Mint lp best tractor for VPI Classic

jjss49 -
I have the XX2 also but with no (zero) inner groove distortion, using no antiskate.  An hour for your first time with the Mint is phenomenal!  May I suggest that your cart is misaligned?  Check spindle-to-pivot distance before you realign the cart.  If it's off the Mint curve will be wrong.   A 30x loupe would be handy too.  The ones supplied by Mint are Fail.  Good luck!

jjss49 -
My S2P distance was off by 2 mm max resulting in unresolvable sibilance. Whether 1 mm makes an audible difference? Possibly but probably not the problem you are having anyway. If you can align the two null points simultaneously and the cantilever is exactly parallel to the lines, you’re OK.
Anti skate is a good bet as well as VTF. Set it on the high side. If you’re using a scale on the platter, the unipivot arm will be a tenth or two lighter at the record height. Azimuth and VTA "should" be near parallel with the platter. I use a Millennium Block to set the headshell (not the arm) parallel to the platter from both side and front, then dial in azimuth and VTA by ear. FWIW I have a Fozgometer and never use it. It requires dialing in by ear also and since the Block gets me in the ballpark way sooner, why bother? The key to it all is going back and re-checking everything after any adjustment and repeat, repeat, repeat until it’s right. It will take way more than an hour the first time.

cleeds wrote "You clearly don't understand VTA, which typically should be around 15 degrees, although opinions vary about the best overall compromise."
cleeds, are you talking about the cantilever instead of the cart body?
Different carts obviously have different VTF ranges and VTA specs but I see the vast majority of carts near level, not tilted 15 degrees, with the cantilever closer to 15 - 20 degrees.  Assuming the manufacturers strive for proper VTF and VTA with the cart level, a parallel cart is as good a reference starting point as you're going to get, unless you subscribe to the must-be-92-degrees viewpoint, in which case there is no tune-by-ear option.  Personally, I'll trust my ears first.  

folkfreak -
Yeah, I know what he was referring to.  My point was he didn't get my point.  

cleeds -
VTA is an angle defined by the stylus and record surface, not the cantilever which can be out of alignment with the stylus - if you want to be specific to the last detail. SRA is the angle of the cantilever to cartridge body and aligns the coils in the magnetic field regardless of stylus alignment on the cantilever.   I think you may be confusing the two.
How you jumped from my reference of a parallel cart as a starting point to an ignorance of VTA is ... beyond vague.

OK, I’ve got the diagram, some corrections.
VTA is commonly referred to as the relationship of the stylus to the record - as in 92 degrees. What is actually being set is SRA.
I read that the cantilever to cart body was SRA. Not so, my fault.
VTA as defined - a line from stylus contact area to suspension pivot point, included angle to record surface - seems nonsensical since no-one can measure it. But there it is.
What I wrote about VTA is "Assuming the manufacturers strive for proper VTF and VTA with the cart level, a parallel cart is as good a reference starting point as you’re going to get". That point goes for Azimuth too and has nothing to do with nomenclature.
There’s a difference between nomenclature errors and misunderstanding the relationships involved. Please pardon my prior usage. My understanding is just fine.

P.S. - cleeds,

I followed your link and the SRA is shown measured to the wrong side of the stylus. Surprised you didn’t catch that. Here’s a proper reference:
https://www.vinylengine.com/turntable_forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=64477

Yours:
http://www.theanalogdept.com/effective_length.htm