Worn out cart/needle? Alot of skipping

Hi guys,

so i bought a pair of used stanton st150s with their used original stanton 680v3 hp carts, and i'm getting a load of skipping from them and their used carts/styli. Owner claims to have got em in 2009, but used only a couple of months.

Basically i cant even cue up a track properly on the 1st beat. Using the paper trick at the gap near the tonearm improves it to a certain amount.

How do you tell whether the needle/cart is causing this? Or how do u know whether the cart or stylus is worn out? I'm not sure if they are the problem causing the skipping, or the table is faulty in general.

Would hate to spend money on new carts/styli for it to make no difference at all.

If its the needles, should i replace the N680 styli or just opt for brand new m44-7 carts?

Antiskate is 0, tonearm height tried from 3-5, and counterweight tried 2.5-5 w and w/o the +2 headshell weight.

Generally a mix dj, learning some turntablism.

sounds like its probably the carts/needles. You could try swapping out just the stylus but it's hard to say. The m44-7's aren't super expensive if you do need to replace.

It's a general rule of thumb to never pay extra for carts/needles on used tables because you have no idea how worn they are, so hopefully you thought you got a good price on the tables as they were and the used carts/needles were just an added bonus.

I always make sure my tonearm height is adjusted to make the tonearm as LEVEL as possible...most the time set b/t 0-1... then make sure you balance the tonearm so you have the correct setting on counter weight...also use a overhang tool:

here's a video on how to balance the tonearm and adjust weight you use based on cart

http://youtu.be/ynIDWgo2lpo

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DjLiquitATL

I always make sure my tonearm height is adjusted to make the tonearm as LEVEL as possible...most the time set b/t 0-1... then make sure you balance the tonearm so you have the correct setting on counter weight...also use a overhang tool:

here's a video on how to balance the tonearm and adjust weight you use based on cart

http://youtu.be/ynIDWgo2lpo

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well i've done everything according to my cart, outside of it and everything in between. And nth much improves it.

Whats the probability of a worn out cart/needle causing skipping? Is it high or low?

they're worn. Easiest thing to do is go get an M44-7 and mount it and try it. At very worst you'll have an extra one ready to go for whenever you figure out whats causing the skipping if it's not the carts/needles (but it probably is)

If your using DVS don't bother buying high end carts and needles. I have been using numark cc1. They relatively cheap at 60 per cart and needle and replacement needles sell for 25-30 each.

M44-7s are roughly the same price if you look around