jon@msunix.UUCP (Jonathan Hue) (10/19/85)
Help! I am the victim of excessive sibilance. Words with the letters "s" and "t" sound awful on my stereo, especially when spoken by the female voice. It's like a hissing, the word "silence" comes out as "sssssilensssssss" My system is Grado Signature 8 -> AR Arm & Turntable -> Hafler DH-110 -> Hafler DH-500 -> Magnepan SMGa. The most common and reasonable explanation I have been given is that the AR Arm is terrible, expecially with the Grado Sig. 8, and the excessive sibilance is a form of mistracking. It never did this with the Shure M95ED from the thrasher turntable. Of course, it never sounded like music either. The remedies I have thought of are, in order of preference: 1) Replace the AR arm with a Premier MMT arm for $295 2) Replace the cartridge with a Talisman S for $295 which will require 3) 3) Replace the Hafler DH-110 with a conrad-johnson preamp (the <$500 one) I would not like to have to spend much money to ameliorate the situation (there's a TAS word). Oh yes, the cartridge is properly aligned. Just goes to show that you can't pick things off the shelf and expect them to work well together. Any suggestions, net.audio.gods? Jonathan Hue LMSC-Mechanisms & Servos ..amdcad!cae780!leadsv!msunix!jon or something like that
pmr@drutx.UUCP (RastocnyP) (10/22/85)
There may be one of two things wrong: 1) the cartridge is defective (unlikely but possible), or 2) the vertical tracking angle (VTA) is set wrong. I suspect that problem may be in the VTA. VTA is the amount of forward "lean" the stylus has in the groove. If angled too little (too close to 0 degrees VTA), the cartridge will sound overly brilliant and brittle. If VTA is the problem, the arm needs to be raised or the platter lowered. Since the AR arm pillar cannot be adjusted, you could try a thinner platter mat. Another possibility is shimming the front of the cartridge in the shell. This usually defeats the design of the rest of the arm and should be only used in desperate situations. If all else fails, a new arm or different cartridge is in order. Yours for higher fidelity, Phil Rastocny AT&T-ISL ihnp4!drutx!pmr
mohler@drune.UUCP (MohlerDS) (10/22/85)
In my opinion, the C-J preamp or the Premier MMT won't solve your problem. Aside from what the underground press says (most notably A. H. Cordesman) all Grado cartridges have problems! They are 5 db up on the high end, they suffer from way too much unit to unit variability and are significantly over-priced (except maybe the 15.00 dollar unit). There are cartridges from Ortofon and ADC that sound better, measure better and track better for similar prices to the non-signature Grado's. I suggest replacing your Grado signature, to get rid of that long SSSSSSSSSS problem. I would suggest the best cartridge listed below that you can afford, and the MC preamp of your choice. A note to those that favor (and those that don't !) MC cartridges. Finally, a manufacturer with over 25 years of combined experience in MC cartridge design, came up with what I believe to be the finest line of MC cartridges I have seen or heard! The company is Highphonic, which was formed by the two most experienced Denon cartridge engineers. The cartridges (5) all have a machined alloy body, superior construction (including diamond shape and polish), non-permeable coil cores, very linear frequency response, and superb tracking ability at 1.2 grams or less (model dependent). The Highphonic line is as follows: 1) MC D-15 Signature, tracks at .9 grams, high F resonance at 85 KHz, diamond cantilever - tapered, 3rd generation line stylus, .2 db channel balance, 35 db channel sep. at 1 KHz, 32 db at 10 KHz, 1200.00 list price, japanese audio sells them for 880.00. This is the best cartridge in every respect I have ever seen! I however, must question the sanity of someone that would pay this much for a cartridge. 2) MC A-6 Signature, tracks at 1.0 grams, high F resonance at 65 KHz, tapered alloy cantilever (aluminum, magnesium, titanium, and silicon carbide - heat treated), 3rd generation line stylus, .4 db channel balance, 34 db channel sep. at 1 KHz, 30 db at 10 KHz, 495.00 list price, japanese audio sells them for 325.00. This is overall, very close to as good as the MC D-15 at a price that is nearing earth. If you like accurate tonality, and timbre in your music and hate the common MC high F peak, this cartridge is a bargain! 