VTA?

@millercarbon,

Tweaking the cart/arm/tt set-up is a completely different use of the term "tweaks" that is more commonly associated with the add-ons mentioned in your last sentence which is what I was referring to and I think most here knew that.

Which is true, but bad. 

Its true because increased VTF pushes the cartridge down more, the cantilever pivots up, and this does indeed change VTA. But its bad because, well first you have to understand why VTF is what it is in the first place. Its not to reduce stylus wear. Its to ensure the coils or magnets are properly aligned within the magnets or coils. VTF is a range because the maker knows suspension compliance and exactly how much force will result in this crucial alignment. 

That is why turntable setup is such an iterative process. First set VTF. Then VTA. But changing VTA changed the situation so you get to go back and tweak VTF again. Doesn't need to be endless, doesn't even need to be done more than once. Just need to know that's how it works. How far you take it, that part is all on you.

A recent Ortofon webinar covered VTA a little bit, and noted that if you can't move your tonearm up/down then another option is to increase/decrease the tracking force by a slight amount, in order to affect VTA.

Obsessing is an obsession. The beauty of analog is if it sounds good then it is good 👍

For a technical starting point, you’ve done well by verifying VTF & overhang. To add - the top of the cartridge should be parallel to the record surface. I describe it so because many tonearm tubes are NOT on the same plane as their headshell. 
Any change of parameters from your starting point may or may not have a perceived benefit through your system. You be the judge.

What is correct setup but the result of a long series of small adjustments based on listening? In other words: tweaking. Its the very definition of the word. Its actually impossible to be properly setup without it.

I prefer to get everything set up correctly before I start messing with tweaks

VTA is one of those things where if your arm makes adjustment on the fly convenient accurate and repeatable, and if you're a keen listener with a lot of patience, and time, then with enough effort you can learn to hear and appreciate when its perfectly dialed in. Unfortunately having done this the next thing you will notice is its slightly different from record to record. There's no real correlation with how thick or anything either. All you can do is listen. 

Was at an audio meeting one time where not a single one of the 20+ there had the slightest clue about how to do this. In fact their suggestions were laughably off. So given you don't have the arm I would just relax and enjoy it. Otherwise you are looking at shims and a huge effort to make any difference and whatever you do will be obscured by the fact that shimming the cart is messing with vibration control which depending on how its done may swamp any VTA changes you might hear.  

Time and money will be much better spent on springs, sand box, fO.q tape, PHT, and other stuff that will make a much more obvious improvement.

lots of good tables lack arm pivot height adjustment to help set a good SRA

just have to use shims/spacers ... or worse case, switch carts to have one with proper setup

If you have great eye sight and can see the angle of the stylus when it’s on the record, does it seem to be @ 92°? If not try to figure out how much the arm assembly should be raised to get there. (Asumming it needs to be raised). If so. make a shim to put under your arm mount assembly.

If it needs to be lowered, make an appropriate shim out of graphite or carbon fiber to put between the cart and headshell.

www.mcmastercarr.com