Installed new Ortofon and now 1 speaker has feedback and no sound. Thoughts?

[ahosterman]

Hi all -

I'm hoping someone might be able to give me some feedback on how to fix an audio problem. I have a Pro-ject Debut Carbon turntable and went from an Ortofon 2M Red cartridge to an Ortofon 2M Bronze. After install, it worked for a bit then the right speaker started cutting out. I checked the wires and it worked for about 10 minutes before cutting out again. That was yesterday. Today, I checked the connections on the tonearm and made sure the needle was vertical. I hooked it back up. I turn on the integrated amp, phono amp, and turntable and I'm fine. When I put the needle on the album the left speaker plays fine but the right gives me feedback and a buzz. I reinstalled the 2M Red thinking it was something with the 2M Bronze cartridge but it did the same thing. All wires from the speakers to the integrated amp are fine and nothing is loose; same with the phono amp.

Anyone have any ideas as what may be the cause?

Thanks!

 

[sterling shoote]

The right channel may not have a full connection somewhere along the chain. Could be anywhere along the chain. Be sure to check amp to speaker connections and pinch the wiring lug to right channel cart pin. Also, re-set tracking force, as well as cart alignment to preferred scheme.

 

[lovinthehd]

Does seem to be in the connections somewhere....unless you plug a non-phono device into the phono inputs on the pre and it still does the same thing, then that would point to something after the pre-amp....

 

[TLS Guy]

Hi all -

I'm hoping someone might be able to give me some feedback on how to fix an audio problem. I have a Pro-ject Debut Carbon turntable and went from an Ortofon 2M Red cartridge to an Ortofon 2M Bronze. After install, it worked for a bit then the right speaker started cutting out. I checked the wires and it worked for about 10 minutes before cutting out again. That was yesterday. Today, I checked the connections on the tonearm and made sure the needle was vertical. I hooked it back up. I turn on the integrated amp, phono amp, and turntable and I'm fine. When I put the needle on the album the left speaker plays fine but the right gives me feedback and a buzz. I reinstalled the 2M Red thinking it was something with the 2M Bronze cartridge but it did the same thing. All wires from the speakers to the integrated amp are fine and nothing is loose; same with the phono amp.

Anyone have any ideas as what may be the cause?

Thanks!

My guess is that you have damaged the fragile wiring changing the cartridge.

Do not check for continuity with the cartridge connected. A multimeter will burn out the fragile coils in a PU cartridge.

With the cartridge disconnected, check for continuity from head shell to amp with a multimeter.

This pretty much has to be a wiring fault in the PU arm, turntable or wiring from turntable to pre/amp.

 

[ahosterman]

My guess is that you have damaged the fragile wiring changing the cartridge.

Do not check for continuity with the cartridge connected. A multimeter will burn out the fragile coils in a PU cartridge.

With the cartridge disconnected, check for continuity from head shell to amp with a multimeter.

This pretty much has to be a wiring fault in the PU arm, turntable or wiring from turntable to pre/amp.

If it's isolated to the tonearm, how easy is it to fix? Or is it easier to look for a replacement?

 

[TLS Guy]

If it's isolated to the tonearm, how easy is it to fix? Or is it easier to look for a replacement?

Let's get into that, when you can tell me definitively what the problem is. If you are reasonably dexterous then you can do the repair.

 

[ahosterman]

UPDATE: I'm still getting the buzz feedback but in a different channel now. Nothing happened when I jostled the connections on the TT's tonearm: the buzz was still there and no music came out of the right speaker. I unplugged my phono preamp all together and connected the TT directly to integrated amp's built-in phono pre-amp. Doing this, the problem shifted shifted to the left speaker: now I'm just getting sound out of the right speaker and no sound and a buzz out of the left. Any new thoughts?

 

[highfigh]

UPDATE: I'm still getting the buzz feedback but in a different channel now. Nothing happened when I jostled the connections on the TT's tonearm: the buzz was still there and no music came out of the right speaker. I unplugged my phono preamp all together and connected the TT directly to integrated amp's built-in phono pre-amp. Doing this, the problem shifted shifted to the left speaker: now I'm just getting sound out of the right speaker and no sound and a buzz out of the left. Any new thoughts?

Turn the stereo off, disconnect the wires from the cartridge VERY CAREFULLY. Turn the stereo on, but set the volume to a low level. Touch the red wire's terminal. If you hear hum, it's OK. Then, touch the white wire's terminal- if you hear hum, it's OK.

At this point, unplug the cables connecting the turntable to the stereo or phono preamp and use your meter to check continuity on each. You should have no continuity between wires, but you might as well check that, too.

If any wire is open, it needs to be repaired. If you have any short circuits, likewise.

Why are you using a separate phono preamp? Is the one in the stereo not good enough?

 

[ahosterman]

Why are you using a separate phono preamp? Is the one in the stereo not good enough?

The sound coming out of the TT to the integrated amp was dull. The external phono preamp seemed to produce a better sound to me.

