Hi there, could really do with some help!

Records are playing on my system but the arm is trying to pull the stylus back to it's starting place so the record sounds distorted and keeps skipping backwards. Is this something to do with the counterweight or something? I just got the system through ebay and the previous owner assures me it worked fine. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks, Dom

Turning the counterweight  to 0 seems to reduce the problem somewhat but it still gets stuck in the groove and sound very crackly. When i push down on the stylus end of the arm a little the crackling goes away - too much weight at the back of the arm?

Have you balanced the arm? If set to 0 it should float in the air rather than drop on the record. You need to get it balanced and then if using a MMC4, set the weight to about 1.2g.I attach a guide on how to do this.

Thanks for that - have tried turning the counterweight but it doesn't appear to have any effect on the arm. I have experimented by adding some weight to the stylus end of the arm and this makes the stylus stay on the record for longer, but the sound is still crackly and distorted and it still skips occasionally. Is the counterbalance broken?

It sounds more like the stylus is broken - you should get reasonable sound with even reasonable weight - do the radio and tape sound ok?

Yeah the radio and tape are fine... I phoned B&O and they suggested the diamond in the stylus may be the issue? To be honest I'm not even sure what that is! The stylus skates over the record but it stays on track a little better if i weigh down the stylus end of the arm, which suggests to be it might be something to do with the weighting? The sound is poor though when the stylus is down, it's crackly and distorted... Replacement MMC 4 styluses are £150 though, and I'm worried that if I splash out on one that might not be the issue after all... Would an issue with the stylus explain the weighting/skating problem? The stylus did take a bit of a battering on the journey to brighton... 

It does sound like it is the stylus - if the beocenter is in good condition then it's worth getting one - it's a beautiful machine. Did you try Soundsmith in the states for a stylus? there's an advert on this site.

You could try and get a second hand one on e-bay, but some of these go for a lot of money and there's guarantee that it would be new. The other thing is to look out for another turntable with one in and try that. I'm pretty certain it's your stylus if you've tried weighting etc. I have the same problem with my Beogram TX - I got it cheap as it didn't have one and I had one - but when I tried my stylud in it it sounded like yours - I tried my friends and it's perfect so I'm going to order a new one.