A turntable question from a relative novice.

[Bol]

I've had a turntable only for a couple of years, and am not an audio equipment-phile by any means. I have a question some may be able to answer. When I play some of my records, the hi hat cymbal sounds less than crisp. It sounds like scattered electric noise, rather than the cymbals being struck crisply. I don't know how else to put it. Is there something I can do to improve the sound? This seems to happen especially often when I play the 200g audiophile Blue Note LP's from Classic Records. Perhaps this has to do with the quality of pressing more than my turntable (Rega P1), but perhaps I can do something to my turntable to improve the sound? Any help would be much appreciated.

[BeBop]

My first thought (and cheapest to fix): make sure your stylus is clean. Visit a hi-fi dealer for a cheap cleaner that won't do any harm. Since the problem doesn't affect every LP, I think it's something "mechanical" like this, as opposed to electrical. Static buildup is another possibility, a bit more difficult to remedy. Do also invest in a record brush (I like Deccas)

[wesbed]

I remember, back in the 1970s, there was an anti-static spray for records. Spray it on the record, wipe it down with a record cloth. The next several spins of the record an incredible amount of 'dust goop' would pile up on the needle. Causing the needle to need to be cleaned, sometimes, at the end of each track, till the record dust was fully removed. While the needle was stacked with the 'dust goop' material it would play with a sort of foggy & buzzing tone.

Yessir. One of my memories from the 1970s.

[Dave James]

I don't know what specific records you're playing, but there have been problems in the past with cymbals that were recorded "too hot". This results in the sort of splashy, distorted sound you describe, especially with the sock cymbal. I know some of the tracks on the Blue Note Tina Brooks LP set have that problem. Point being, you may be having an issue with the recording itself rather than something mechanical or electronic. Try rolling off the treble and the midrange to see if that makes the recordings any more palatable.

Edited September 9, 2012 by Dave James

[Bol]

Thanks folks. I do have a record brush and use a couple of different stylus-cleaning solutions that I use between spins.

[AmirBagachelles]

Could be you are hearing and suffering the molten, un-subtle signal work of Rudy Van Gelder. Try a Contemporary recording engineered by Roy DuNann.

[jazzbo]

You might also be hearing a limitation of your phono preamp. I used to have a phono circuit in a receiver that had a similar failing.

[Clunky]

I had a similar problem once and it turned out that the stylus had rotated slightly. Lead to some tracking problems which sounded quite like those described in the first post. I had to replace my cartridge.

[Dave James]

Seems to me if this doesn't happen all the time, you'd have to look someplace other than your stylus or phono pre-amp.. It wouldn't make sense that a problem like this would be selective, i.e. it would be happening every time you played a record.