Cartridge ?

[1KW]

I was listening to my turntable and during the quiet passages I could hear a grating sound. When I looked closely at the stylus the compliance of the stylus was so soft that the plastic on either side of the needle was literally scraping against the vinyl. I tried adjusting the cartridge however the problem would not go away. The cartride is a AT 4400MLA. I removed the cartridge put my Ortofon cartridge on and all is fine. The question is has anyone else had problems with the audio technica cartridges having this problem ? The cartridge is less then a year old .

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by 1KW

I was listening to my turntable and during the quiet passages I could hear a grating sound. When I looked closely at the stylus the compliance of the stylus was so soft that the plastic on either side of the needle was literally scraping against the vinyl. I tried adjusting the cartridge however the problem would not go away. The cartride is a AT 4400MLA. I removed the cartridge put my Ortofon cartridge on and all is fine. The question is has anyone else had problems with the audio technica cartridges having this problem ? The cartridge is less then a year old .

Question, do you flick the tonearm with your finger to see if you can land it in the groove between the tracks when it lands? Just kidding. Did you check your VTA and VTF?

[Alberto]

Originally Posted by 1KW

I was listening to my turntable and during the quiet passages I could hear a grating sound. When I looked closely at the stylus the compliance of the stylus was so soft that the plastic on either side of the needle was literally scraping against the vinyl. I tried adjusting the cartridge however the problem would not go away. The cartride is a AT 4400MLA. I removed the cartridge put my Ortofon cartridge on and all is fine. The question is has anyone else had problems with the audio technica cartridges having this problem ? The cartridge is less then a year old .

Nope. Something is VERY wrong. I have a couple of AT440mlas (2+ years) and the only thing I can think of is that the tracking force has somehow been increase. I doubt that the suspension has gone soft, have you double-checked the tracking force?

Alberto

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by 1KW

I was listening to my turntable and during the quiet passages I could hear a grating sound. When I looked closely at the stylus the compliance of the stylus was so soft that the plastic on either side of the needle was literally scraping against the vinyl. I tried adjusting the cartridge however the problem would not go away. The cartride is a AT 4400MLA. I removed the cartridge put my Ortofon cartridge on and all is fine. The question is has anyone else had problems with the audio technica cartridges having this problem ? The cartridge is less then a year old .

David.......When you say you tried adjust the cartridge, I assume you meant tracking force. How do you measure your tracking force?

[1KW]

I don't have a scale so I have to rely on the tone arm dial. I balanced the tone arm with the cartidge attached and then dial in 1 3/4 grams VTF. The VTA is leveled off. I removed the stylus and snapped it back on and the purple part still hits the vinyl. My ortofon cartridge is my back up and it is working perfectly set up the same way. I sent off a email to LP gear (place I purchased the cartridge from) and audio-technica customer service.

[1KW]

Originally Posted by PHC1

Question, do you flick the tonearm with your finger to see if you can land it in the groove between the tracks

How did you know...

[jdandy]

David.......How light a tracking force would it take to allow the cantilever not to allow the body to hit the vinyl? Would this tracking force fall into the recommended tracking force for the cartridge?

The ol' trusty Shure Stylus Force Gauge is a good thing to own, and reasonably priced. You might want to pick one up.

[1KW]

Originally Posted by jdandy

David.......How light a tracking force would it take to allow the cantilever not to allow the body to hit the vinyl? Would this tracking force fall into the recommended tracking force for the cartridge?

The ol' trusty Shure Stylus Force Gauge is a good thing to own, and reasonably priced. You might want to pick one up.

When I decreased the tracking force to 1 gm the needle started to skip

[PHC1]

Is this something that happened recently or could it be it was always like that and you didn't notice?

[1KW]

Originally Posted by PHC1

Is this something that happened recently or could it be it was always like that and you didn't notice?

It is something new, the grating sound is not something I would have ignored. I am going to bring the stylus to my office on Friday so I can look at it under my microscope.