Record Playing Reminders - DYNACO PAT-4 Assembly Manual

Record Playing Reminders

If it has been a while since you've played records here are a few hints that you may find
useful.
 The ground wire between the turntable and the ground screw on the back-panel of
the PAT-4 preamp must be connected to minimize the hum. Usually, that wire
runs loosely along with the RCA cords.
 Check your tracking force and anti-skating force. Re-balance your tone arm if it
has been a while.
 Make sure that the grounding crown of the RCA plugs fit snugly around the
grounds of on the preamp inputs. A good connection is important for low noise
performance.
 Remember that PHONO LOW, TAPE HEAD, and SPECIAL inputs are all
available for playing records now. You might find an advantage to using TAPE
HEAD or SPECIAL, just because the jacks are likely to be less worn.
 Watch for acoustic feedback that can arise if the speakers are too close to the
turntable. Increasing the space between the speakers and the turntable will help.
 The signal to noise ratio (SNR) of a record isn't what you're used to with digital,
it's less. Still, the music on the records mostly masks the noise, except in soft
portions, or if the record is worn or dirty.
 Is one channel out? Swap phono outputs and preamp inputs to get to the bottom of
the problem. This will let you figure out if it's a turntable/cartridge problem or a
preamp problem.
 A frequent source of "one channel out" problems in the turntable/cartridge system
comes from bad connections between the wires in the head-shell and the phono
cartridge. The push-on connectors become flakey. If this is the issue, you can
often renew the connection by carefully rotating the push-on connector on the
cartridge's input pin:
o Be careful not to bump the stylus or catilever.
o Hold the cartridge body in one hand.
o Rotate the push-on connectors around the input pin using needle nose
pliers. This will clean the crud, and also let you tell if the connections are
so loose as to also cause a problem.
 Need more information on your old turntable? Visit
have an extensive collection of turntable service manuals.
 Why Vinyl? Because it seems to have a higher SAR (Soul to Annoying Artifacts
Ratio) than most digital.
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