's because you have the anti-skate set too high.
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yeah, the instructions when followed never have you mess with the anti-skate until the end. So that was at zero while the parallel adjustment was taking place. I think either I just misentrepreted the instructions or they were very poorly written, or both. while adjusting tonearm it tells you to lower the cue lever and adjust until parallel while ensuring the needle doesn’t touch anything.... well.... the cue lever is lowered so if the needle isn’t touching anything then how is it going to touch when a record is spinning? There’s not enough forward weight for it to touch, let alone track.
 
Tys1 said:
yeah, the instructions when followed never have you mess with the anti-skate until the end. So that was at zero while the parallel adjustment was taking place. I think either I just misentrepreted the instructions or they were very poorly written, or both. while adjusting tonearm it tells you to lower the cue lever and adjust until parallel while ensuring the needle doesn’t touch anything.... well.... the cue lever is lowered so if the needle isn’t touching anything then how is it going to touch when a record is spinning? There’s not enough forward weight for it to touch, let alone track.
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So, you first 'zero' the tonearm, which is making sure that it sits totally level, off the platter, when the cue lever is down. Then you adjust the counterweight to dial in the appropriate tracking force. The first step is so that you know you're starting from a VTF (vertical tracking force) of 0.

So, once your cued-down arm is totally level, carefully set the counterweight to 0, to mark the neutral starting position. Then you should be able to set your tracking force by turning the weight to one of the other marked positions.

The relative fussiness of this process is why a lot of us just gave up and purchased a scale. :)
 
Tys1 said:
yeah, the instructions when followed never have you mess with the anti-skate until the end. So that was at zero while the parallel adjustment was taking place. I think either I just misentrepreted the instructions or they were very poorly written, or both. while adjusting tonearm it tells you to lower the cue lever and adjust until parallel while ensuring the needle doesn’t touch anything.... well.... the cue lever is lowered so if the needle isn’t touching anything then how is it going to touch when a record is spinning? There’s not enough forward weight for it to touch, let alone track.
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On the counterweight, you should have two separate things you can turn. There's a back half and then the front half. To start, you should hold hold the tone arm to prevent it from touching the platter, lower the cueing lever (still don't let it touch the platter) and then turn the entire counterweight (turn it from the back half) until the tonearm is floating. Once it's floating, turn the front half so that the counterweight indicator is at 0 at the 12 o'clock position. Then you rotate the whole counterweight from the back again to match what the tracking force on your cartridge should be (the front half should turn with the back half so show you the weight). Once it matches the tracking force, then you can set the antiskate value to the same as your tracking force and you should be good to go. I'd also recommend getting a digital tracking force gauge. They are pretty cheap and I have used mine a few times already. I have this one:
 
kvetcha said:
So, you first 'zero' the tonearm, which is making sure that it sits totally level, off the platter, when the cue lever is down. Then you adjust the counterweight to dial in the appropriate tracking force. The first step is so that you know you're starting from a VTF (vertical tracking force) of 0.

So, once your cued-down arm is totally level, carefully set the counterweight to 0, to mark the neutral starting position. Then you should be able to set your tracking force by turning the weight to one of the other marked positions.

The relative fussiness of this process is why a lot of us just gave up and purchased a scale. :)
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THANK YOU! That makes perfect sense, and I did have the wherewithal to order a scale at the same time as the TT, it should be here any day.
 
MikeH said:
On the counterweight, you should have two separate things you can turn. There's a back half and then the front half. To start, you should hold hold the tone arm to prevent it from touching the platter, lower the cueing lever (still don't let it touch the platter) and then turn the entire counterweight (turn it from the back half) until the tonearm is floating. Once it's floating, turn the front half so that the counterweight indicator is at 0 at the 12 o'clock position. Then you rotate the whole counterweight from the back again to match what the tracking force on your cartridge should be (the front half should turn with the back half so show you the weight). Once it matches the tracking force, then you can set the antiskate value to the same as your tracking force and you should be good to go. I'd also recommend getting a digital tracking force gauge. They are pretty cheap and I have used mine a few times already. I have this one:
Click to expand...
That’s the exact one I ordered :)
Hopefully it’s in today! 🍻
 
Tys1 said:
THANK YOU! That makes perfect sense, and I did have the wherewithal to order a scale at the same time as the TT, it should be here any day.
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Once you're zeroed you should be able to set your desired VTF with a fair degree of accuracy, but the scale will remove any confusion. It's not a bad idea to learn how to do it the old-fashioned way in the meanwhile.
 
kvetcha said:
Once you're zeroed you should be able to set your desired VTF with a fair degree of accuracy, but the scale will remove any confusion. It's not a bad idea to learn how to do it the old-fashioned way in the meanwhile.
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I bought the scale for my TT because my arm does not have the antiskate dial, nor does it have the numbers on the edge (it's a rega moth) so I wanted to be really precise.
 
