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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
davide256's avatar
davide256
362 posts
 
If the stylus is nude mounted ( pierces the cantilever for mounting) I doubt it's the cartridge as most failures with nude mounted stylus are catastrophic, it won't work, or looses volume. If its solder mounted the stylus can break free but usually playing with the lump of solder left causes worse symptoms than static.
I'd suspect interference in tonearm travel; try using an air can source to blow out dust/lint in the tonearm bearing area and if you have one of those fishline anti-skating arrangements make sure it's correctly run, not catching.
davide256's avatar
davide256
362 posts
 
Oh.. I forgot the very obvious 1st check... make sure your stylus pressure is correct. If the pressure is too light, it will cause static. If the turntable was moved or jostled its always possible the tonearm counterbalance is no longer right
slaw's avatar
slaw
5,785 posts
 
Smrex13: Don't give up on analog dude! It sounds as though some of your purchases were used, therefore makes it harder to diagnose a particular issue. This may be chalked up to a "lesson learned" in the end. In the mean-time I feel your pain and hope it is resolved quickly.
slaw's avatar
slaw
5,785 posts
 
...ny earier post was in reference to "Groove Lube". Sorry if there is any substantial difference.
chayro
1,801 posts
 
Slaw - there is a huge difference between the two. Groove Lube is, IMO, a horrible, sticky mess. Gruv Glide, when used as directed, is good at removing the static charge. I make no other sonic claims for the product. It does collect on the stylus for a play or two, but nothing too bad after that. I generally do not use it unless a record is particularly problematic static-wise.
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