Record stopping ~20 seconds before the end of the song — what could be causing this?
Hi everyone!
I’m hoping someone with more experience with turntables can help me diagnose an issue I’m having.
I have a House of Marley Stir It Up Wireless Bluetooth turntable, model EM-JT002B. It’s a belt-drive turntable with an Audio-Technica AT3600L cartridge/stylus.
I was playing a Miley Cyrus LP. On Side B, the final track gets very close to the end, but with approximately 20 seconds of music still remaining, the turntable suddenly stops the platter, as if it has reached the end of the record.
The stylus is therefore no longer playing the final ~20 seconds.
At first I wondered whether the record itself had been cut too close to the centre or perhaps had too much music on the side, causing the turntable’s auto-stop mechanism to trigger early.
However, a friend of mine owns the exact same pressing/variant from the same retailer, and his copy plays the entire track normally, including the final ~20 seconds.
So I’m now thinking the problem is more likely related to my turntable/setup rather than the pressing itself.
I initially measured the tracking force with a digital stylus scale and discovered it was set to approximately 3.50 g.
I have since adjusted it and measured it again with the scale, and it is now 2.50 g.
So the tracking force is now 2.5 g.
I also experimented with the anti-skate. When I set the anti-skate to 2.5, the tonearm/stylus appeared to be pulled noticeably outward rather than remaining in the groove, so I set the anti-skate to 0 while troubleshooting.
I understand that this may not necessarily be the correct permanent setting, and I’m interested in what people think about that too. Apparently, it’s common in the House of Marley players for the anti-skating to be 0.
What do you think is actually causing this?
Could this be:
- A problem with the turntable’s auto-stop mechanism being triggered prematurely?
- Something related to the tonearm setup or tracking force?
- An anti-skate issue?
- The stylus/cartridge reaching the inner groove at a position where this particular turntable thinks the record has ended?
- Something else specific to the House of Marley Stir It Up?
Also, could having the tracking force at 3.5 g for some previous plays have caused enough stylus/record wear to contribute to this problem? I have since corrected it to 2.5 g.
I’d really appreciate any advice on what I should test next, particularly if there’s a way to determine whether the auto-stop is triggering prematurely versus the stylus actually having a tracking/groove issue.
Thanks!