Audio Systems: stereo turntable, stereo turntable, cartridge stylus

Question
My JVC turntable initially started to skip as if the record was scratched.  The records all played flaulessly on another turntable.  I removed the cartridge, checked the stylus under a microscope and when I put eveything back together sound would only come from certain speakers.  All other audio comes through perfectly from all speakers.

Is my problem in the cartridge, stylus or ?.
Please advise  

Answer
Dear Dick,

The only way to test the cartridge and stylus is to mount it on another tone arm on another turntable. I've gone through this myself. In my experience, when I've remounted the cartridge on the tone arm and the sound is missing from a speaker, I haven't seated all four of the cartridge leads properly ensuring a solid connection. You may want to reinstall the cartridge using a contact enhancing solution (www.radioshack.com or www.needledoctor.com) to make sure the contacts are solidly seated.

Unless your miscroscopic examination of the stylus was seriously mishandled so you somehow damaged the stylus tip, I doubt if it's the stylus. However, styli diamonds don't last forever. Check out the FAQ at www.needleexpress.com to see if your microscopic findings jibe with what a cartrdige and stylus expert sez you should have found.

Good luck. And thanks for choosing allexperts.com!

Kindest regards,

Kevin