Turntable question!
 

Since i know there are plenty of audiophiles and vinyl enthusiasts here, i thought i'd ask for some turntable advice.

I've been collecting vinyl for a few years, mostly for collections and i like using them as decorations. I was recently given an old turntable, a Sony PS-T1 so that i could actually start listening to them. I balanced the arm and set it up to the best of my knowledge, but there is a ton of fuzz while playing a record (which i can tell from quiet parts in music). I'm wondering whether this is easily fixed by replacing the cartridge/stylus (since it is likely ancient) or whether its just a shitty turntable and i should just spring for a good ol Dual turntable from ebay?

Any advice is appreciated! Thanks!

Oh, fuck me... .

Are you running it into a phono stage or the phono input on your amp? The output from a turntable is a fraction of the output from a CD player so hooking it up to a regular aux input will result in a very low signal.

Have you checked your earth wire is hooked up correctly? This is often a cause of hum.

A new stylus is probably no bad thing - a worn needle won't do much for your records.

I'd try and understand what's wrong with your set up before buying another deck.

Good luck!

I think thats valid. Some records are shitty music, but have pretty covers. Thats the great thing about vinyl! Theres so much art involved!!!

I have a signed album of some Hawaiin singer that I've never heard of that I use as decoration in my room. I got it for .75 cents, and I bought it mostly because this poor man had a record that he signed in ok condition out in the bargain bin at Down in the Valley. Poor Guy! I also have Waltz at the Waldorf because there are two attractive latin people salsa dancing.. and one that just has fruit and such on the cover. Also, a youngbloods album that I got for .50 cents, only because its such an interesting snapshot.

I also have this 1000 copy-limit release of an album the germs did (I fucked your mom) that I keep out not to play (because I'm so afraid of scratching the picture on the vinyl), but just so people know i have it and can say, "woooah, you own this??" when they come over. Not that any of my friends at school have any fucking clue who the germs are, but fuck it... I kept the "limited to a 1000 copies" sticker on the cover so i get double the indie cred for knowing about a band they don't and having a limited print edition of their music.

I don't know.

In my opinion, Eternal, you're ok.

clean the stylus
clean yr vinyl
check your cable inputs to make sure everything is plugged in right

if that does not do it, then you may have to change your stylus.

if it is hum then you may have some wires crossing over each other. that will make a hum.

I bought this at a thrift store for 50 cents



cuz I LOVE this album by Unwound

i'll check the wires. But there is no hum until the stylus is touching the vinyl so its leading me to think that its just an old stylus that needs to be changed. I think i'll just upgrade the cartridge to something a bit better while i'm at it. From what i've heard, a good cartridge update can improve sound just as well as a new table?

aux is the way to go, phono is too loud easy to blow stuff/get distored etc. every one i know uses aux

it might seem like a bit of an investment, but i think most people could use a dj mixer, you can get an entry level behringer,numark etc. for around $100 and you'll have effective,easy and precise control over the volume with all the faders, and i'm sure alot of people don't this but i use to mixer to adjust the high/mid/bass to my liking or take one of the frequencies out to get a close listen to a certain instrument etc

So....if changing the stylus doesn't work then I may have to change my stylus?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!~

I'm guessing you're using AUX because you're already running it through the phono stage in the mixer?

Unless a turntable has some kind of built-in pre-amp, the output from the cartridge alone is way below line-level and will need to be run into the phono stage of the amp.

describe the sound, is it like a vinyl crackle but more accentuated? or is it more of a constant tone in the lower frequency range? if it is a low frequeny tone i would say you have and earthing issue, generally the is a little piece of wire coming down the audio signal cable which looks like this . screw the piece of wire at the bottom of the pole near the symbol, this lifts the earth and the tone should disappear. if it is hum then it will be either 50 or 60hz depending on what country you are in, but that is irrelevant just something you may want to know as the issue is a power one and could be loacted on the within your house wiring... fun stuff but easy to fix with that little earth lift on the back of the amp. tone arms can cause feedback much like microphones and obviously the frquency of that feedback will be relative to your setup and room acoustics but it would be incredibly rare to have any loop gain issues in a domestic turntable setup.

if it is fuzz/crackle then have a close look at the stylus and make sure it looks normal, remove any fluff and dirt and grime from it. clean the record if you have been collecting these records for hanging on your wall then chances are you haven't been considering the quality of the records when buying them. if they have been stored poorly before or after you have bought them there could possibly be some warping on the vinyl which can cause an incorrect alignment of the groove and there really is nothing you can do to fix that. if your tone arm is balanced incorrectly and you have weighted it towards the stylus the stylus can be pushing to heavily into the groove. try readjusting, or maybe even do the reverse of what club dj's sometime do and chuck a lightish coin on the rear end with a piece of tape to lift the weight slightly from the groove. if all of that fails try a new stylus.

if that fails hang your vinyl back on the wall and go back to 128kbps mp3s...

actually wires crossing over each other will cancel hum, ie if you have the cable of a lamp running parallel to and audio signal cable then this can induce hum, crossing the wires changes the phase correlation, crossing at 90 is the best bet for this type of thing.

*sits quietly in the corner*

re-read. the word is CLEAN

ahah thanks for the detailed answer! it's certainly a more vinyl crackling but its just way more noticable then it should be. the stylus looks worn down and looks ancient. i tried re-balancing it, but it didnt help (i dont even have a proper tracking force on this "no-name" cartridge lol). I also dont see this ground wire thing anywhere that people are talking about. i just ordered a new cartridge since i dont trust putting this needle on any of my good records (i tested using depeche modes awful exciter album lol).

and for the record everyone (no pun intended), i didnt hack the vinyl on a wall by shoving duck tape on the record or anything lol. I meant i put a couple classics in some frames near my music system/collection ahaha

one of the most horrifying things I have ever seen was an art show at the contemporary arts museum Houston where this chick had used a STAPLE GUN to staple about 1000 record covers up on the wall. it made me convulse in record vinyl nerd agony.

you poor thing. whats her number? can you find it? i think we should all team together and leave her awful messages on her machine.

You might want to avoid a room in the Sensational Fix Exhibition when it comes to usa he he ;).