Shelter 90X Tracking Force

John,

Glad to see that little trick is helping someone out. There's no reason it won't work on any arm that has an end stub. I know a couple JMW owners that use it too.

Thom, that's # 6 on the TriPlanar Tips thread. It should be very helpful in those fun show conditions, at least until Tri drills the back of the end stub or the donuts and supplies a VTF thumbscrew like Frank's. I suggested that to him two years ago, but you know how it goes.

Pile stuff up under the scale by resting it on your tt shelf instead of on your platter.

I used to use our My-Weigh MX-50 that way, except instead of piling stuff UNDER the scale I built a tower that sat on top of the weighing platform. The little tray that comes with the MX-50 sat on top of the tower to provide a flat weighing surface at record height. This had the advantage of separating the magnetic scale from the cartridge.

What did I make the tower from? One sheet of copy paper. Cut to the right length, fold into a triangle for stability and Scotch tape together. The cost seemed reasonable and it worked fine.

Then Paul made a weighing drop-down step by folding a piece of brass strip he "sourced" from the local hobby shop. The cost was outrageous, about $.79, but it worked a bit better than the paper tower because it put the MX-50 in the middle of its range. Load cells perform more reliably near the middle of their range than at the extremes.

Larry, we sent you a spare brass strip quite a while ago. Have you made your weighing step yet? We want pix!

Mre2007,
VTA (and SRA, which is more important) have little to do with whether your armtube is level.

VTA = the angle of the cantilever to the record surface

SRA = the angle of the stylus contact surfaces to the record surface

You should be trying to achieve the optimum angle for your cartridge, preferably by listening. Struggling to visually level your armtube is a waste of time.

Nsgarch's method correctly focuses on optimizing SRA. That's where the rubber meets the road, so if you're seeking the "best" starting point for arm height this is probably it.

BTW, there's a superb article in the FAQ's over at VA. Jon Risch authored a method similar to Nsgarch's many years ago. His article is titled "VTA once and for all". Highly recommended.

My only objection to setting SRA by eye is that it requires a bit of fussing and, when the fussing's done, all you've achieved is a good estimate for records of one particular thickness. Record thicknesses vary and even records of the same thickness were produced with different cutting angles. Setting SRA visually cannot account for the latter.

Since one can only know the ideal setting for a record by listening, it seems like an unecessary chore (to me) to fuss over a visual SRA angle that I'm going to change anyway.

My preferred method is simpler. Place the cartridge at an angle known to be effective for that cartridge. Adjust by ear from there. This starting point isn't as precise as a visual SRA inspection but it's easy to find: no magnifier, no bright lights.

If I'm going to adjust by ear, identifying a precise starting point is just not that critical.