Stereo Separation - Turntable

I would recommend getting a test record.One that tells you"this is the left channel,this is the right channel..." and more importantly will check phase.If you have a channel out of phase,it will make the soundstage seem excessively wide.It will also help you achieve peace of mind,when tweaking.Casey.

Dmloring, This is a long time favorite album of mine. I first bought it on CD many years ago, and it had the extreme hard left and right stereo. Later, I bought a copy of it for a friend, and the newer copy was an RVG remastered version. The Rudy Van Gelder reissue, though clearly stereo, was much more down the middle, and I actually prefer the earlier version. I think this is generally true about the more recent RVG remasterings. Both vinyl versions of this that I own, one a Japan King Blue Note and the other a recent 180 pressing have the original hard L and R stereo.

MnMark

Casey -- great idea. Thanks.

MnMark -- interesting. Not quite sure how that sound is considered stereo. If my integrated amp had a mono switch, I might actually considering using that on records like this. As for Somethin' Else. Next to "The Cannonball Adderly Quintet in San Fransisco," this is one of my "desert island" albums. Spontaneous Combustion is simply one of the most outstanding tunes ever recorded, IMO, by Cannonball.

That is just typical early Blue Note stereo recording as the engineer Rudy Van Gelder early on did not have a pair of speakers so he hard panned each channel so he could hear it on his mono Altec 604. I think the later recordings are less extreme but many jazz listener just gotten used to that hard left and hard right and it sort of became a trademark of recording of this era. Simply play a mono recording on your turntable and play the same mono CD and you notice there's no difference. If the stereo CD of the same recording is different in terms of soundstaging, then it has been remixed. You just happened to find an extreme case here. There's nothing wrong with you system and this extreme hard pan thing has nothing to do with the intrinsic nature of turntable system. Just enjoy the music.

A test record can be very helpful for base lining things,but I find that the more you understand and "hear" what is going on with the rig that you will make adjustments for the better. This is particularly true with VTA. I also adjust my VTF frequently depending on what I hear with a given disc.This is a subtle change,but one that can make a big difference in the nuances.
As for the VTA;listen to simple acoustic music first and make sure it is not too muddy(arm too low),or too high (arm too high).Then listen to some acoustic jazz that has a decent bass with the same thing in mind.
When you feel that you are in the ballpark,use a vernier caliper and record the height of the arm. That way you can return to the base line point that you have labored over.
If you buy the 180-200g albums you will want to raise it.If you listen to old RCA Dynagroove and Dynaflex records you will want to lower it. These movements are very minor.Of course the high end arms that have VTA "on the fly" where you can adjust it while it is playing makes it a very easy job.And if anyone is skeptical about my methods;go listen to one of the new VPIs with the JMW arm that can be adjusted while playing.You can just turn the know and the sound changes like a tone control.

This kind of fiddling is so much fun and part of the charm.

but you have to be careful.

e