Anthony John Colbert Posted June 12, 2013 Posted June 12, 2013 Hi, I think my 2M blue stylus is starting to go downhill. Ive had it for probably 4 years, with light use for the first 2 1/2 and fairly heavy use for the last 18 months. Ive noticed in the last week or so that im getting excess sibilance on some records with hard "s" sounds. Its occuring at various places on these records, Outer grooves, middle tracks etc. Inner grooves are maybe sounding slightly "dirtier". These same records sounded fine when ive played them previously, as little as a week before in some cases. Other records i played today sound ok, with nice clean S sounds and cymbals. Ive double checked my alignment with my Mint protractor, VTF with a digital gauge, moved VTA around, from tail down to tail up to flat, various levels of anti-skate, cleaned my stylus religiously. Ive even recleaned the offending records on my VPI 16.5 vacuum to no avail. Could it be that the offending records are cut a bit "hot" and the wear means that the stylus can no longer track them cleanly. The ones that sound ok may be cut less hot and the stylus can track them ok. Maybe its time to replace the stylus or upgrade? Cheers Colby
GregWormald Posted June 12, 2013 Posted June 12, 2013 If the diamond is worn, you will hear similar to what you describe--even on previously good records. Get it looked at by somebody who knows how and has the right equipment, because a worn stylus will damage good records. Greg
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