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Please help diagnose sudden turntable problem

Hi everyone,

I just encountered a very sudden problem with my turntable. I have a fairly new Marantz TT15s1 that was sounding great until yesterday afternoon. I noticed an unusual amount of static, but I chalked that up to the dry air from running the A/C for a couple of days. I used a zero stat gun, and that seemed to help a bit.

Today, however, the problem got significantly worse within the span of a couple of albums. Now, I have significant static and distortion, sometimes completely obscuring the music. It sounds like an amp being overdriven. I have tried two different phono amps and two different preamps, but in every case I get the same sound.

The Marantz has a captive tonearm cable, so I can even swap that out. It's a Clearaudio Virtuoso cartridge that looks to be in excellent shape. The stylus is not bent or damaged. All the leads are plugged in securely. I'm at a loss.

Any ideas would be welcomed. Thanks!
Scott
smrex13
mapman's avatar
mapman
15,679 posts
 
Yes, when a phono suddenly goes bad teh stylus is the most likely culprit. It is the most delicate part of teh chain and can be easily damaged. Also accumulates dirt deposits over time that degregates sound. Could be dirty or damaged. Keep a spare cart around and try that. Then you'll know. Sounds most likely in this case especially if other components in the chain have checked out clean.
fleib
1,124 posts
 
I agree, most likely the stylus. Why don't you buy a spare stylus and upgrade your Virtuoso? This is a win/win solution. Even if something else is the problem (unlikely), you'll improve the cart.

The easy way is to go to Lp Gear or Turntable Needles and order an AT95 shibata replacement stylus, about $130. You'll find it at Lp Gear listed under their own brand name. Remove the old stylus by prying up the edge and pulling straight down. Use a wire cutter and carefully trim off the plastic on the new stylus so it looks like the Clearaudio.

If you have questions or want illustrations, go to Audio Circle - AT95/Clearaudio and beyond thread.
Regards,
smrex13 OP
423 posts
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. The day after I posted the original question, things got so bad that I thought I had blown my amp. Just crazy distortion and interference/static. I shut everything down, used stylus cleaning fluid (I normally just use Zero Dust before each play), sprayed the table and belt with anti-static spray, washed the record, and used my Zero Stat gun on the record before playing. This made the record listenable, but there was still a lot of background static. I unplugged everything and left it over the weekend while I was traveling. Upon hooking everything back up this morning, it sounds quite good.

Keeping my fingers crossedÂ…

Scott
qdrone
889 posts
 
Have you ever Flux busted your cartridge? You ever DE mag it.
smrex13 OP
423 posts
 
Well, the static never went completely away and is still causing pretty significant interference with music listening. The turntable and cartridge are only a couple of months old, so it's not a question of the stylus wearing out. And everything sounded great until a few days ago. There is no static with the volume turned down. I have tried the system with and without power conditioning and in two different outlets. There are no new appliances in our apartment, although it's an apartment complex so who knows what my various neighbors are up to.

I'm relatively new to vinyl, and I can certainly see why people shy away from it. I do prefer the sound to digital, but I'm at a loss right now.

Any other ideas would be helpful.

Thanks,
Scott
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