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Vinyl Virgin seeks additional advice

My inherited Rega P1 (see http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?eanlg&1200066271&read&3&4& for history) got its new cart, a Ortofon 2M Red, installed by a local audio dealer. The first day of operation was great, good sound, no skipping on new and used LP's. The next day it wouldn't play more than what sounded like a rotation, repeating a two second phrase. I slid the counterweight towards the pivot point and it played through a few cuts before starting to skip again. I have leveled the table and beyond that I don't know what to do. Any ideas of what may be going on? Should the turntable be this finicky?
Thanks for your input.
panamared
piedpiper
753 posts
 
I good stylus brush may be all you need. It is quite possible from your description that it simply got a significant build up on the stylus. Swampwalker got it backwards. As you obviously guessed you increased the VTF, but possibly way too much. That's where the VTF gage comes in. Also, the set up for that table is very easy. Nonetheless, your dealer may or may not care enough to do a proper job of it. Get a gage and protractor and do it yourself.
headsnappin's avatar
headsnappin
295 posts
 
Hey Stringreen, the anti-skate on VPI 'tables is quite correct the way it is, very few are. On my kit it is easy to discern 1/8g differences in anti-skate, and the differences are important. On my kit, I helped dial in a friends deck and it was mis adjusted at 2.5 with 2g tracking force. I set the anti-skate at 1.5 and the improvement was very large, unanimous by all 3 of us listening.
panamared OP
5 posts
 
So the guy who put the cart on came by last night to fix it. It appears that the problem is with the pivot bearing, the arm wasn't swinging freely. he fussed with it and fixed, but didn't really know how to adjust the rega pivot. has anyone else had problems with the pivot bearing on the Rega RB100 arm? It's working now, but he thought I should send it back to rega if it started binding again.
On a separate note for the P1- whats with the cover? why doesn't it stay open? am i supposed to remove the lid every time i put a record on? or is it meant to be a one handed operation?
panamared OP
5 posts
 
btw
piedpiper- stylus brush is in transit from acoustic sounds as we speak!
and for what its worth, the dealer has been very helpful and friendly. i only bought a budget phono pre-amp (cambridge 540) from him, this setup help has been a favor.
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
Panamared,

Your guy's final advice was correct. If the problem recurs, contact Rega for service. Repairing or adjusting the bearings is a warranty issue, not a user or dealer adjustment.

A stylus brush is useful and necessary, but it's not sufficient on its own. As Swampwalker already mentioned, do a search for "Magic Eraser". Keeping your stylus clean requires more than dry brushing.

Good luck with the arm!
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