Sumiko Pearwood Celebration II

That is a pretty big step. I suspect you will be thrilled after dialing it in.I see that it has been discontinued, which is no problem. But you should get it at a good discounted  price. Enjoy

@trentmemphis 

Yes - that makes more sense.

Okay, here's what I'm seeing in my manual.  They recommend starting the VTA adjustment process with the tonearm slightly low, and working your way up to the correct level.  This is because they've found it's very difficult to find the right VTA by starting with the arm high and trying to work down.

I haven't owned many carts, but this is easily the most informative manual I've seen.  They bring lots of practical experience into play.  It's not just, "Here's what's geometrically correct in a line drawing.  Do this."  It's more, "We've found almost nobody can do xyz correctly, so we recommend abc."

The manual noted that the cartridge is designed so the back of the tonearm should be slightly lower than the front to achieve the optimum tracking angle.

Dont know why anyone would design a cartridge like that because if a tonearm has been designed to be in neutral balance when level, the arm's performance could be compromised, particularly when tracking warped records.

Interesting.  That's a new one to me.  I'll have to watch for that in the manual.  Thanks!

A very nice cartridge. I had the prior version. The manual noted that the cartridge is designed so the back of the tonearm should be slightly lower than the front to achieve the optimum tracking angle.

I don’t know if this is true for your version, but worth a look.