Adjusting tone arm on RX

I am excited to be reviving my old stereo system and turntable  after many years of raising kids and settling for digital music... 

Please bear with me, as I am a beginner, and not a collector as many on this site seem to be. After reading many posts, I feel very lucky that I packed up my turntable carefully over 12 years ago, and with a little tweaking, it works!!!    just got to hear one of my favorite old albums for the first time in over twenty years. 

It took a little while to get the arm adjusted, but  it seems to operate well, overall.   However, it will skip fairly easily if I walk by the cabinet.  It is in a sturdy cabinet, and my home is well built, but the floors are wooden, and if I move to fast or heavy footed, it will skip the  tone arm.

i balanced it according to all the instructions I've found online, which were a little confusing to me.

I can't find anything that says what to do if it skids too easily.  I assume I add more wt, but is this with the dial?Is it ok to make it heavier by dialing over 1.5 on the adjustment dial?  Any chance that someone has amade a video?  

Also, I am thinking of buying a new cartridge, just to improve quality overall, and am wondering if it is worth while to get a higher quality one, (it has an mmc5 now, which was one that I had replaced just a few years before I packed it all away)  the equivalent replacements are apx $200, next level up is $350.  I am considering spending more, if it is likely to make a noticeable difference. And also, as long as it seems that the rest of the unit will stand up to being used after so many years. I'd hate to spend $350+ and then have the thing stop turning or something. 

Thanks to everyone and anyone who take time to respond! 

 

 

 

 

 

I can try to explain the tonearm with lots of words.

The weight is two pieces. Silver part is only an indicator of weight and when turned independently changes nothing. The black part when turned moves the weight further or closer which changes the tracking force.

To get an accurate tracking force from the counterweight without a scale you must balance the arm.

To balance, you want the cartridge on the record but not moving. To do this you start a record you don't care much for and unplug the table after it starts.

Then with the cartridge still attached and tonearm gently lifted with your left hand you turn the Black part of the weight until the tonearm "floats" or is equally balanced on the mid point in the air. This point is 0 tracking force. Once you find this point, while holding the black part firmly to prevent turning the black part, with your left hand turn the silver part until zero is aligned on top. Balanced. Don't break your stylus while doing this, be careful.

Now when you turn clockwise the silver and black parts together you will be setting your force to the desired weight as seen on the silver part.

Better carts are worth the money if you have a good system to play them through. But that's too many words from me at one time.

Great description, I didn't realize I should do this over a record. I'll try again tonight.

thanks for your input!

You don't have to do it over a record. It's easier than having to push down on the ring around the spindle on start up and less likely to damage the stylus if you set it down on vinyl than aluminum.

Be glad that your MMC-5 cart. still works - most of these have experienced cantilever suspension failure due to age (they can be rebuilt).  You could increase the tracking force a little higher but you shouldn't need to - first make sure you've calibrated the tone arm properly.  And make sure the turntable is not in transport mode.  If you press down on the platter it should depress as if it's on springs (it is).  You could upgrade the cartridge but a system is only as good as its weakest link and the RX was an entry-level turntable.  Lastly, a .pdf  of the user manual is available on this site if you upgrade your membership level.

Thanks, I'll check on the platter... 

i don't know what canteleiver suspension failure is.  It sounds dreadful!  

I did notice that one channel cut out for a while, but then I wiped the needle with the brush (original one that I had with unit) and then both channels came through ok. 

i realize this is not the best of the turntables by B&O, so I appreciate your candor.  Perhaps, instead of investing in a new cartridge for a relatively basic turntable, I should invest in an upgrade.  However,  I don't want to spend more than a few hundred...this is not my primary interest in life.  

Any suggestions welcome.

thank you!

The part that I don't quite understand, from everything that I have read, and your post too,  is this..."until the tonearm "floats" or is equally balanced on the mid point in the air"

so, what is the midpoint?

there is a little black bracket that the arm sits in.  When it is "floating" is it resting this or resting above this?  When I adjusted for it to rest above this, it ended up causing the tonearm to track to the right, (opposite direction of where the album is) instead of left. 

If you can better describe what I'm looking for here, I'd deeply appreciate it! 

A better way of cleaning the stylus would be a cotton bud dampened with rubbing alcohol.  Brush very gently from the rear toward the front only..  If you're not sure how to do this don't try it - you could damage it.  The advantage is, you'll remove the crud caked on it due to age, which the brush won't.  And what you mention - one channel out - is a potential sign of suspension failure.  Make sure both channels are playing *clearly*.

The horizontal movement of the tone arm that you mentioned is due to anti-skating compensation.  What you're concerned with during calibration is the vertical movement of the tone arm only.  The tone arm should 'float' - in other words it should not drop and rest on the record or deck, nor should it rise and settle at its upper limit of travel.  It should float and settle somewhere in between these two extremes.  This is also described in the user manual.

 

Ok... so what is anti-skating mechanism?  

Again, I apologize for not knowing more.  But, I am still having the same issue.  

When I adjust the arm to "float" as directed, it keeps pulling to the right, off of the record. 

In order to play an album, and not have it skip, I have just kept adjust the balance piece (the black thing at the cent) forward. 

I have it now so it seems to track correctly, but wonder if it's too heavy?  I guess I've done what I can, I just don't want to cause too much wear on the albums.

thanks everyone!