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can any record player experts help out a vinyl noob?
i recently acquired my first turntable, but all is not well. i have it plugged into a preamp, and then into another amp through which to play it. but the sound quality is really bad, and i'm not just talking below audiophile levels.
in the mids to highs the sound is ridiculously muddy, and any song with dense instrumentation is a garble of resonating hums. lyrics are near enough indecipherable, and vocals in general have no presence whatsoever. the majority of any music has a crackly hum dragging anything together, and the only thing with any clarity is the bass. when listening on headphones stereo sound intermittently cuts in for a couple of seconds and then disappears.
and i doubt its the individual records, since its near enough the same for every one i try (even supposedly mint condition ones)
so if anyone has any ideas i'd be glad to hear them. i think it might be the needle or the cartridge on its last legs, but being a complete noob i really can't say for sure. i bought the turntable for cheap on ebay and i guess its quite old (sony PS LZ150) and the pre amp was very cheap as well (but new). i know i really should have bought a new record player, but now i'm stuck with it i might as well do my best to get it working right.