New cartridge, now some adjustment questions.

Jed, the Hi-Fi News test disc is very challenging and, basically, it is intended to show the breaking point in just about every setup somewhere in those grooves. My recommendation to you is to set aside the test record and play a good quality classical orchestral recording. Listen carefully, and make some final VTA and VTF adjustments by ear. If the orchestral music is being played cleanly, you're in good shape irrespective of what you hear on the test record. For setting up by ear, follow Lloyd Walker's turntable set up recommendations.
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Viridian,
The instructions that came with the sure indicated that VTF be set at 1.5 grams, and if the brush was down, actual tracking weight would be 1 gram. I have not been using the brush, as even before I had the test record I could hear the effect it had on the music and the noise floor. With the brush down on the test record, the cartridge does not track well at all. So you are saying I should try 1 gram, without the brush?

Jed,
Viridian is correct about the brush and its effect on VTF. You've got it backwards.

I agree with Rushton on the HFNRR test record. It's an interesting toy with little practical utility for dialing in a cartridge. Check out the link he posted for a much more reliable (and educational) method for adjusting VTF and VTA.

1) It has some difficulty tracking the 300hz test tone tracks on side 2. On all three tracks there is at least slight distortion at some point in the track. I tried re-aligning my cartridge, but got no signifigant change. What factor is typically at fault here? Is it cartridge adjustment, or some other factor?

It's likely that nothing's at fault. My best arm and cartridge ($4K and $7K list respectively) behave exactly the same way. If the "buzzing" is about equal on all three tracks that's some indication that antiskating is set pretty well. Other than that, those tracks are of no practical use.

2) On the bias setting (anti-skate) tracks, it tracks the first two perfectly, but starts to break up slightly on 3, and terribly on 4. My table has limited anti-skate adjustment, (weight on a string). I made it better with some adjustment, but given that these are also 300hz test tones (as the tests above), I assume the two are related.

Those tracks are nearly useless, and if misunderstood (as you're currently doing) they can be a positive menace, because you will set antiskate too high.

It is incorrect to think of those four tracks as some sort of test, which a better rig or better adjustments will "pass" by playing the later tracks "better". My best sounding cartridge "tests" far worse than my worst sounding cartridge on those four tracks.

One of the problems with those tracks is that they're all near the inner grooves. Unfortunately, the skating force we're trying to compensate for varies across the record. Adjusting antiskate for one particular groove that's near the end (or beginning) of a side will necessarily result in a setting that is progressively less accurate the farther the arm moves from that track.

This is why the three tracking test bands on side 2 are better for a first approximation antiskate setting. They're evenly spaced across the record so you can choose a reasonable compromise for antiskate, which is always a compromise. As your ears get more finally tuned, you'll be able to adjust antiskate by listening to music. Then you can file the HFNRR record away among your other idle curiosities! ;-)