also, have you ever noticed how the best songs seem to be on the last cut?  the angle of attack gets more severe as you move inward and more energy is squeezed from less groove space.  not an uncommon problem, however, you will find that very careful attention to setup will help.  also, it has been my experience that the carts with smaller needles handle this better.  linear tracking arms were thought to be a solution to this problem and some are great, but the cause of the problem still exists regardless of arm or setup.

tom

tom collins wrote:

also, have you ever noticed how the best songs seem to be on the last cut?  the angle of attack gets more severe as you move inward and more energy is squeezed from less groove space.  not an uncommon problem, however, you will find that very careful attention to setup will help.  also, it has been my experience that the carts with smaller needles handle this better.  linear tracking arms were thought to be a solution to this problem and some are great, but the cause of the problem still exists regardless of arm or setup.

 

tom

Good point and i agree

inner groove distortion is a thing, but it should not be nearly as bad as you describe it, "really rough, distorted sounding vocals".  I think that degree of distortion would mean your arm/cartridge need significant adjustment.

It sound to me like a classic symptom of inadequate tracking force or a problem with the anti-skating.

Many people tend to track too light, thinking this is better for the records; wrong.

I have found that tuntables and arms are frequently not able to track as light as the cartridge recommends without the type of problem you are experiencing.

I will bet that increasing the tracking force by 0.5 grams will fix the problem. You can go well above what the manufacturer of the cartridge recommends with no adverse result of any kind.

Tracking too light, however, can damage your records.