Technical Difficulties Thread

I'm running new speaker wire and bought a kinda shitty wire stripper. Is it a big deal if some of the wiring is cut off or missing from the rest of the cord? The bright spot is some of the cut wire
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I'm guessing it is common, but I'm tryna not burn my house down lol
 
Jdiddlydawg said:
I'm running new speaker wire and bought a kinda shitty wire stripper. Is it a big deal if some of the wiring is cut off or missing from the rest of the cord? The bright spot is some of the cut wire
View attachment 140814

View attachment 140813

I'm guessing it is common, but I'm tryna not burn my house down lol
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it's passing audio not electricity, so your safe. But I would try to strip it very carefully one last time without loosing any strands. Just go very slowly, and carefully. You can then tin the twisted strands with solder if you have a iron and some solder.
 
Jdiddlydawg said:
I'm running new speaker wire and bought a kinda shitty wire stripper. Is it a big deal if some of the wiring is cut off or missing from the rest of the cord? The bright spot is some of the cut wire
View attachment 140814

View attachment 140813

I'm guessing it is common, but I'm tryna not burn my house down lol
Click to expand...

It’s passing a very low current as opposed to, for example, main electricity so you should be fine. You could just cut it off and try and strip a new bit more cleanly if you’d rather it was cleaner and you have enough slack.
 
Jdiddlydawg said:
I'm running new speaker wire and bought a kinda shitty wire stripper. Is it a big deal if some of the wiring is cut off or missing from the rest of the cord? The bright spot is some of the cut wire
View attachment 140814

View attachment 140813

I'm guessing it is common, but I'm tryna not burn my house down lol
Click to expand...
Losing a few fine strands in the last inch of your cables will not materially change the resistance of the entire cable. Most of what is happening here is contact resistance anyway.
 
JohnnyCashFan said:
it's passing audio not electricity, so your safe. But I would try to strip it very carefully one last time without loosing any strands. Just go very slowly, and carefully. You can then tin the twisted strands with solder if you have a iron and some solder.
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@Jdiddlydawg - BTW, how are you planning to finish the cable ends? Twisted conductors? Tinned conductors? Banana plugs or spades? Like @JohnnyCashFan, I prefer solder tinned terminations because of low cost, reliability and usage flexibility. But, not everyone is handy with a soldering iron.
 
Angsty said:
Losing a few fine strands in the last inch of your cables will not materially change the resistance of the entire cable. Most of what is happening here is contact resistance anyway.
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Just be careful any loose strands dont fall out onto biding posts and or inside the amp as this can short something very easily (luckily your fuse system will trip). This is why it's always a good idea to tin bare cable with solder.
 
Angsty said:
@Jdiddlydawg - BTW, how are you planning to finish the cable ends? Twisted conductors? Tinned conductors? Banana plugs or spades? Like @JohnnyCashFan, I prefer solder tinned terminations because of low cost, reliability and usage flexibility. But, not everyone is handy with a soldering iron.
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I have a few banana plugs for the speakers, but the receiver isn't built to handle them so I'll just insert the wire on that end. It's overall an improvement on the old speaker system, which used an older, twisted, and kinda frayed copper wire around a lil screw.

My dad found a much better wire stripper, so I plan to use that when I get a chance
 
All right, you guys. I let a bout of pandemic and other issues get in the way of spinning for more months than I can remember. Finally got around to firing things up tonight and whoa, muddy sound, skipping around (probably need to redo tracking force, etc.) but are there other things I should check? What’s a basic checklist before I start getting worried?
 
mcherry said:
All right, you guys. I let a bout of pandemic and other issues get in the way of spinning for more months than I can remember. Finally got around to firing things up tonight and whoa, muddy sound, skipping around (probably need to redo tracking force, etc.) but are there other things I should check? What’s a basic checklist before I start getting worried?
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Check stylus for damage- bent cantilever etc
Check tracking force
Make sure arm lift is not coming into contact with the bottom of the arm
Make sure stylus is clean
 
Just finished realigning my first cart 4-5 years into the hobby lol. I felt something was off with the job done by Upscale audio on my Ultradeck, was getting noticeable IGD on just about every record, popped out very much on vocals, pretty missable on jazz records.

Ordered the Geodisk, not the easiest thing to figure out how to do right, wish they had a vid! Anyways, definitely looks like my fears were correct. Now in the process of dialing this thing in, such a nerve wracking and fickle process lol. Any tips for first time alignment?

There were a couple times I accidentally turned on the UD while I was adjusting the cart and the Geodisk would spin around on the platter, if that ridge on it was 1mm taller I would probably be out a Grado Opus lmfao.
 
Ghost said:
Just finished realigning my first cart 4-5 years into the hobby lol. I felt something was off with the job done by Upscale audio on my Ultradeck, was getting noticeable IGD on just about every record, popped out very much on vocals, pretty missable on jazz records.

Ordered the Geodisk, not the easiest thing to figure out how to do right, wish they had a vid! Anyways, definitely looks like my fears were correct. Now in the process of dialing this thing in, such a nerve wracking and fickle process lol. Any tips for first time alignment?

There were a couple times I accidentally turned on the UD while I was adjusting the cart and the Geodisk would spin around on the platter, if that ridge on it was 1mm taller I would probably be out a Grado Opus lmfao.
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Remove the belt. If you accidentally turn it on, the platter won’t spin.

Use blue painters tape to secure the Disc/platter to the plinth,

A flashlight is a big help.
 
HiFi Guy said:
Remove the belt. If you accidentally turn it on, the platter won’t spin.
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Good advice, but I find it easier to just unplug the turntable. Might be because some of mine (Dual and Bogen come to mind) are the sort that don't have belts, or on/off switches, and just begin spinning when the arm is moved toward the record
 
Ghost said:
Just finished realigning my first cart 4-5 years into the hobby lol. I felt something was off with the job done by Upscale audio on my Ultradeck, was getting noticeable IGD on just about every record, popped out very much on vocals, pretty missable on jazz records.

Ordered the Geodisk, not the easiest thing to figure out how to do right, wish they had a vid! Anyways, definitely looks like my fears were correct. Now in the process of dialing this thing in, such a nerve wracking and fickle process lol. Any tips for first time alignment?

There were a couple times I accidentally turned on the UD while I was adjusting the cart and the Geodisk would spin around on the platter, if that ridge on it was 1mm taller I would probably be out a Grado Opus lmfao.
Click to expand...
Interesting. Why do you think it would just start now? I ask because I was noticing some IGD on my turntable last night. I last aligned it to the VPI supplied gauge a couple of years ago when I mounted the current cartridge. Will have to check for a bent cantilever…
 
Angsty said:
Interesting. Why do you think it would just start now? I ask because I was noticing some IGD on my turntable last night. I last aligned it to the VPI supplied gauge a couple of years ago when I mounted the current cartridge. Will have to check for a bent cantilever…
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Or a sagging suspension.
 
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