Hi all,

A strange thing happened last night. I was listening to some vinyl on my system (Denon DP30 w/Grado Green, Sansui AU-7900). I put the Grado Green on the table about a month ago, so it's probably got 30-40 hours on it.

As I was listening, something "popped", and suddenly things sounded different:

- slight increase in gain;
- definite increase in soundstage; the dimensionality just jumped;
- definite increase in detail.

Earlier in the day, I had listened to "Rust Never Sleeps" on headphones. I put it back on, again on headphones, and there was a very noticeable difference.

Could my cart have suddenly broken in, or is it more likely that something in the vintage Sansui "unfroze". The Sansui had been in storage for quite some time before I bought it about 9 months ago, and even though it was supposedly cleaned before I bought it, I have had some minor issues with dirty controls.

Any ideas?

It seems to me that the break in of cartridges is more gradual. Something popping sounds more like dirt or corrosion being suddenly worked through or bypassed and so I'd guess more of the latter than the former.

The cantilever will be a bit over-stiff right after the stylus assembly is put into service. Over time it will sag into a "normal" position, which it will remain at for quite a time. This requires a slight readjustment of the VTA (vertical tracking angle.)

But no -- nothing like a pop causing a noticeable improvement in sound typically originates in the cartridge body or stylus assembly. I would look at the voltage regulator circuit in the Sansui. Perhaps it was providing insufficient voltage to the phono preamp due to a bad connection on a transistor, and this temporarily healed itself, restoring normal voltage and improving the sound.

Fred

I have broken one instantly:tears:, but never broken one in instantly.:no:
Jim

Maybe the stylus coughed up a hair ball...:yuck:

maybe a bit of dust stuck to the diamond suddenly dislodged ?