3) MC R-5, tracks at 1.1 grams, high F resonance at 55 KHz, ruby slippers -:) (cantilever), 3rd generation line stylus, .6 db channel balance, 30 db channel sep. at 1 KHz, 30 db at 10 KHz, 395.00 list price, japanese audio sells them for 245.00. 4) MC A-3, tracks at 1.1 grams, high F resonance at 50 KHz, same alloy cantilever as A-6 only not tapered. 3rd generation line stylus, .6 db channel balance, 30 db channel sep. at 1 KHz, 27 db at 10 KHz, 250.00 list price, japanese audio sells them for 155.00. This cartridge performs technically with the SHURE V-15 V, but sounds better (except S/N ratio), priced about the same too. Take note, you MC dislikers! 5) MC 2E, tracks at 1.2 grams, high F resonance at 38 KHz, aluminum cantilever, eliptical stylus, .6 db channel balance, 30 db channel sep. at 1 KHz, 25 db at 10 KHz, 195.00 list price, japanese audio sells them for 115.00. This is a very good cartridge at it's price. I own and highly recommend the MC A-6 Signature. I have no affiliation with Highphonic or Japanese Stereo, I just hate how bad the average MC and MM cartridges are! If you love the 5 db peak on the top end of your Monster Cable Alpha 1, these cartridges are not for you! If you like accuracy, good imaging and depth, and have always wanted a catridge that tracks any record at 1.2 grams or less and are very reliable, these may be what you've always wanted. I found Japanese Stereo (213) 659-8550 to be very prompt and pleasant to deal with. They are the sister company to Analog Excelence (they are the Highphonic importer). Japanese Stereo's prices go up and down, so take my quotes as a relative indicator, you might pay more or less. David S. Mohler AT&T - ISL @ Denver drune!mohler
caf@omen.UUCP (Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX) (10/23/85)
In article <165@msunix.UUCP> jon@msunix.UUCP (Jonathan Hue) writes: >Help! I am the victim of excessive sibilance. Words with the letters "s" >and "t" sound awful on my stereo, especially when spoken by the female voice. >It's like a hissing, the word "silence" comes out as "sssssilensssssss" > >My system is Grado Signature 8 -> AR Arm & Turntable -> Hafler DH-110 >-> Hafler DH-500 -> Magnepan SMGa. The most common and reasonable >explanation I have been given is that the AR Arm is terrible, expecially >with the Grado Sig. 8, and the excessive sibilance is a form of >mistracking. It never did this with the Shure M95ED from the thrasher You might experiment with lowering the shunt resistance across the cartridge. Shortening the cable from the cartridge to the preamp might help by moving a resonance out of the audio range. A "high end" friend of mine thinks the some of the Grado cartridges are great, but the one he played for me was tinny for my taste. A quick emprircal check of the tonearm is to hold the cartridge up with a length of thread, and gently move the thread back and forth. If the arm follows easily without any obvious friction, and if it is properly adjusted for geometry and force, it is unlikely to have any gross effects on the sound. If you are still playing records these days, I suggest you get the best Shure you can afford. The Shure V5 series seems to have the best tracking, which along with the dust brush should give the longest life for your recordings. The V5 is also less sensitive to preamp loading than some other cartridges. But, you should realize that records are often overrecorded on sibilants. The low distortion of CDs shine in vocal recordings, especially opera. -- Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX ...!tektronix!reed!omen!caf CIS:70715,131 Omen Technology Inc 17505-V NW Sauvie Island Road Portland OR 97231 Home of Professional-YAM, the most powerful COMM program for the IBM PC Voice: 503-621-3406 Modem: 503-621-3746 (Hit CR's for speed detect) omen Any ACU 1200 1-503-621-3746 se:--se: link ord: Giznoid in:--in: uucp
pmr@drutx.UUCP (RastocnyP) (10/24/85)
I seem to remember that Grado's load optimally into 10K ohm rather than the phono preamp's standard of 47K ohm. Mismatching the load would cause the peak in the top octave. But once loaded properly, the Grados perform reasonably well. Unfortunately, optimal loading requires some modification to the preamp (~ $0.10 in parts at a surplus store). Yours for higher fidelity, Phil Rastocny AT&T-ISL ..!drutx!pmr