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Recent retip(canti also) Dude where did my soundstage width go

I'm trying to not get worked up because it's a huge trade off. I've put 10hours on it so far. Crisper and more detailed. There's some bass on a couple jazz records that I know and that I very thrilled about. But, everything is bunched up between speakers comparably. In anybody's experience will my Grado Reference1 open back up.  I've not done this before and I'm kinda thinking this is the side of my "new" cart that I'm gonna have to learn to live with. I was warned by plenty of researching that it would change and be a different cart but in my optimism I didn't realize a better (boron cantilever/micro ridge stylus) replacing a previously considered lower quality cantilever/stylus would turn out to be disappointing. Thanks

fourwnds
fourwnds's avatar
fourwnds OP
261 posts
 
I was thinking about @lewm mentioned about crosstalk and as I was looking at the pins, thinking that maybe there was something back there that might be the culprit, I noticed the right pin wire had broken through the outer sheath and in I fact noticed a stray little wire. A wire only really observable with a magnifying loop. Not a complete seperate on of the whole thing but maybe that's enough to disrupt everything. Gotta be the culprit right?
lewm
6,770 posts
 
Are you looking at one strand of a stranded wire, sticking out from the pin?  That could cause a problem only if it is touching any of the other pins.  If not, just take a fine wire cutter and snip it off. Or fold it so it cannot possibly contact the other pins.  If it was touching the hot pin of the opposite channel, THAT would wipe out your stereo effect and leave you with a narrow soundstage.

Am I correct in surmising that you ARE getting a wider soundstage after adjusting azimuth only in relation to the LP surface, without regard for the Foz?

I apologize for my inability to resist puerile humor, back there up the thread.
fourwnds's avatar
fourwnds OP
261 posts
 
Lewm, it's cool, I'm all about being lighthearted and trying not to take too much too seriously. So anyway, nah it wasn't touching anything(the little wire). And yes I did set Azimuth in relation to surface of an LP.  My thinking about the exposed hot wire and the stray strand was that the minuscule little signal may not be transferring 100% as well as it could be either through some oxidization of wire and/or signal loss from a broken strand. Lastly "wider" at this point is still not as I had it and the more I listen I'm not sure the retip is as successful as I'd previously imagined. But, more time will tell. 

vpi's avatar
vpi
194 posts
 
@fourwnds  We need to go back to basics for a moment.  If you have a respectable cartridge to begin with (which your Grado is, or was) all of the components in that cartridge were designed to work together.  Magnets, coil windings, cantilever, etc.. The designer spent a lot of time choosing the right components that would work well together at a given price point.  Now, you take that cartridge and replace the cantilever with one that was not designed to work with the other component parts.  It won't be the same cartridge.  Even if your replacement cantilever is far more expensive (better) than the one it is replacing, the other cartridge components were not designed to work with it.  
fourwnds's avatar
fourwnds OP
261 posts
 
I have to say my experience retipping absolutely confirms the above. I was optimistic it would be a nice nudge upward sound quality wise. Truthfully there are the improvements there that I wanted but it's at the expense of other facets of my Grado that I loved. Those improvements do not tip the balance in my opinion toward a favorable final outcome. Live and learn. I have since decided that the 2 series makes a lot of sense with the upgraded cantilever. That in addition to Grado's new winding machine support my desire to continue with a company's sound I love. In addition with a new phono stage I'll finally be able to go with a Statement output level and have it loaded correctly and with appropriate gain. 
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