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  3. 141061-111640

No right channel in new cartridge

I just got a Sumiko Blackbird & mounted it.  I have no right channel. I haven’t fine tuned the mounting but, That shouldn’t make me lose a whole channel.  Once or twice I’ve heard a hum in the right channel before I put the needle down. When it goes down it stops & goes silent.  The channel isn’t effected in CD, DVD or radio.

i bought it here(all positives on the seller) & it only had 10 hours on it. It didn’t come in the original box but came screwed into a box... seemed pretty secure.  I checked & reconnected all the pins, jacks into the AVR & ground wire.

What should I try next?
tochsii
nandric's avatar
nandric
3,263 posts
 

While everyone seems to fear for the state of the stylus my

worry is primary about coils. All second hand cartridges I check

first with an (digital) Voltmeter. The danger for the coils apply to

analog Voltmeters. By connecting the connectors for R or

L channel one can see if the coils are ok. This method prevents

irritation involved by discovering the damage after all the

needed adjustments are made.

 

lewm
6,770 posts
 
Tochsi, yes, swap red with white, then blue with green, then hook it up and listen, and don’t let anyone make you anxious. Sounds like you are dealing with a responsible seller and it’s still possible that the fault lies in your system. (I have purchased many used cartridges in my life with no issues.) 
tochsii OP
52 posts
 
Thanks everyone.

The dropped channel followed the change in leads.

I have loaner from a friend.  It’s Sumiko Pearl he got this yr, never did a second setup for the teens.  So, he never used it. And, both channels work.

Several people said just return it & get something else here. I looked for a while here (consensus this is a very trusted site-but still check the seller) & on other sites. I found this for $550 barely used & the seller has an excellent rep.  It’s a chance to safely jump 1 or 2 levels.  I tend to trust people & he just seems like someone it’s worth working with.  Since I have a loaner, I’m lucky enough to be able to wait 6 wks to get it back. If the SS repair assessment says it’s something bigger, I’ll return it. 

You’ll all laugh but, I had sooo many recd brands & models that I setup a small spreadsheet: Brand, Model, Price, New Price, Sound Characteristics, Review Consensus, Misc. And, I don’t “relish the idea” of going back to it. lol
chakster's avatar
chakster
2,482 posts
 
There are better cartridges even for $500, i paid same price for my Dynavector KARAT 23RS MR Ruby in NOS condition for example. There are many options for MC or decent MM for the same price.

SoundSmith will have to open your cartridge, sometimes it means to break the cartridge and glue it back (not sure about Sumiko). Not sure why do you need all these damage if you’re not even sure he can fix it? Fixing coil is not cheap at all. Reparing coil wire is actually very expensive. Are you sure he can do that in 6 weeks? I think your cartridge will be inspected in 6 weeks. But It can take 3-5 month to fix the problem. 


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gdnrbob
2,421 posts
 
Well, now that you know it is defective, why not send it back and get either a refund or purchase something comparable?
B
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