Anti-Skate won't cause that unless you apply WAY TOO MUCH. Until you get this issue settled, I'd advise setting anti-skate to 0 to take that variable out of the equation (it's fine to run this way).
Unfortunately there's a range of potential causes, and your immediate task is narrowing these down. Here's where you need to start:
1. Is your table platter LEVEL?
2. How did you set VTF (tracking force)? Do you know what it's set at right now? A VTF that is way too low is more likely to cause the issue you describe. A way too-high VTF will usually sound OK until it bottoms out the suspension, but of course this will increase wear on your records and stylus.
3. Check that your arm tube is actually totally clearing the cue rest across the record surface. This is a very common cause of tracking issues.
4. Your turntable has a choice of output: PHONO or LINE. This choice in combination with your amp's utilized input & settings are very crucial. There are right combinations and wrong ones - for example, you could doubly amplify the signal and cause overloading in the 2nd phono stage (which could be what you hear wrong). What can you tell us about your current settings?
5. A seemingly intermittent breakup that occurs mostly on "loud" or bassy parts of music may be related to vibration feedback (though it could also be the overload issue mentioned above). That's a whole topic on its own.
Of course there are additional settings to worry about: VTA, geometry (2D alignment), azimuth - but I think these are less likely to be causing your issue than the above points.
Thank you for the reply.
So... when I bought the setup 9 months ago, I initially had powered speakers (Edifer) with a preamp in-between and the turntable output set to Phono. Now, I have Dali Speakers with a Denon Amp... the turntable output is still set to phono... no preamp required.
Until I changed the cartridge, there were no issues with my previous cartridge (AT-VM95E). I only changed for the upgrade in quality having read so much about it.
The turntable platter is level.
I set the tracking force, the way that the manufacturer advises. It's currently set to 2 having moved this up once I'd levelled out at zero. I have seen some videos where people have advised increasing this slightly, so I may try this also.
So I mounted the cartridge, and it just didn't sound the same on some records... After messing around little with the counterweight and the anti-skate, I just can't find that sweet spot that makes me feel like I can sit back and relax and enjoy my music... something just doesn't sound right. It can either be bass heavy to the point of distortion (even with the source direct selected on the amp), or the entire song just sounds kind of 'croaky' if that makes sense.
These didn't seem to be any vibration feedback previously, now it kinda sounds like I have with nothing much changing other than the cartridge... now it can just sound distorted.
An example would be playing the Purple Rain Album... Track one and two... sound reasonably good... buy the time I hit track 3... it just sounds dreadful. I've tried cleaning the stylus too, and it makes no difference.
