[M0T0XGUY]

By the recommendation of an old thread around here, I just bought an ADC 1500FG turntable off eBay. It said it was in playable condition and all that, but today I have it set up and it really doesn't sound right. I'm cranking the volume knob on my headphone amp way up, and there's still a terrible noise floor, almost masking the music itself. I'm using an old pre-amp with a phono setting as a phono-preamp, so my question is: what went wrong? 

 

[M0T0XGUY]

P.S. The cartridge was included in the sale and seems fine. I have it balanced so that only the stylus touches the record... I hope that's the correct way to do it. 

 

[M0T0XGUY]

Actually, I now worked most everything out... except I'm only getting one channel of audio. Troubleshooting tips?

 

[Bones13]

1) be sure that you have a moving magnet cartridge.  Not many built in phono stages for those.  Probably alright here though.
2) 1 channel out means one of 2 things.  Either there is something wrong in the electrical pathway, connection, wire, short, or that the stylus is not riding in the groove correctly.
3) at 51, I need a magnifying glass to see the stylus much, its work looking at, and cleeaning.
 
Look over in audiokarma.org or audioasylum.com in the vinyl sections.  You probably can get enough information there to get your arm/cartridge setup correct.  You will need to identify the cartridge, then figure out the loading force.  There are also 4 small wires at the back of the cartridge that need to be hooked up correctly.
 

 

[ortofoninc]

The cartridge could possibly be the culprit.
 
Since the internal wiring of the cartridge is very thin (thinner than human hair) coil wire, any sort of physical stress can cause that coil to break - especially if we're talking about a vintage cartridge.