"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
news
"Trevor Wilson" wrote in message

"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
...
"D.M. Procida"
wrote in

I'm quite happy taking things apart and making
mechanical adjustments, but I haven't done much messing
about with record players.

Obtain a good test record (technical tests of tracking
and the like) and see which tracks are actually giving
you problems. The titles of the tracks will give you a
clue as to a more specific definition of the problem. It
will then at least be fairly easy to determine when the
problem is addressed.

**IGNORE THIS ADVICE! This is extremely bad advice.

Trevor's out making trouble again. Tit-for-tat and all that.

**Well, no. Your advice is monumentally stupid.


Any
faults with the existing equipment will permanently
damage any (expensive) test recording (IOW: Subsequent
playback will likely reveal faults that do not exist, due
to prior damage).

Only if the problems are really severe, and usually only after a number of
playings.

**WRONG! A chipped stylus will cause immediate and permanent damage.


Let's face it, the most expensive test records cost only a fraction of the
cost of a decent LP playback system, and are in some sense expendible.
I've usually bought them in pairs, and hold one in reserve.

**WRONG! A good test record will typically cost more than an average stylus.


OTOH, if you find a problem, fix that problem and continue to have
unexpected problems playing a test record, there is a possibility that a
damaged test record is the source of the problem.

**The way to fix the problem is to perform ALL the static tests and checks
FIRST. I've run across alleged techs like you in the past. They end up
costing clients money. You're the sort of person who tells a client to swap
speaker connections, if one channel is down. In the automotive business,
you'd tell a person whose front tyres are being scrubbed, to try a new set
of tyres BEFORE performing the requisite static checks to steering geometry.
It's wrong and you are wrong. Pull your head in, admit your error and we can
move on.


The equipment MUST be fully and
completely checked, BEFORE using any form of test
recording.

Begging the question, why use a test record at all if the equipment has
already been thoroughly checked?

**A test record is really only useful for determining the absolute
performance of a fully functioning TT. It is not desirable to use one to
determine a fault that can be determined by other, less destructive,
methods.


Other than this, quite seriously bad piece of
advice, Mr Krueger is correct.

Ah, I am dispensed a little mercy.

**Like a broken (analogue) clock, you are not wrong 100% of the time.


A test recording is a good idea. AFTER performing the requisite
mechanical checks
and adjustments, of course.

I'm going to take a flyer here and hope that you wouldn't use a test
record until some basic checks have been made.

**I use test records VERY, VERY rarely. They're not necessary most of the
time. Static tests and measurements solve the vast majority of problems. A
test record merely allows one to guage absolute performance.


--
Trevor Wilson
www.rageaudio.com.au