I agree with millercarbon here. Use the Peter Lederman method. Find a record that has a long wide leadout which as you know is at the innermost part of the record near the label. Drop the stylus in between two widely spaced lead out grooves. You want the stylus to slowly make it's way to the outer groove-the groove closer to the label. Don't expect this too take very long-the outer groove is by nature going to catch the stylus within one rotation.
I believe that degree of overhang and antiskate are two overemphasized adjustments, particularly overhang. Get everything else right-SRA, VTA, VTF, and azimuth and get the loading right for your MC and you will be fine. It is fairly alarming to think about all the folks who sweated over so many other details and did not experiment with proper loading. Too much loading will make a MC sound dull and too little loading will make a MC sound loose and bloated. How can anyone deal with a phono stage that requires disassembly and/or DIP switches/resistors to set loading?
I had someone reach out to me yesterday about his SME 3009 and perceived distortion with a Hana cartridge. There is just no way to remotely judge what the source might be.
I believe that degree of overhang and antiskate are two overemphasized adjustments, particularly overhang. Get everything else right-SRA, VTA, VTF, and azimuth and get the loading right for your MC and you will be fine. It is fairly alarming to think about all the folks who sweated over so many other details and did not experiment with proper loading. Too much loading will make a MC sound dull and too little loading will make a MC sound loose and bloated. How can anyone deal with a phono stage that requires disassembly and/or DIP switches/resistors to set loading?
I had someone reach out to me yesterday about his SME 3009 and perceived distortion with a Hana cartridge. There is just no way to remotely judge what the source might be.