Problems cueing an Ekos.
Posted by: Mario on 02 August 2002
Hello all, thought I'd run this problem I have by you. Since having my dealer install a Dynavector XX2 on my Ekos, cueing in a track is now not as accurate as before. To be more explicit, as I lower the tonearm into the groove, the arm moves away from the spindle sometimes landing miles away from where I had intended. The tracking force and bias is set to 1.8 as recomended by my dealer, but reducing the bias seems to help the problem. There is a bit of play in the small curved stage that the arm rests on prior to lowering and my dealer says this is the culprit. Is my arm lifter/lowering device on the Ekos malfunctioning and is it availabe as a spare part? Sorry to ask such a Linn based question on a naim forum, but you people have always been helpful. The thing that annoys me the most about this is that I have had the arm shipped from Australia to Scotland for the Ekos II upgrade a couple of years ago, surely they could have checked this out at the time.Needless to say the combination sounds great, now all I have to do is get it to work properly, regards, Mario.
Posted on: 02 August 2002 by Mario
It is definitely a smooth drift away from the record label towards the outer edge of the record. The arm is totally frictionless in all planes. Reducing the bias to about 1.5 on the dial seems to help the problem, but I've always believed that the tracking force and bias should be equal. This is the opinion of my dealer as well. I guess I will have to call and speak to him again. Thanks for your response guys, any other thoughts would be welcomed, Mario.
[This message was edited by Mario on SATURDAY 03 August 2002 at 04:11.]
Posted on: 02 August 2002 by Paul Ranson
You don't set the bias based on whether the arm slides on the cueing lift.
I never use the lift/lower but theoretically I would check that the platform is level, it would respond to force to make it so, and that the arm isn't being lifted too high over the record, changes in this are quite likely if the cartridge has been changed and the arm reset to a different height. There's a grub screw you can release to allow the height of the whole lift/lower to be set wrt arm itself.
Paul
Posted on: 02 August 2002 by Mario
Ah ha, now this is interesting. Yes the previous cartridge was an Audio Technica OC5 and the Ekos does seem to be set to a slightly different height, but it looks like the arm lifter moves up and down with the tonearm so the distance between lifter and armtube should not have changed. I agree that the bias has nothing to do with the arm lifter and that's why reducing the bias to reduce this problem was not a solution. The fact that there is adjustment on the lifting device is good news and Paul, thanks for pointing that out, at least now I have more avenues to persue with my dealer, Mario.
Posted on: 02 August 2002 by Alex S.
At least you're not pissed and trying to cue an Aro.
Alex
Posted on: 02 August 2002 by Mario
Alex, I may as well be pissed, this must be the first lp12 with a "random play" device installed, God only knows what groove that XX2 will land into. The irony to all this is that the mere presence of the lifter in the Ekos helped tip the scales when choosing between it and the Aro. Mario.
Posted on: 02 August 2002 by Mario
Hello Stephan, my dealer is Harry York at Audio Genesis and he knows the LP12 inside out. He has serviced them ever since they have existed and would never undo a cartridge unless the arm was removed from the turntable. The good thing about a precision mechanical device is that when it is damaged, you can hear a loss of fidelity and this most certainly is not the case. Arm height and table level may be an issue though, otherwise the lifter itself may need replacement. Once I figure it out I'll let everybody know, thanks, Mario.
Posted on: 03 August 2002 by Mario
Well this is the bit where I have to admit to being a bit of a goose. Firstly my Audiotech table was not level, I remember moving it while the LP12 was away for the cartridge installation. The motor side of the table was raised which would explain the arm drifting away down the hill so to speak, but to add to this I thought I'd check to see if my arm was in equalibrium when zero tracking force was set. Sure as hell the headshell side of things popped up meaning that I was infact applying less than 1.8 grams of force. Adjusting both these things has eliminated the problem, my Ekos now cues perfectly. Sorry to Linn for implying that they did not check the arm when it was upgraded. Stephan, Audio Genesis has a stylish new shop in Pyrmont with much more room than before, and yes Harry really does know what he is doing, I totally trust his advice and service, bye for now, Mario.
Posted on: 03 August 2002 by Martin Payne
quote:
Originally posted by Mario:
but to add to this I thought I'd check to see if my arm was in equalibrium when zero tracking force was set. Sure as hell the headshell side of things popped up meaning that I was infact applying less than 1.8 grams of force. Adjusting both these things has eliminated the problem, my Ekos now cues perfectly.
Mario,
I was advised by Ray of Grahams to perform this check about once a month, although God only knows how something like that could get misadjusted through normal use.
I must admint, I don't bother myself.
cheers, Martin
Posted on: 03 August 2002 by Rico
Mario
I certainly hope you've not been transporting the t/t and arm with the counterweight on the Ekos! This way you would install the T/T, level it up, kit the counterweight and balance it etc.
HTH.
PS - do you have the Linn anti-counter-rotation mod for spinning LP12 vinyl down here? Something to do with countering the effects of being upside down and the effects of the reversed rotation force of the earth. Its called the Kinetik.
Rico - SM/Mullet Audio
