[exark]

Howdy all!

I recently purchased an Ortofon MC-X1 from the closeout sale that Needle Doctor was having. After installing it (without using a protractor - I just eyeballed it), I noticed significantly more surface noise. I'm confused, because although reviews of this cart seem mixed, they all seem to indicate that the one thing it does well is dissipate surface noise.

My old cart is an Audio Technica CN5625AL. I reinstalled it (again just eye-balling it) and the surface noise is gone.

My question is whether eye-balling the MC-X1's alignment might be the cause of all the extraneous noise. Is it possible that, due to the cart's elliptical stylus, it is more sensitive to the minor adjustments of alignment than the AT cart might be?

(Edit) I suppose it would help to know that this is on a Technics SL-1200 MKII with the stock s-shaped tonearm and stock headshell.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

 

[memepool]

Quote:

Originally Posted by exark /img/forum/go_quote.gif My question is whether eye-balling the MC-X1's alignment might be the cause of all the extraneous noise. Is it possible that, due to the cart's elliptical stylus, it is more sensitive to the minor adjustments of alignment than the AT cart might be?

In a word yes. The AT has a conical stylus, the Ortofon an eliptical so the latter needs careful alignment.

You'll find a Technics alignment protractor here which you can download for free.

http://www.vinylengine.com/cartridge...tractors.shtml