Planar 2 & VM95ML - right channel noise

[Al ears]

I meant that I’d sapped the cables & the problem moved to the left channel- so definitely a problem with the right channel. Sorry if this is wasting your time

I see, thanks for getting back to us.
Double check your wiring to the cartridge.
What amplifier do you use?

 

[Revolutions]

AT wiring diagramView attachment 5172

Well I’ll be. I have no idea where the hell I took the info to wire mine G,W,B,R. Updated!

 

[camcroft]

Well I’ll be. I have no idea where the hell I took the info to wire mine G,W,B,R. Updated!

What tracking weight are you using 2g is recommended.

 

[Al ears]

Well I’ll be. I have no idea where the hell I took the info to wire mine G,W,B,R. Updated!

So is that now correctly wired?
If so, and apologies for sounding off earlier, it's been one of those days....
Has issue been resolved?

 

[Revolutions]

What tracking weight are you using 2g is recommended.

Yep, got it set at 2g.

Testing a few records now, still got less volume in the right channel 😢

switching the balance from l-r, it’s far more noticeable drop in the bass frequencies now. Which is interesting as it was cymbals/guitars that used to not stand out on the right channel before I swapped the cables to correct setup.

 

[Al ears]

Yep, got it set at 2g.

Testing a few records now, still got less volume in the right channel 😢

switching the balance from l-r, it’s far more noticeable drop in the bass frequencies now. Which is interesting as it was cymbals/guitars that used to not stand out on the right channel before I swapped the cables to correct setup.

Shouldn't happen.
If the cartridge is now wired correctly, and you still haven't told us which amplifier you are using, then it would still appear that the cartridge is U/S.
Switching the balance on what?

 

[nopiano]

Looking at a close up of the cartridge wiring they don't seem to be in the right order. I have a AT head shell with cartridge came as a complete unit from AT and his wiring is not the same.View attachment 5170View attachment 5171

Great spot! But even if it was wrong, it cannot account for antiskate changing the volume! That’s just nonsense.

@Revolutions do you use a test record, with left and right channels recorded on it? Unless you have a good orchestral record and can hear violins on the left and basses on the right, you might need to invest in one!

 

[Revolutions]

Shouldn't happen.
If the cartridge is now wired correctly, and you still haven't told us which amplifier you are using, then it would still appear that the cartridge is U/S.
Switching the balance on what?

Amp is Marantz PM6005 UK. Switching the balance on the amp control.

Double checked cd & streaming: speakers sound fine & well-balanced.

 

[nopiano]

Amp is Marantz PM6005 UK. Switching the balance on the amp control.

Double checked cd & streaming: speakers sound fine & well-balanced.

But is left on the left?

 

[Revolutions]

Great spot! But even it was wrong, it cannot account for antiskate changing the volume! That’s just nonsense.

@Revolutions do you use a test record, with left and right channels recorded on it? Unless you have a good orchestral record and can hear violins on the left and basses on the right, you might need to invest in one!

I probably should get a test record. I’m testing with new vinyl from recent mainstream rock/indie albums that use hard-panned instruments.

 

[Revolutions]

But is left on the left?

Yes

 

[Al ears]

Yes

If there was an incorrect wiring on your cartridge and you have since corrected that, and you are still having issues then leave that balance control alone as your only option is to get a new cartridge , and hopefully not a new amp.

 

[Revolutions]

If there was an incorrect wiring on your cartridge and you have since corrected that, and you are still having issues then leave that balance control alone as your only option is to get a new cartridge , and hopefully not a new amp.

Ok thank you so much for helping identify the likely problem!

I’ll pick up a entry level cart & do some more testing.

 

[camcroft]

Ok thank you so much for helping identify the likely problem!

I’ll pick up a entry level cart & do some more testing.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Audio-Tech...17&hvtargid=pla-575824338471&psc=1&th=1&psc=1 £29 and your ML stylus will work with it

 

[nopiano]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Audio-Tech...17&hvtargid=pla-575824338471&psc=1&th=1&psc=1 £29 and your ML stylus will work with it

Unfortunately a discount is harder to find here, but AT themselves are very quick to deliver, and it comes in a nice branded box. I’m never quite sure where Amazon items have come from!

AT-VM95C

AT-VM95C VM95 series Conical stereo cartridge - Aluminium cantilever, 4.0mV output voltage, Compatible body with all VM95 Series stylus assemblies and Replacement for AT91, AT91R and CN5625AL

www.audio-technica.com

PS. I bought the same, pre-fitted with a headshell to try out. But it’s still in the box!

