Turntable sounds tinny or metalic without much base

rdcooper

New Member
Can anyone help me figure out why older Pioneer PL-660 turntable does not sound like it has the correct amount of base tones. I have replaced the diamond needle and it made little difference.

Thanks for any help you may be able to give.

rdcooper
 
How does the vertical tracking angle look? How much downforce do you have it set to?

VTA.jpg
 
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Assuming you are running it through a magnetic not ceramic phono input, I would suspect that you have the two channels out of phase. Are the cartridge leads hooked up correctly -- red (R+) and green (R -), white (L+) and blue (L-)?
 
I have tried to make the tracking force heavier but that did not make a difference. The angle of tracking is good. There are only a white and a red wire coming out of back of turntable, and a ground wire that I have hooked up.

rdcooper
 
The wiring we were talking about were the small wires that connect the cartridge to the tonearm. You have to remove the cartridge in order to access the wires. They are 4 color coded wires that hook into the back of the cartridge. The connection points for each of the wires are also color coded to help show you where they are supposed to go. There is also the possibility that the azimuth is off (perpendicularity of headshell/cartridge to the record surface). Not all turntables allow you to adjust the azimuth. For example, my Pioneer PL-516 has a headshell that disconnects....and you can only put it back in one way.
 
I will check these things when I get home tonight. Please check my response in the morning if you have the time. Thanks for all of you who are trying to help.

rdcooper
 
A quick check for an out of phase condition, is to move the balance control fully left, then fully right (make sure you are operating in stereo, not mono, mode). If the base sounds good at either end, but not in the middle, the phasing is inverted between left and right, so the base from one side cancels out the base from the other. You have one pair of cart wires swapped.

Rich P
 
High Level Phono?

You are plugged into a Phono Input, but, just to be sure:

Some modern devices skipped a Phono PreAmp, and gave you an input labeled Phono, but, it is a High Level Input. It works with Turntables with built-in preamps, or, signals from a preamp already having boosted the signal up to 'line' level.

This type of high level phono input assumes you have already run the signal through a Phono 'RIAA' PreAmp which does two things: 1. boosts the signal up to line level about 1.0 volt, and very importantly, 2. re-adjusts the signal, because it was adjusted during recording.

If your setup skips the Phono RIAA PreAmp stage, the signal will definitely be too much highs and too little bass.

Your manual should give you the answer. Line Level is close to 1.0 volt.

Regards, Elliott
 
Speaking of phase questions, my Luxman TT had the tonearm cable replaced and it now has a red RCA plug and a black RCA plug for connecting to the preamp.

The plugs are unmarked as to L/R. I used the red lead for the R input and black for L.

Sounds fine, but I'm wondering if there is a standard as to which one is which or do you just go by ear?
 
mobydud said:
Speaking of phase questions, my Luxman TT had the tonearm cable replaced and it now has a red RCA plug and a black RCA plug for connecting to the preamp.

The plugs are unmarked as to L/R. I used the red lead for the R input and black for L.

Sounds fine, but I'm wondering if there is a standard as to which one is which or do you just go by ear?

There can be some exceptions, but red appears to be a universal standard for right.

Rich P
 
bohhey said:
light is left

red is right.

period.

I guess I got that right years ago then :)

I was always crossing phase when I hooked things up , so I taught myself a little ryhme:

Red is Right and Left is White.

But I wasn't sure if that would hold true if someone *else* did the wiring, as in perma-wired on a TT not just going R to R and L to L with my own interconnect.

Like I said, sounds fine so all is good. Thanks!
 
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