Advice on setting VTA

I’ve read that using an index card on top of record can be a good way to set it due to the parallel lines on the card. My question is what am looking at to get parallel? The bottom of tonearm, top, or the bottom of cartridge?

Armtube must be parallel to the record surface when the needle is in the vinyl groove. Most tonearms designed this way and a cartridge/stylus also will be in correct position if the tonearm tube is parallel to the record surface. This is very easy to adjust if your tonearm have VTA adjustment (on the fly or not).

So when your particular tonearm tube is parallel to the record your cartridge is not parallel ?

What is your cartridge then and what is the stylus profile on your cartridge? For some profiles a tiny difference in VTA is irrelevant (conical for example).

More important: Are you sure you can detect any difference when you change VTA slightly? Why you’re so concerned about it?

The tone arm is a carbon fiber/aluminum 9 inch pro-ject. It does appear to have a slight taper towards the headshell end of arm.

If this is your tonearm are you gonna say there is no recommendations regarding VTA setup in the manual from Pro-Ject ? Almost any toneam i know comes with the manual and recommendation how to set up VTA correctly.

I personally can hear a difference in the VTA setting. Right now I have my hana el slightly ass down as I think it sounds nice this way. Too far tilted in opposite direction I feel it to be a bit harsher and the bass not as well defined.

What you’re using called "negative VTA" @audioguy85
What i remember from an old Dan den Hul interview is the benefit of the "positive VTA" for high frequency reproduction. I can’t find this interview, would be nice to post it here.

Keep in mind that VTA setting should NOT be a tone control. There is one correct setting for a disk. But with a disk you should be close enough not to change for each disk unless you are particularly obsessive. Many of us are. Setting vta (really, sra) is like aligning the reading head on a tape machine. There should be one correct setting. It’s not really an opinion issue. But it’s also not very easy for most of us.

@melm great post
I agree, i do not change VTA often (if i do not change a cartridge).
It is definitely not a tone control and i wouldn’t use it this way.

Some very nice tonearms like my Reed 3p, FR-64s in B-60 vta base, or Technics EPA-100 mkII ... are all have precise VTA on the fly to experiment. It’s a good option to adjust a cartridge, but once it’s adjusted and tested for few month with well known records i do not change it anymore.