New turntable SRA questions
Hello I am very new to vinyl. I bought a Technics SL-D2 that was in good shape but the mat was hard and oily. I bought a Hudson HI-FI rubber mat to replace it. At the time, I didn't know about VTA/SRA. I measured the old mat at 4.2mm and the new one at 2.6mm. This TT does not have a VTA adjustment. Will that difference damage my records or will it just sound worse? Or is it ok? My records still sound great and everything looks OK to my eye. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
My TT setup: Technics SL-D2 with Audio-Technica VM95e headshell and cartridge.
Which is a difference of 1.6mm or 1/16th of an inch. If the arm is 9” then the angular change is 1/(16x9) which is 1/144. So it is 1/144 of a radian or ~<1/3 of a degree. I would not worry about 0.4 degrees if you have a stylus that is elliptical. Does it sound good? |
Holmz: 1.5-2 mm makes a big difference in SQ with my current deck/cartridge (same with the past ones). As adjusting the arm height on my current SME 3009 non-improved is a PITA I set it up for average thickness LP's and I use a lifter/under mat for thinner LP's (the thinner one's are generally "import" LP's from Europe issued in the 70's/early 80's). I'm currently using the first version of the Grado Gold Prestige (previously used the Silver version). All styli have been OEM.
DeKay |
Holmz: Yes it is elliptical and it sounds great to my ears. Both L and R are clear and it's tracking well. I really can't compare it to anything other than spotify though.. DeKay: I am unfamiliar with SME. Is that the type of tonearm I have? I will definitely experiment with a lp under the mat and see if it sounds better then go from there Thank you all for the great advice. I'm learning a lot |
rwkn22: SME is a manufacturer/brand. My various models have/had adjustable tonearm height (seems yours does not), but they (my older models) are tedious to adjust. I'm picky, but also practical (meaning old and lame), thus using a shim mat for thinner LP's works for me. The thinner LP's sound brighter (lighter in the LF's) if I do not use the shim mat to raise them. You may experience the same (fuller sound) by trying a shim mat (an LP under the current thinner mat in your case - as it's an easy zero cost experiment). The Grado cartridges I use are more sensitive to VTA VS the old Sure V15III cartridges I used to use. Anyway, if it sounds good it is good. DeKay
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If it sound as good or better than Spotify, then you are doing good.
I would suggest that you clean the oily old mat… That may work better for the standard LPs. Like this @dekay fellow:
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