@Peter:

You quoted the MMC4000... I thought you got the wrong post or something... Sorry!

@Steve:

You are welcome here of course. Dirty vinyl? Hey hey hey! You don't know who you're dealing with man 😐

Anyway, the scraping noise really excites the arm+cartridge resonances badly. It is as tight a fit as can be (ie not very!) so I should really try another stylus. What worries me is that the tip tracks very well (difficult organ tutti, opera full choirs) so as you say it may not be too worn. Something wrong in the stylus assembly? I noticed two tiny copper discs which fell off when I pulled it. Also I saw that the suspension is really very rigid, the cantilever hardly bends. 

Would someone be so kind as to lending me an SP 10/12/14 to try it on please?

Thank you!

chartz wrote:

@Peter:

You quoted the MMC4000... I thought you got the wrong post or something... Sorry!

The passage above states that the styluses can replace thouse in certain cartridges - one of those mentioned in the SP15. As you know, the SP15 was the original cartridge for the Beogram 4000 and is, to all intents, a MMC4000. This bit of information was therefore wrong and I didn't want it to be quoted in future.

Doctor wrote:

chartz wrote:

@Peter:

You quoted the MMC4000... I thought you got the wrong post or something... Sorry!

 

The passage above states that the styluses can replace thouse in certain cartridges - one of those mentioned in the SP15. As you know, the SP15 was the original cartridge for the Beogram 4000 and is, to all intents, a MMC4000. This bit of information was therefore wrong and I didn't want it to be quoted in future.

Peter,

I have removed the reference to the SP15 from my previous post.

My suspicion is that the suspension for the catilever has perished and collapsed. I think that you will need to have it refurbished.

Hi,

So if the suspension is knackered, why is it so stiff? And why would this excite the body's resonances? The scraping noise sounds as if it came from a pipe! It makes me think of my old 78's played with a worn needle. 

chartz wrote:

 

Hi,

 

So if the suspension is knackered, why is it so stiff? And why would this excite the body's resonances? The scraping noise sounds as if it came from a pipe! It makes me think of my old 78's played with a worn needle. 

 

Not really sure how the suspension works on these SP series cartridges so collapsed suspension is something of a presumptive diagnosis based on the symptoms you have described. There is usually some rubber involved in the suspension system that perishes over time. If there is no suspension working this may manifest itself as being stiff or too soft, depending on what has happenned to the rubber.

- You have a scraping noise (some part of the cartridge or cantilever other than the stylus must be in contact with the record)

- Some copper discs fell out when you removed the stylus assembly (this may be what is left of the suspension after the rubber has gone? I don't imagine that they were surplus to requirements and just floating around in there)

- The body reasonace issue is no doubt related to the scraping noise. (something other than the stylus is in contact with the record or the catilever is in contact wit the cartridge body. Hard to know without seeing a closeup of the cartridge on the arm when playing a record).

Thanks.

What I know for sure is that the cantilever doesn't foul anything while playing. I can also hear the scraping hollow noise if I stick my ear to the cartridge! The tiniest vinyl imperfections excite the cartridge body. I have inspected the outside under a slide magnifying glass but I can't see anything wrong... I'm going to make a recording so that you can hear for yourself!

link

Don't pay attention to the beeps... bad laptop

Jacques,

I don't really know what to make of that to be honest.

I assume that you don't have this problem when using another cartridge?

It appears to have a rythym to it. This happens on all vinyl you play?

Might be the suspension, might be something else.

You have the turntable appropriately isolated?

Hi Jacques, sorry about the cart - seems to be causing a lot of grief and mystery! I am wondering if it is possible this noise is eminating from elsewhere? You either need another deck to test the cartridge on or another cartridge to test on this deck!

Are there no old begrams on ebay atm? They tend to go for next to nothing over here in the UK, although not sure what they go for on your side of the channel...