MikeH said:
On the counterweight, you should have two separate things you can turn. There's a back half and then the front half. To start, you should hold hold the tone arm to prevent it from touching the platter, lower the cueing lever (still don't let it touch the platter) and then turn the entire counterweight (turn it from the back half) until the tonearm is floating. Once it's floating, turn the front half so that the counterweight indicator is at 0 at the 12 o'clock position. Then you rotate the whole counterweight from the back again to match what the tracking force on your cartridge should be (the front half should turn with the back half so show you the weight). Once it matches the tracking force, then you can set the antiskate value to the same as your tracking force and you should be good to go. I'd also recommend getting a digital tracking force gauge. They are pretty cheap and I have used mine a few times already. I have this one:
Click to expand...

This is where I was messing up, I was rotating just the indicator ring.
 
MikeH said:
On the counterweight, you should have two separate things you can turn. There's a back half and then the front half. To start, you should hold hold the tone arm to prevent it from touching the platter, lower the cueing lever (still don't let it touch the platter) and then turn the entire counterweight (turn it from the back half) until the tonearm is floating. Once it's floating, turn the front half so that the counterweight indicator is at 0 at the 12 o'clock position. Then you rotate the whole counterweight from the back again to match what the tracking force on your cartridge should be (the front half should turn with the back half so show you the weight). Once it matches the tracking force, then you can set the antiskate value to the same as your tracking force and you should be good to go. I'd also recommend getting a digital tracking force gauge. They are pretty cheap and I have used mine a few times already. I have this one:
Click to expand...
^^^This. Realizing there are 2 separate components/dials to turn is huge. It should not move at all when it's balanced properly. The YouTube video is very helpful, and that little tracking scale is great.
 
The dustcover on my Fluance RT-85 is starting to feel, for lack of a better word, sticky. I assume it has to do with the plastic sweating. Anybody know how to stop it?
 
Hey all...I am dealing with an annoying hum out of one of my speakers and wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions. I have tried some things thus far and want to see if any other suggestions are out there or if I am overlooking something.

Equipment: Microseiki DD-40 TT, Rotel RCD-02 CD Player, JVC JA-S44 Integrated Amp, Allison CD6 bookshelf speakers
Other notes: Turntable, CD Player, & Amp on same shelf, speakers one shelf below. Also have a laptop in the room at almost all times (also an office). Don't know what kind of interference this may cause, if any.

1) Power on in Phono - Hum comes from Left side
2) Swapped speaker cables - Hum moved to other side
3) Tried Speaker 2 inputs and plugged everything into the next port below - Maintained hum on same side as 2)
4) Switched over to Aux where to run the CD player - No hum.
5) Replaced ground cable and RCA cables between TT & Amp to better quality - No change in phono, hum still there.

I thought maybe a speaker input would be bad, but ruled that out trying the second inputs. It seems to only occur in Phono stage and the cable change offered no improvement.

Since this issue follows the phono input specifically, where do i go from here? Am i going down the capicitor/internals needing repair path? Or, are there any other trials/changes you would evaluate before going this route? I've been looking at upgrading my amp to begin with and probably looking for an excuse. This is one of those things where its annoying, but not annoying enough to spend a bunch of money fixing. I have never had a vintage piece of equipment repaired so I have no experience with the costs of repairs.

Anyone have any thoughts? I can bring up the schematic (i have a PDF saved), but have a very basic knowledge of circuits.
 
very thorough troubleshooting! I'd say if you don't feel comfy opening the thing up and tinkering with the phono stage, you might consider just investing in an outboard phono, since you can take it with you whenever you invariably upgrade your amplifier.
 
kvetcha said:
very thorough troubleshooting! I'd say if you don't feel comfy opening the thing up and tinkering with the phono stage, you might consider just investing in an outboard phono, since you can take it with you whenever you invariably upgrade your amplifier.
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Would that serve as an inbetween device connecting the TT to the receiver and act as a preamp? And would that eliminate any issues with the phone if it’s ultimately going through the receiver?
 
BB325 said:
Would that serve as an inbetween device connecting the TT to the receiver and act as a preamp? And would that eliminate any issues with the phone if it’s ultimately going through the receiver?
Click to expand...

Yep. An outboard phono stage would just go between your turntable and your receiver, and you would treat it as any other line level input.
 
kvetcha said:
Yep. An outboard phono stage would just go between your turntable and your receiver, and you would treat it as any other line level input.
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Since I've seen people get confused by phono preamps, I'll take a couple minutes to explain. (I apologize if this is old news to you--actually, I'll go ahead apologize to most of you:D). These devices convert the millivolt level output from the turntable to the 1-2 volt level expected by most amplifiers. They can usually be found in one of 3 places:
  • Built into cheap turntables. Cheap crap. Has a switch to turn it on of off.
  • Built into the receiver. Usually cheap crap. If your receiver has phono input, that input probably has one.
  • A separate box between the turntable and the receiver. Can be anywhere from cheap crap to more expensive than your car. This is usually considered a major upgrade. DON'T PLUG THIS INTO THE PHONO INPUT!!!
You need exactly one of these. Any more, and you risk speaker damage. Any less, and it will sound super quiet and tinny.
 
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