 

[camcroft]

And the OP will have a spare stylus to boot.

 

[camcroft]

Unfortunately a discount is harder to find here, but AT themselves are very quick to deliver, and it comes in a nice branded box. I’m never quite sure where Amazon items have come from!

AT-VM95C

AT-VM95C VM95 series Conical stereo cartridge - Aluminium cantilever, 4.0mV output voltage, Compatible body with all VM95 Series stylus assemblies and Replacement for AT91, AT91R and CN5625AL

www.audio-technica.com

PS. I bought the same, pre-fitted with a headshell to try out. But it’s still in the box!

I have the same on my new turntable it's a AT turntable but I bought a second head shell with it and I have fitted a Nagaoka MP20 body with a MP11 stylus on and to be honest on that turntable I prefer the Nagaoka cartridge. I even fitted my ML stylus to the VM95 and it still didn't sound as good as the Nagaoka. Although my main system has the VM95 modded RigB body but I use a Paratrace profile stylus and it sounds fantastic.

 

[Revolutions]

So, quick update - and it’s positive news.

Bought some stylus cleaning fluid, then I took the cartridge off, gave the connections a clean on that and the tone arm. I reconnected the cart and did a few runs at re-alignment. Turns out I naturally want the cart to line up with the tone arm head, but to get the correct angle it needs to be slightly angled.

Overall much better volume balance. Not convinced it’s even, but I could be imagining that after expecting the right channel to be quieter. Hearing a lot less noise & clicking, especially in right channel. Bass & treble cuts through & is prominent as expected on the right channel.

The only slight annoyance is mono records. Vocals are definitely coming at slight centre-left. Interestingly, the two Y cable trick fixes that & the couple of mono records I tested sound excellent that way.

Short answer: much happier with the sound I’m getting. Thank you everyone for your help & patience as I discovered it was my fault all along 😊

The difficult part is that the big focus on my vinyl has made me even more curious to discover what a better tt, cart & external preamp might do. Or maybe a higher wattage amp… might head down to Kensington today and have a chat with the lovely people at Premium Sound 😶‍🌫️

 

[good_enough]

Don't want to make this more complicated than necessary, but:

Line contact styli are way more sensitive to azimuth (which is the twist around the longitudinal axis of the tonearm looking end on, if you see what I mean) than point contact (ellipticals). Image the side of the 'V' resting against one wall of the groove more than another. The reason that this is not a thing on ellipticals is that their contact with the groove wall is a point (the groove wall is a tangent of the ellipse).

I believe that this arm has no azimuth adjustment. If needed it would be achieved by shims between the cart and the headshell.

It may be that the final phenomenon you noted (mono records slightly off-centre) may be due to this one last 'tweak'. If so it would improve stereo repro even more also.

If you want to continue down the upgrade path and stick with line contact (ML or Shibata) styli then these are also sensitive to vertical tracking angle or rake (they are converse terminology for the same thing). It may be worth just asking your dealer 'please set all of that up for me properly'. I set my VTA by ear, but I have to confess it was a bit of a palaver. Happy spinning!

 

[Revolutions]

Don't want to make this more complicated than necessary, but:

Line contact styli are way more sensitive to azimuth (which is the twist around the longitudinal axis of the tonearm looking end on, if you see what I mean) than point contact (ellipticals). Image the side of the 'V' resting against one wall of the groove more than another. The reason that this is not a thing on ellipticals is that their contact with the groove wall is a point (the groove wall is a tangent of the ellipse).

I believe that this arm has no azimuth adjustment. If needed it would be achieved by shims between the cart and the headshell.

It may be that the final phenomenon you noted (mono records slightly off-centre) may be due to this one last 'tweak'. If so it would improve stereo repro even more also.

If you want to continue down the upgrade path and stick with line contact (ML or Shibata) styli then these are also sensitive to vertical tracking angle or rake (they are converse terminology for the same thing). It may be worth just asking your dealer 'please set all of that up for me properly'. I set my VTA by ear, but I have to confess it was a bit of a palaver. Happy spinning!

That was a very useful explanation of a complex area that I knew existed but didn’t know why- thank you for making it so clear 😊

I think that’s one level too far for me, especially for this 30 year old deck. Tbh, I think my next upgrade will be exactly as you said: budget for about £1k, make a choice and ask the shop to set it up for me 😁