VTA and 180 gram vinyl

You may find that Herbie's Way Excellent Turntable mat fits the bill. I think it's a nice upgrade from a felt mat.

There is no question that thicker LPs sound wrong with the VTA from normal records. I do not have an easy time changing the VTA, but I have installed a simple cardboard ruler beside the tonearm and marked it for both heights. I can change it quickly.

Now that digital has gotten to be a pain like vinyl, I am less resentful of doing these adjustments.

The Walker table was more of a pain as when you adjusted the VTA you also affected the dampening.

Darn. I guess we're just not having fun and spontaneity. And I was just beginning to believe we did! Learn somethin' every day! ;-)

In theory I agree with Lloyd. OTOH, adjusting height on a rig like an MMF (or even a Walker) wouldn't work for us. That's why we went for a rig with SPONTANEOUS, FUN, VTA-on-the-fly. We're eatin' our cake and havin' it too.

Unfortunately that's not doable on an MMF budget. :-(

Billbo, your notion of a quick mat change rather than dragging out the hex keys makes some sense, but IME (and we do adjust for every LP) the benefits of VTA optimization require a finer adjustment than any mat change could accomplish. Large VTA adjustments often have little or no sonic effect. Tiny adjustments within the very small sweet zone for any particular record have a large effect.

Mat-swapping just isn't subtle enough, and therefore I tend to agree with the others on this thread. Choose a mat you like the sound of and set/forget VTA for now. When/if you can spring for a rig that makes it easier to do, I'll take sides in favor of doing so.

In the words of my amp designer, "Enjoy music, tolerate equipment."

I'm as crazy as any about getting every last bit of performance, but there has to be some fun and spontaneity ......

Sage words, indeed.

I know what you have to go through to adjust VTA, Billbo. I used to own a MMF 7.

Enjoy,

Dan

Thanks, gang. I think you have talked me down from that tree. To continue the discussion....any mat preferences over the standard issue felt?. FYI, I am currently using a Denon DL-110, and am very happy. Overall, I am happy with the turntable. It has only wet my desire for a nicer build quality table, rather than spend hundreds on further upgrades.

I’m too lazy to adjust for every LP and I am certainly a dedicated analog guy. When Lloyd Walker was here he fussed at me and wanted to show me how "easy" it was to adjust for each thickness.

I told him that once I finished dinner and two beers or some wine that I would probably trash my Koetsu messing with it and preferred leaving it alone. After he relaxed a bit he forgot about adjusting and sat for several hours listening to all kinds of music.

I'm as crazy as any about getting every last bit of performance, but there has to be some fun and spontaneity and with most turntables and arms it not easy to accurately change VTA for every disc.

I purchased an allen wrench with a screw driver handle, which makes the process much easier to adjust.

I don't know what your turntable arm looks like, but if is possible to mark the base of the arm with a decal of a pointer or arrow head for the size of a normal LP, than you have a defaut position to always return to if your not in the mood to mess with the VTA.

Unfortunately it can make a big difference, but it is a hassle.

I listen to a lot of vinyl with a nottingham spacedeck and shelter 501. I found a nice happy medium and have left it without loosing anything. I would worry more that my mat swithching would color things more that the slight variance of VTA

You can try swapping or adding mats. That is certainly an option. But don't be surprised if some of the 180's still sound kind'a off. Many times it really is the record.

just adjust to a happy medium and leave it.