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MoFi So Long So Wrong

I gather I may be reigniting a firestorm here, but is there a problem with MoFi's SO LONG SO WRONG or with my system?

The last two tracks on Side 2 are unlistenable.

I thought it was my copy of the record. Those two tracks are noticeably darker (in color) than the other two on that side. A friend bought the same LP, and his copy does the same thing on my table and his--both are Rega P5s with Exact II styli.

Mo Fi, for their part, asserts that there's no problem with the record. It's been a while since I bought it, so i can't return. I'm kind of hot about that, too--if it's a manufacturing defect, they ought to be willing to stand behind their product. And they aren't.

The rest of the record sounds fantastic.

But those two tracks are just awful.

Sibilance, distortion, a kind of cracking sound. As though the master level was messed with during cutting.

I've checked everything I know to check. The table seems to be dialed in pretty well. Anybody brave enough to offer an opinion?

(This may have been discussed before, but all I could find looking were what seemed like references to some OTHER thread.)

Thanks,

Marty
mpriola

Showing 1 response by dougdeacon

dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
Goatwuss, Stingreen and Tricon_dave are correct. This LP plays fine in my system too but I have two friends with (less capable) systems which distort it just as you described, especially the inner tracks.

We've played the same copy in all three systems. Only in mine is it listenable (assuming one applies such a term to Allison Krauss). ;-)

It's a challenge not only for a cartridge/tonearm, it's a major challenge for a phono stage. The recording was miked closely, fundamentals and harmonics are quite close together and amplitudes are high. These factors challenge each component's ability to avoid sibilance (due to intermodulation between powerful, closely related waveforms) and crackling (due to physical mistracking, phono stage overload or both). The more tightly packed modulations of an inner groove just compound these challenges.

This record's a pretty good demo for a good system, or a pretty stiff challenge for one that's still developing.
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