I have never posted on this forum, but I ran across it recently and could use your assistance involving an issue that I've been having with my turntable.

I'm currently using a Sansui PD10 direct drive turntable that is older than myself (or so I've been told). It plays older records just fine, but when playing newer vinyl (especially over 140 grams) the record skips when nearing the end of the record (within about 2.5 - 3 inches from the center). I have tried replacing the cartridge and the stylus, but this has not resolved the issue. Cleaning the record does not fix much, either.

Also, I have only noticed this problem in the winter time (it seems to go away in the summer). I live in Pennsylvania and it gets pretty cold here in the winter. Could this be contributing?

So far I have thought of investing in a lower end direct drive DJ turntable such as a Stanton or a Gemini. Most of the records that are having the skipping problem are newer records which could be targeted to this audience; however, I have heard horror stories about said turntables doing some serious damage to records when compared with more "mainstream" commercial record players.

I have been in love with vinyl for the past 3 years and have been able to fix most of the technical problems that I've run into, but this one just confuses me. Anything that you can think of would be of value. Thanks!