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Cartridge alignment 101

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tg [RIP] View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tg [RIP] Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 May 2017 at 11:26am
While I would initially be inclined to think that the cartridges might be faulty - a complete absence of signal on one channel would not be a misalignment issue - you say you have a number with this issue.  
I would ask first is it the same channel on all of them ? - if so it might indicate an issue with your tonearm wiring or phono stage.
Another possibility if you use removeable headshells that I have experienced from time to time is that the spring loaded contact pins in the tonearm may sometimes fail to make a good contact with the headshell pins and one channel will be AWOL after changing headshells, removing and replacing the headshell a couple of times usually seems to fix the problem.
Tony G
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote itsmanhattan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 May 2017 at 12:22am
Yeah I've trouble shooted out the tone arm, speakers, amp, etc. It definitely is something to do with the cart or headshell connections or possibly the needle has finally gone caput!
Manhattan
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Drewan77 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 May 2017 at 6:01am
Originally posted by itsmanhattan itsmanhattan wrote:

....or possibly the needle has finally gone caput!
If it's happening with several cartridges, it would be very unlikely that the stylus itself could be the cause of this.
Older than I once was, younger than I'll be
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Andrew
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote RichieCactus Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 May 2017 at 10:53pm
I used to have a similar problem with my Thorens deck - occasionally the right channel would go to 1/2 volume.

The problem completely disappeared when I replaced the original Thorens arm for the AudioMods arm.  So I'm pretty sure it was the tonearm wiring...   so worth checking there...  good luck !

Rgds
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Rega RP8/Cartridgeman MM3/Thorens TD166/AudioMods VI/Accession/Croft RIAA/Arcam A85/Quad 21L
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Fatmangolf Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 May 2017 at 11:16pm
You may be able to confirm this is electrical by carefully turring the volume up high with the arm in the locked postion and not playing a record. The good channel will have a light hiss possibly a little hum with the amp close to maximum volume. The other side will either be noisier probably with more hum due to an open i.e. broken connection or much quieter if the cartridge output is shorted to ground.

With the volume off I suggest taking the headshell off and carefully swapping the headshell leads over, for which tweezers may be helpful! I'd start by checking how they are connected now and mkaing a quick drawing. It is worth checking the leads are correctly connected first.

The easiest way to swap the wiring is to unplug the red tag from the red cartridge pin and connect it to the white pin and vice versa, green to blue. If it's the cartridge you'll hear music from the other speaker. If it's the headshell the music will come from the same speaker as before but will be from the other channel in the cartridge.

Apologies if I've just stated the obvious to you and you've already done this.

Jon

Open mind and ears whilst owning GSP Genera, Accession M, Accession MC, Elevator EXP, Solo ULDE, Proprius amps, Cusat50 cables, Lautus digital cable, Spatia cables and links, and a Majestic DAC.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote itsmanhattan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 May 2017 at 6:40pm
Thanks guys. I'll take another look - god I hope that it's not the tone arm!

Manhattan
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