Inner-Groove Distortion...

[Chopsrr]

I have been battling "IGD" ever since I've been using this Luxman. I use the Baerwald alignment on the VE print-out protractor. Am I using the wrong alignment for this tonearm or something?

It doesn't matter what cart I use, I still get IGD by about the middle section of the record, and it continues to the end. I never had any of these issues on the Denon/Grace/Benz combo, but constantly on the Luxman.

Any suggestions?

[VinylIsTheBest]

Is the cueing lift bar hitting the arm along it's playing position?

Does the anti-skating work?

Does the arm have adjustable VTA?

What model Luxman is it? Arm?

[Chopsrr]

Is the cueing lift bar hitting the arm along it's playing position?

Does the anti-skating work?

Does the arm have adjustable VTA?

What model Luxman is it? Arm?

Sorry...

It's a stock Luxman PD277 with a Stanton 981HZS. Overhang is 15mm, VTF is set at 2.1g, anti-skate is set to 1.5g. It doesn't have adjustable VTA other than cartridge shims which I don't have, though the arm is perfectly level to the platter. Nothing binds or touches anywhere, anytime in the operation.

[Trackside]

Check the arm bearings for friction by setting the arm to zero VTF so the cart is hovering above the record and seeing if it floats easily across the playing area when you blow on it gently. Any sudden stops and there is a bearing problem, arm lead fouling or some other obstruction. Is the queing rest on he arm fully down and clear of the arm underside at all points aross it's travel? - this is sometimes overlooked.

[Chopsrr]

Check the arm bearings for friction by setting the arm to zero VTF so the cart is hovering above the record and seeing if it floats easily across the playing area when you blow on it gently. Any sudden stops and there is a bearing problem, arm lead fouling or some other obstruction. Is the queing rest on he arm fully down and clear of the arm underside at all points aross it's travel? - this is sometimes overlooked.

Great suggestions, but I've already tried this a few days ago when swapping carts. Everything checks out perfectly, thank goodness.

I'm seriously hoping this is just a silly user error (something I'm overlooking) and not a hardware issue.

[Chopsrr]

Got it all taken care of last night. No more distortion anywhere!

[pivot]

Got it all taken care of last night. No more distortion anywhere!

What was the fix?

[Chopsrr]

Advice from the guys over on AudioKarma, and Conrad's excellent customizable protractor printing software. That and a lot of patients.

[thommo_work]

I had a similar experience over the weekend - finally got my Tecnoarm for my Tecnodec, and rather than jump straight to my favourite alignment the Rega Baerwald curve protractor, I used the supplied Rega one point for inital set up, just to satisfy curiosity.

It did not go well.

Right the way across the side, things sounded off - rough rather than smooth, everything sounding unsettled, even from the very first track. I thought "Oh No - the arms buggered"

Then I went for the Baerwald alignment, and all was well straight away. Indeed better than it's ever been.

I use a SAS-ed Shure M97xE, so maybe some stylus types/shapes are less tolerant of certain alignment types.