Bought a multimeter. Figured out how to test the new cartridge pins - they seem fine and are registering the same amount, so I think that rules out a defective cartridge. However, I can't figure out how to test the wires/connectors coming out of the tonearm though. I googled it and tried the continuity setting by put the red "pen" (from the multimeter) on the red outlet of the cartridge and the black "pen" on the red headshell pin. No reading. Same with black.
Obviously I'm doing something wrong, so this is probably above my pay grade level of novice knowledge of electricity in figuring out how to do it. Thinking it's time to find a place to do some repairs. Ugh.

PS - Now there's no sound coming out from the turntable at all - even after changing out the RCA plugs. So I"m thinking it's in the tonearm connection wires.

 

[TLS Guy]

The sound coming out of the TT to the integrated amp was dull. The external phono preamp seemed to produce a better sound to me.

Bought a multimeter. Figured out how to test the new cartridge pins - they seem fine and are registering the same amount, so I think that rules out a defective cartridge. However, I can't figure out how to test the wires/connectors coming out of the tonearm though. I googled it and tried the continuity setting by put the red "pen" (from the multimeter) on the red outlet of the cartridge and the black "pen" on the red headshell pin. No reading. Same with black.
Obviously I'm doing something wrong, so this is probably above my pay grade level of novice knowledge of electricity in figuring out how to do it. Thinking it's time to find a place to do some repairs. Ugh.

PS - Now there's no sound coming out from the turntable at all - even after changing out the RCA plugs. So I"m thinking it's in the tonearm connection wires.

That is exactly what I told you not to do!

Testing continuity of a cartridge with a multimeter is NOT an acceptable test procedure. The coils of a cartridge are very fine wire, and can be damaged by the current provided by a multimeter. In addition the very small magnets within the coils on the end of the stylus cantilever can be demagnetized by the current sent through those small coils by the multimeter.

It was the connections from head shell to preamp, I wanted you to check with the multimeter.

 

[Alex2507]

That is exactly what I told you not to do!

But you see, at the time ...

 

[afterlife2]

I got a big scare yesterday and thought the Denon 4K AV left side wasn't working while I was trying my new TT cartridge. I almost was ready to upgrade. I gave up and went to watch YouTube and decided to listen in stereo. I'm like damn this sucks left side speaker is not working. Well I checked my JBL speaker wiring and it must of disconnected when I moved my bed a couple of months ago. Since most dialog comes from the center speaker I never noticed. Phew.

 

[sterling shoote]

The sound coming out of the TT to the integrated amp was dull. The external phono preamp seemed to produce a better sound to me.

Bought a multimeter. Figured out how to test the new cartridge pins - they seem fine and are registering the same amount, so I think that rules out a defective cartridge. However, I can't figure out how to test the wires/connectors coming out of the tonearm though. I googled it and tried the continuity setting by put the red "pen" (from the multimeter) on the red outlet of the cartridge and the black "pen" on the red headshell pin. No reading. Same with black.
Obviously I'm doing something wrong, so this is probably above my pay grade level of novice knowledge of electricity in figuring out how to do it. Thinking it's time to find a place to do some repairs. Ugh.

PS - Now there's no sound coming out from the turntable at all - even after changing out the RCA plugs. So I"m thinking it's in the tonearm connection wires.

Just a sidebar, you have discovered one of the perils of changing out a cartridge on a turntable with fixed headshell. It's a delicate operation, which can exasperate. Down the road consider a turntable with detachable headshell, which promotes cartridge interchange, as easy as it is quick and without concern for wire damage.

 

[highfigh]

The sound coming out of the TT to the integrated amp was dull. The external phono preamp seemed to produce a better sound to me.

Bought a multimeter. Figured out how to test the new cartridge pins - they seem fine and are registering the same amount, so I think that rules out a defective cartridge. However, I can't figure out how to test the wires/connectors coming out of the tonearm though. I googled it and tried the continuity setting by put the red "pen" (from the multimeter) on the red outlet of the cartridge and the black "pen" on the red headshell pin. No reading. Same with black.
Obviously I'm doing something wrong, so this is probably above my pay grade level of novice knowledge of electricity in figuring out how to do it. Thinking it's time to find a place to do some repairs. Ugh.

PS - Now there's no sound coming out from the turntable at all - even after changing out the RCA plugs. So I"m thinking it's in the tonearm connection wires.

Dull sound could be caused by many things, including a wad of dust on the stylus.

Honestly, I think you need to have someone do this for you, or at least show you how to do it.

By putting one of the meter's probes (that's what they're called, not 'pens') on the red and the other on the black, you were testing for a short circuit, not continuity. In order to test for continuity, you need to unplug the cables from the stereo or phono preamp and connect one probe to the tip of the RCA plug, the other probe connects to the tonearm wire. The Red tonearm wire corresponds to the tip of the plug with the red band or marking, the White wire corresponds to the tip of the white RCA plug. The Black wire corresponds to the outer ring on the Red plug and the blue corresponds to the ring on the white plug.