2. analog
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Dialing in my analog rig - Need help

I took a giant leap forward in sound quality this past weekend after deciding to check the setup that was provided by the dealer. Hell, I watched him and thought he covered everything. I was largely unhappy with the sound of my newly acquired rig. I am now only slightly unhappy as I discovered the following.

Being that it was a used Turntable/cartridge with no manual I downloaded the manual and performed the following. What I found was that my cartridge was way out of alignment according to the jig provided by VPI. That was a painless fix I than checked the levelness of the tonearm as it pertains to the platter. What I found was that the tonearm was set (or never set) all the way at the bottom of its adjustment. Doh! So I cranked that up to "level with platter". Was that how former owner had it set? Then there was the alignment of the head shell and of course that was off too. Now I was on to the tracking force which I defaulted to slightly more than 2 grams. The gauge I have is kind of crude compared to what the dealer was using but then the dealer seemed to miss a few items anyway...

As I mentioned earlier in this post, although being very unhappy it has gotten a LOT better. Many smiles have practiced over the last few days but one thing that still plagues my setup is the graininess or lack of smooth sounding highs. It's detailed as hell but vocals still have a "grain" to them. Nice staging and a goodly amount of air. I just seem to lack the smoothness I thought would be natural to vinyl.

Setup is;
VPI Scoutmaster, Dynavector XXV Mark II which feeds a PS Audio GCPH phono stage then direct to a Pass Labs amp. MBL 121 speakers. No preamp yet - still looking.

What's next?
desalvo55

Showing 5 responses by raquel

raquel
841 posts
 
The single biggest obstacle by far to analog performance is incompetent set-up - there are very few people who really know what they're doing. Where to start ... the above referenced link to cartridge set-up states:

"One could spend a good portion of their remaining days on earth tweaking their cartridge's VTA. It will, after all, vary depending on the thickness of each record played."

Can anybody play this game? VTA depends upon the angle of the cutter head, which varies from LP to LP, and is not dependent upon the thickness of the LP.
raquel
841 posts
 
"Point being that if the LP is thicker then the rear of the arm must be raised for the same playback VTA as a thinner LP."

That's your point - it was not mine. It's a myth that arm height should automatically be increased to ensure proper VTA with a thicker LP, as there is no correlation - none - between record thickness and VTA settings. The cutter head angle is what determines VTA and it's set individually for every record side that's cut - it can vary dramatically from record to record (a 130 gram LP can require the pivot end way up, while a 200 gram LP can require a low ride at the pivot). In short, no assumptions can be made about VTA based upon record thickness.
raquel
841 posts
 
That PS Audio tutorial on setting VTA is somewhat helpful to the extent it provided an explanation of how records are cut:

"The object is to match, as closely as possible, the same VTA as the original cutting head for the master was set. Typically, there is an easy standardized method - that relates to the degree of angle used by almost all cutting masters. The Vertical Tracking Angle was not always standardized. But since the stereo disc was launched, the angle was defined at 15 º and was changed in the nineteen seventies to 20 º. That is why the Ortofon SL-15 became SL-20."

Where this explanation errs is the assumption that, in practice, there was standardization - there wasn't, and swings of plus or minus 10 degrees from the various standards were common. In fact, I know of a presumably gold standard CBS test disc used for setting up cartridges whose azimuth was off by 15 degrees. I will repeat this - the cutter head is set individually for every side cut. Each individual side thus has its own unique VTA and azimuth. To set VTA correctly for each side, you can either listen or measure distortion - in practice, record thickness has no bearing, none, on the angle that the grooves are sitting in the record.
raquel
841 posts
 
If a thin LP and thick LP were both cut at exactly the same angle, the thickness of the LP would affect the tracking angle, but it would be a nominal amount (a degree or so). In contrast, differences in angle resulting from adjustment of the cutting head are significant and can vary a lot from LP to LP - they dwarf the affect on tracking angle of the thickness of the record. In short, setting VTA based upon the thickness of an LP reflects a misunderstanding of the way records are made.
raquel
841 posts
 
Peter: Many thanks for your very helpful, expert instructions.
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