Mint lp best tractor for VPI Classic

thanks for the thoughts on the prior posts

a few comments back:

- folkfreak/cleeds - we are talking about 1 mm delta on S2P distance.... it is obvious that if the actual cart alignment is off by 1 mm then that is a huge delta... but no one here is so naive to be saying that is the case

- wlutke - thx for your further advice... yes i am wise to the record/platter/platter mat thickness issue and how it may affect actual vtf ... also trying various different anti skate levels (obviously this is also controversial as pertaining to vpi classics - i have gotten the full speech from peter l at soundsmith wanting AS, contrary to harry w’s ’meh’ on the whole subject)

- stringgreen - on the subject of azimuth, it seems to me that the dual pivot thingy that harry w has come up with may be a nice solution to keeping that aspect locked in once set well - the unipivot wobble has always made me queasy despite the great music these arms make

it has also occurred to be, given my basic understanding to manufacturing and hand building artisanal precision (or lack thereof) that stylus mounting variances may be significant, and this may well affect how the fine line/microridge styli track in the groove given any ’perfect’ alignment using the various tools we have

i am going to realign using the mint, double check cant alignment at the checkpts, then if all else fails to solve inner groove distortion/sibilance maybe it is time to shell out for a feickert LOL

wlutke

yes it occurred to me i might’ve done the mint process less than perfectly

also reading about the 258 mm vs 259 mm pivot to spindle debacle on the vpi’s with 10/10.5 arms as it relates to the mint ... he said 259 is the standard, i measured 258, he sent me 259 protractor... is all this due to 1 mm off on protractor angle???

last night i played with the alignment again and used vpi jig again played a little with cart ’twist’ angles... going back to vpi settings seems to have helped inner groove distortion

ugh confusing...

I just got my Mint for my Classic 3 with 3D 10 arm, and spent the painstaking hour doing the proper Mint process for alignment.

Relative to the VPI jig-based positioning, the Mint moved the cart (Dynavector XX2-II) forward on the headshell by ~1.5 mm and added a teeny little twist of the body clockwise on cantilever alignment. The sound difference was definitely noticeable:

1. Better stereo separation and ’solidity’ throughout (I suspect I did not perfectly set the cantilever straight on the VPI jig against its grid lines... no doubt the Mint allows for more accuracy on this critical dimension).

2. Relaxed, utterly natural sound at the beginnings of records, but definitely more inner groove distortion on LP’s cut near the spindle, esp. on more highly modulated passages

Overall it is better I think but it is rather unfortunate as it renders some of my favorite records with songs ending a side almost unlistenable... now thinking about moving the cart body back a touch, closer to the VPI setting.

It does seems correct that the VPI jig optimizes for inner groove playback, vs Mint minimizing distortion across the record face at expense of inner groove playback.