Arm Heighth on VPI Classic

The reason tail down became a popular way to set up an arm was that moving coil cartridges nearly always had a high frequency lift to them that tail down reduced. We all should use our ears to determine the setup of our rigs...but if you want to properly set up the arm Fremmer makes an excellent case for tail up. Newly designed high end moving coils don't exhibit that high frequency lift. I recommend reading Fremmers article, which is also validated by The Absolute Sound.

Don't adjust the arm height to compensate for the difference in album thickness. It's not practical and can cause more issues down the road.

Hi Dreadhead,

Can you let me know what you mean by "more issues down the road"? I always adjust the arm height for albums with different thicknesses. Will my adjustments have adverse consequences over the long run? I have not really given it a thought before reading this thread.

I have found it can take almost two full knob rotations to get the sound I like when going from a modern 180g record to one of my thin 80's LPs. I make the major adjustment before cuing up the album - then I do fine adjustments to the point where I hear good balance, clarity and (in most cases) hear reverb in the singer's voice. Since I do it all the time it only takes a few seconds to pretty much zero in on the sound I want.

If I leave the arm adjusted for 180g LPs the thin LPs sound really dull - no depth at all. By the way, I usually end up with a tail-up position.

JRSbat2....knock yourself out...no harm done ...even down the road

Jrsbat2
If you are comfortable with what your doing and feel its worth the extra effort and you hear an improvement then by all means carry on.
This thread reminds of a question I posed here awhile back, I was in the habit of moving my floor standing speakers each time I played an album to better the sound hitting my sweet spot. It of course was not a practical solution for listening and I took the advice of fellow members and abandoned this practice. I believe a quality set-up should just be that, set up and enjoy, with an adjustment now and then as needed. I don't remember how many stylus's I've accidentally destroyed in my obsessive fidgeting but anything more than one is too many. Take the advice of people much more savvy then me on this topic and let your combo do what you purchased it to do, effortlessly play your beloved vinyl while you sit back and enjoy.